Activities of Marije CORNELISSEN related to 2012/2292(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on cross-border collective bargaining and transnational social dialogue PDF (198 KB) DOC (105 KB)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Cross-border collective bargaining and transnational social dialogue
Amendments (35)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
– having regard to the Council Conclusions (EPSCO) 17423/11 adopted on 1 December 2011,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas research shows that women are undeniably and persistently under- represented at all levels and in all arenas of social dialogue, whereas in contrast to governments/public authorities and trade unions, employers' organizations are consistently the least likely to have women's representation in social dialogue arenas and to take initiatives around gender equality;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. SPoints out that tripartite social dialogue and collective bargaining have undoubtedly great potential as vehicles for promoting gender equality; stresses the importance of collective bargaining between management and labour in order to improve the work-life balance;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Points out that patterns of representation at different levels (local, sectoral, cross-industry, national, cross national and international) are not well documented, stresses that data on women's representation in relation to age, sexuality, ability, class, ethnicity, citizenship status, and race are virtually non-existent; underlines the importance of disaggregating data,
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Regrets that women's specific needs are overlooked in the various stages of collective bargaining; underlines that without a shift in the culture of bargaining itself (who is negotiating and how - which highlights leadership style), there may be little change in what is negotiated, stresses that struggles around diversity, equality, inclusive representation, and democratizing leadership inside institutions need to be linked to the collective bargaining and social dialogue agenda.
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the number of European transnational company agreements has increased significantly and whereas this indicates that labour relations in large transnational companies in Europe are becoming increasingly integrated;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the legal status of these agreements at European level and in relation to national legal orders is unclear and this leads to legal uncertainty for both sides of industry;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas each EU Member State has its own system of relations between social partners, based on different historical developments and traditions, which has to be respected and does not require harmonisation but does need stronger coordination in the interest of workers across the EU;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas cross-border partnerships between social partners have proven to be good practices to promote free movement of workers and promote their respective rights across borders; whereas EU support for such cross-border partnerships is vital;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas all actors - the EU, the Member States and the Social Partners - need to adapt their practices to ensure adequate representation of Social Partners at the European level especially in relation to economic governance, to ensure the autonomy of the Social Partners and to avoid counter effects that might appear where Social Partners and Labour Markets are organized at sectoral, regional or national level while measures impacting on these are taken at European level;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas it is a particular feature of the European Social Dialogue that it promotes the preservation and growth of employment, improvements in working conditions and thus greater prosperity for employees of transnational undertakings by innovative means while preserving national autonomy in collective bargaining;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas there are borders in the EU where wages differ highly between one Member State and the other, even though the two bordering regions form a common economic region;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. whereas a stable economic and monetary union requires addressing large macro-economic imbalances among Member States as a result of differences in business cycles, price and wage dynamics; whereas wages are not merely macro-economic adjustment variables but also the main source of income that people need for a decent living;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
G c. whereas despite efforts social partners have taken to coordinate their actions across borders, these initiatives have not been sufficient to prevent the emergence of serious imbalances and have now led to the undesirable situation where economic adjustment including on wages is enforced by public authorities in the context of the European Semester and Troika-programmes without proper social partner involvement, in a asymmetric non-transparent manner and at high social costs;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G d (new)
Recital G d (new)
G d. whereas a stronger European social dialogue and transnational collective bargaining could contribute to pro- actively avoiding the emergence of large macro-economic and social imbalances, including wage competition, in particular among EMU Member States;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G e (new)
Recital G e (new)
G e. whereas the Macroeconomic Dialogue currently consists of a confidential exchange of policy information which lacks ownership, transparency and is not effectively taken into account in collective bargaining processes at national or other relevant levels thereby failing to bring about timely adjustment in case of large wage divergences, in a socially responsible manner;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G f (new)
Recital G f (new)
