WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3376/97 by Richard HOWITT to the Council. Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries
25. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 158/93 (98/C 158/121) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3371/97 by Lis Jensen (I-EDN) to the Council (23 October 1997) Subject: Implementation of the employment section of the Amsterdam Treaty The Commission President said on 1 October 1997, when presenting the Commission proposals for EU employment initiatives, that the Council had indicated that parts of the Amsterdam Treatyís section on employment could be applied once the Extraordinary European Council Summit on Employment had been held on 20 and 21 November. The fact that the Council seemingly thinks that parts of the Amsterdam Treaty can be applied even before the Treaty has been ratified by Member Statesí parliaments and, in Denmarkís case, before it has been put to a referendum, is quite astonishing. Answer (26 January 1998) 1. At its meeting in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June the European Council reaffirmed the importance it attached to promoting employment and reducing the unacceptably high levels of unemployment in Europe, while noting with approval the agreement of the Intergovernmental Conference to incorporate a new title on employment into the Treaty. The European Council believed that áthe Council should seek to make the relevant provisions of this title immediately effective. í In the meantime, the Amsterdam Treaty was signed on 2 October 1997; it has to be ratified by all the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional rules. However, it goes without saying that the Amsterdam Treaty will not enter into force and produce its effects until the national ratification procedures have been completed. Consequently, no legal act can be adopted until the appropriate legal bases are in force. 2. The extraordinary meeting of the European Council on employment (Luxembourg, 20 and 21 November 1997) confirmed the guidelines of the Amsterdam European Council. It did not decide to anticipate the relevant provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam, but it concluded that, pending its ratification and in order to mobilize all available resources to combat unemployment, the method provided for in the future Article 128 of the Treaty would be applied immediately in practice and by consensus. The Council, which is acting with due regard for the provisions of the Treaties in force, will, at the 3. appropriate time, examine any proposal submitted to it by the Commission. (98/C 158/122) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3376/97 by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Council (23 October 1997) Subject: Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries In December 1996, the European Parliament adopted resolution A4-0400/96 (1) on human rights throughout the world in 1995/1996 and the Unionís human rights policy. Paragraph 20 calls on the Council to árapidly submit a proposal on a Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries which obliges them to respect human rights in all their forms (civil, social, economical, environmental), including mechanisms of control and sanction on the grounds of the existing OECD proposalí. When can the European Parliament expect such a proposal from the Council? (1) OJ C 20, 20. 1. 1997, p. 161