Activites

• 2002/10/08 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 2002/74
  • OJ L 270 08.10.2002, p. 0010-0013
• 2002/09/23 Final act signed
• 2002/09/23 End of procedure in Parliament
• #2441
• 2002/06/27 Council Meeting
• 2002/05/14 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T5-0219/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the protection of employees in the event of an insolvency, based on the report of Theodorus BOUWMAN (Greens/EFA, NL). Please refer to the document dated 23/04/02. Parliament added that Member States may set limitations to the responsibility of the guarantee institutions which should be compatible with the social objective of the directive and may take into account the different levels of claims.�

• 2002/05/13 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2002/04/23 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A5-0143/2002
• 2002/02/28 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• #2410
• 2002/02/18 Council Meeting
  • 14854/1/2001 summary

    The Council unanimously adopted the common position. It accepted the same amendments as the Commission, with the exception of one amendment. This amendment aims to add the obligation of paying indemnities on termination of the employment relationship. The Council did not accept the amendment as it did not consider that this addition brought any extra element of protection insofar as the indemnities are employee's outstanding claims resulting from contracts of employment or employment relationships and are therefore already covered by Article 3 of the Directive. With regard to the amendments adopted by the European Parliament, accepted by the Commission and included in the common position, the following amendments have been incorporated in common position with a slight modification to the wording. These refer to: - a limitation on the possibility of exclusion from the scope to the exclusions already in existence in the Member States. In its new version, this paragraph provides that Member States may continue to exclude from the scope of this directive, if it is already customary to do so under national law; - extending the definition of insolvency proceedings leading to payments from the guarantee institution by adding after the word "liquidator" the phrase "or any other person exercising a similar function"; - introducing a provision to the effect "that Member States may extend the protection of employees to other insolvency situations on the basis of procedures than those which are provided under national law"; - providing that Member States may not make the exercise of rights arising out of the provision of the Directive subject to a minimum working period; - to eliminate the possibility of assigning a threshold to the payments made by the guarantee institution, has been accepted in spirit, i.e. the Council has accepted the inclusion of this potential restriction with a view to avoiding the adoption of a ceiling which would lead to a socially unacceptable level. The Council has retained the option of setting a ceiling, but it has recognised that this ceiling should not lead to an excessive reduction in the claims which would be incompatible with the Directive's objectives. Hence, it has inserted a provision according to which "this ceiling may not be lower than a threshold which is socially compatible with the social objective of the Directive". Another amendment was incorporated into the text of the common position without the new wording. The Council endorsed the Commission's proposal and reintroduced the old Article 5 of Directive 80/987/EEC in its 1980 version. Since this directive concerns the protection of workers, the funding method of the guarantee may be left to the Member States provided the cost of funding is not fully borne by the employees. In addition, new provisions introduced in the common position relate to, the insertion of a new sentence into Article 4(2), pursuant to which, under certain conditions, a temporary limitation of the pay guarantee to 8 weeks may be authorised. The new provision is the outcome of a long debate on the interplay of the three elements of contained in Article 4: the period giving rise to the payment of claims, the reference period and the payment ceiling. A consensus on this point was finallyachieved because all the elements are now taken into account in the new version of Article 4 and because the possibility of limiting payment to 8 weeks has been very precisely formulated. Finally, a new point has been added which authorises the Member States to refuse or to reduce the obligation to pay in cases in which a worker already owned an essential part of the firm and exercised a considerable influence on the firm's activities.�

• #2392
• 2001/12/03 Council Meeting
• 2001/11/29 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0627/2001 summary

    The European Parliament approved the report drafted by Mr Theodorus BOUWMAN (Greens/EFA, NL) on amending Council Directive 80/987/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer. Parliament adopted several amendments to the proposal. The Directive should cover employment relationships, such as subcontracts, quaesi self-employment - particularly former employees of the insolvent company, if there is clear evidence that the employee's situation is independent from the plaintiff for accounting purposes. Workers with a training contract, home workers and those regarded under national legislation as being in a similar category to paid workers, should be included explicitly in the scope of the directive. MEPs say that exceptions should be allowed only if there were already similar exceptions in the national legislation. Parliament also approved amendments on insolvency procedures in order to safeguard workers' rights. Member States should not be allowed to make exclusions on the grounds of threshold provisions (e.g. a specific minimum period of employment agreement). Parliament stressed the need to ensure that 'pay' covers all elements of remuneration (salary, overtime supplements, holidays and bonuses) over the previous six months and the corresponding social security contributions payable by the employer. It should also cover indemnities or compensation owed for terminating the contract of employment. MEPs did not want to introduce a ceiling on payments to be made by guarantee institutions in insolvency cases. They called for detailed rules for the organisation, financing and operation of these institutions.�

• 2001/11/15 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2001/10/09 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0348/2001
• 2001/01/31 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2001/01/15 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2000)0832 summary

    PURPOSE : to amend Council Directive 80/987/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer. CONTENT : twenty years have elapsed since Directive 80/987/EEC was adopted by the Council, and the Commission believes that the time has come to take stock of the discussions and deliberations on the problems in enforcing some of its provisions, and to present the Council with a proposal for amendments to the Directive. The Commission takes the view that the structure of the basic Directive should be retained: its aim of offering protection, the mechanism introduced and the results achieved are beyond dispute. It appears, however, that over the years new conditions on the job market as well as restructuring and reorganisation within firms means that the Directive should be revised in relation to specific points on which it has got out of step. The main developments which have shown up gaps or shortcomings concern changes to insolvency law in the Member States, the dynamism of the internal market, the need for consistency with other Community directives on labour law adopted in the meantime, and the recent case law of the Court of justice. The following amendments are proposed: - precise indication of the scope of in Article 1 and 2, with the current Annex being removed; - new concept of insolvency in Article 2: definition based on that used in the Council Regulation on insolvency procedures; - simplification of Articles 3 and 4; - new Article 8a specifying the component guarantee institution in cases with a cross-border dimension; - new Article 8b providing for administrative collaboration between the Member States with a view to facilitating the implementation of Article 8a. On the whole, this proposal aims to strengthen employees' confidence and belief that adequate provision is being made for their protection as the internal market develops and competition between businesses becomes more intense. It is therefore likely to have beneficial effects on internal-market policy as well as on economic and social cohesion. �

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/social/', 'title': 'Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion'}],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2000)0832
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0348/2001
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0627/2001
• Council position published: 14854/1/2001
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A5-0143/2002
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T5-0219/2002
• : Directive 2002/74
• : OJ L 270 08.10.2002, p. 0010-0013

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)