G f. whereas businesses increasingly operate on a European level while the representation of workers is predominantly organised along national lines; whereas this asymmetry is negatively impacting the representation of workers interests and puts workers at risk of being played out against each other and being forced to agree to lower wages, worse working conditions or other downward adjustments;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that this resolution is concerned withHighlights the need to strengthen European and transnational company agreements concluded by European trade union federations and European employers or employers' federations, generallysocial dialogue and cross border collective bargaining where it is currently underdeveloped, establishing new channels for its development and develop balanced cross-border industrial relations; further stresses that transnational social dialogue can provide at sectoral level, andtting for more efficient cross border collective bargaining; notes that theis resolution does not concern international transnational company agreements (ITCA) signed by international trade union federations with undertakings;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Proposes that in the medium term an optional European legal framework should be adopted for these European transnational company agreementsCalls on the Commission to present a proposal for an optional European legal framework for European transnational collective bargaining before 2014;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading -1 (new)
Subheading -1 (new)
Strengthening European social dialogue
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls on Social Partners, Commission, Council, and ECB as a matter of urgency to reform the Macroeconomic Dialogue with the aim of effectively preventing wage competition and excessive wage divergence in particular among EMU Member States and enabling social partners to play their full role in a reinforced economic governance structure;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Is of the opinion that a reformed macro-economic dialogue needs to be transparent and public, and that a broad general debate about appropriate wage policies should be launched that sets clear signals to the public and feeds into the European Semester process; suggests that the Macro-Economic Dialogue takes place in the European Parliament in the presence of relevant committees;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Calls on the Commission and Council to ensure that agreement on coordination achieved in the reformed Macro- Economic Dialogue is properly taken into account before the presentation of the Annual Growth Survey as well as before country specific recommendations are addressed to the Member States;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2 d. Stresses that the current over-focus on unit labour cost as a key indicator of the scoreboard for macro-economic imbalances has proven to be too one-sided and that governance based on it risks negatively impacting domestic demand, income security, and increasing poverty and inequality; highlights that when addressing diverging competitiveness in a reformed macro-economic dialogue and in the European Semester, account needs to be taken of capital and resource efficiency developments besides productivity and unit labour costs developments;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2 e. Calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with the social partners, to develop a comprehensive vision on the strengthening of the coordination of transnational sectorial dialogue, including between sectors and addressing the crucial differences between the tradable and non-tradable sectors;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 f (new)
Paragraph 2 f (new)
2 f. Calls on the Commission to support Social Partners to take up a more important role at the European level amongst others through coordination, technical and financial support including translation, implementation guides, awareness-raising, continuous learning processes, monitoring and reporting;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 g (new)
Paragraph 2 g (new)
2 g. Calls on the European social partners to work with their national affiliates to achieve better gender balance in both participation rates and representation on the boards of committees;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Optional legal framework for European transnational companyllective agreements
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Proposes that the social partners take as their basis an optional European legal framework in order, even before negotiations at European level, to eliminate certain potential problems at source and in order to have their attention drawn toto take advantage of regulatory solutions which have proved useful and effective;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recommends, in the medium term, in view of the increasing transnationalisation of industrial relations, to task the Social Partners with assessing the long-term need of establishing over the next few years an independent three-tier system of European labour courts;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Calls on the Commission to create the framework conditions that allow for the establishment of transnational industrial relations in border regions;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recommends the establishment of fundamental criteria for European transnational company agreements which the negotiating parties should discuss and whose outcome they should record in writing in order to prevent problems of subsequent interpretation and application; notes that the following points, in particular, should be covered: the mandating procedure, i.e. clarification of the legitimacy and representativeness of the negotiating parties between which agreements are concluded, the place and date of conclusion of an agreement, substantive and geographical scope, the most favourable clause and the non- regression clause, the period of validity, the preconditions for denouncing the agreement and the dispute settlement procedures; stresses that workers representatives entering into such negotiations should at least be given comparable rights given to European Works Councils under the European Works Councils Directive;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Draws attention to Complaint No 85/2012, which is pending before the European Committee of Social Rights, in the Laval case, and calls for the right to implementation of cross-border collective measures to be granted; stresses that the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) has found the legislation that Sweden adopted as a result of the EU Court of Justice's ruling in the Laval case to be in violation of fundamental trade union rights;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Recalls in this context the good experiences made with cross-border partnerships between social partners and calls upon the European Commission and Member States to secure EU support for such cross-border partnerships in the future;