Commission consults on corporate restructuring

A European-wide agreement on corporate restructuring could be the result of consultation which the European Commission has started with unions and employers.

The Commission points out that restructuring is having a major impact, with 350,000 jobs lost because of restructuring in 2001.

The Commission does not want to prevent restructuring, described by social affairs commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou as "a vital part of business life (which) feeds innovation and growth". However, it wants to develop new principles governing the social aspect of restructuring.

Unions and employers have therefore been asked to look at four areas to see whether there is a need for a new approach.

These are:

* "employability and adaptability" - ensuring that employees' skills are kept up-to-date, as well as being prepared to look at alternatives to redundancy such as re-organising working time;

* "effectiveness and simplification" - clarifying the rules for restructuring and removing unnecessary bureaucracy;

* "external responsibility" - looking at the impact of restructuring on local community or major suppliers; and

* "implementation" - ensuring that the issues are discussed with the unions, that redundancy compensation is fair and that there is a mechanism to resolve disputes, perhaps at EU-level where necessary.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has for a long time been calling for "a Commission initiative to bring about socially acceptable management of industrial change in Europe".

The private sector employers' organisation UNICE emphasised that its priorities were "more dynamic and flexible labour markets."