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EUROPEAN REVIEW

ISSUE 15 - Page 3

Gothenburg : candidate countries see way ahead as riot smoke clears

THe 66th European Council or Council of Ministers as it is still sometimes called, took place in Sweden in June amongst scenes that recalled certain football events rather than the usually sober deliberations of European political leaders. The presence of U.S. President George W. Bush seemed to be responsible for much of the protest but there was also a feeling that the EU was being lumped in with other organisations such as the World Trade Organisation which are seen as being remote from the views of ordinary people.

However when the leaders could get down to business they made solid progress on what, last year, had been one of the most contentious issues: the date when the first wave of candidate countries would be admitted. This was all the more commendable in the light of the referendum in Ireland which rejected the arrangements made at the 64th. council in Nice last December. The Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) was commiserated with and promised that ways would be found around the 'No' vote, President of the Commission Romano Prodi has already embarked on a lecture tour of Ireland. The Swedish government who were chairing the Council carried on as though nothing had happened and reached an agreement that those applicant countries who are ready will be admitted in time for the European Parliament elections in 2004. The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban was seen with a beaming smile, ('It is very rare in life to have all wishes fulfilled, but this time it is so') pleased that the end of negotiations, targetted for 2002, will not be postponed to accommodate candidates lagging behind such as Poland.

On the environmental front, with the rejection of the Kyoto treaty by the U.S.A., the leaders probably felt that they were doing their bit by re-affirming their commitment to goals such as 22% of EU electricity being produced from renewable sources by 2010. But more radical steps envisaged by a European Commission paper were not followed up.

Swedish Prime Minister Persson works on while Hungary's Orban and Ireland's Ahern experience varying fortune

Breakthrough on information and consultation pleases unions

AT LAST THE PROPOSED directive on information and consultation of employees is to become a fully-fledged law. As we reported in the European Review issue 14 the recent redundancies at Vauxhall in the United Kingdom made unions redouble their efforts to have the directive, which had been proposed for a number of years, passed by the Council of Ministers. Since the events at Vauxhall, two companies based in France, Danone and Moulinex, have announced similar redundancies which have been roundly criticised by both government and unions. However the biggest offender was the British firm Marks and Spencer whose employees throughout continental Europe found out that they were sacked via the radio while store managers were told by e-mail half an hour before opening. As a consequence new French national laws have been passed under which companies will have to pay employees more when sacking them, and employers will have to extend the contracts of staff to allow them to be retrained.

Faced with such bad behaviour by well-known and respected employers the U.K. government found it harder to maintain its opposition to legislation. Before the British general election it was reported that consultations were going on with the TUC and CBI and the Labour manifesto stated 'When large-scale redundancies are being considered, there is an especially strong case for consultation'.

In the circumstances it was not unexpected when those countries who had been blocking the directive agreed to a deal which included a phased introduction. For firms with less than 150 workers Member States which have no laws on a general right to employee consultation at the moment will have an extra four years to implement the directive in addition to the usual three years.

John Monks, TUC General Secretary

They will also have the right to choose whether the law will apply to companies with more than 20 or more than 50 workers (see our last issue, page 2 for the articles of the directive). Reaction to the agreement was mainly positive, John Monks, General Secretary of the TUC, commented 'After much delay...Today's agreement should mean Britain's employees can look forward to genuine consultation on issues that affect them' but added 'The way the UK and Irish governments have negotiated this, means ...staff will have to wait for between five and seven years before they get these basic rights. This is far too long.' Employers organisation, the CBI took a different tack 'Companies will find this really difficult to swallow. They will see it as a step in the wrong direction that could undermine the ability of managers to manage."said CBI deputy chief John Cridland. But Will Hutton, writing in The Observer, saw opportunities for all concerned 'Suddenly, unions find themselves faced with the European conception of workforces ... They have been given new powers but, equally, they assume new responsibilities'.

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Swedish Prime Minister Persson works on while Hungary's Orban and Ireland's Ahern experience varying fortune

Faced with such bad behaviour by well-known and respected employers the U.K. government found it harder to maintain its opposition to legislation. Before the British general election it was reported that consultations were going on with the TUC and CBI and the Labour manifesto stated 'When large-scale redundancies are being considered, there is an especially strong case for consultation'.		In the circumstances it was not unexpected when those countries who had been blocking the directive agreed to a deal which included a phased introduction. For firms with less than 150 workers Member States which have no laws on a general right to employee consultation at the moment will have an extra four years to implement the directive in addition to the usual three years.
	John Monks, TUC General Secretary