Annual report of the Economic and social consultative assembly 1990

European Economic And Social Committee

Description

Activities of the institutions and bodies

Sujets

• Annual report
• Economic union
• Currency union
• European Economic and Social Committee
• Economie gestion

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-ECONOMIC-AND-SOCIAL-COMMITTEE
• Nombre de lectures: 37
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
Division 'Information, Publications and Relations
with Socio-economic Groups'
Rue Ravenstein 2, B-1000 BRUSSELS
Tel. [phone] Telegrams ECOSEUR
Fax [phone] Telex 25 983 CESEUR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY
Annual Report
1990
Brussels — 1991 Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1991
ISBN 92-830-0154-0
Catalogue number: EX-60-90-353-EN-C
© ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels . Luxembourg, 1991
Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is
acknowledged
Printed in Belgium Contents
Preface 5
Chapter I — Presence and influence of the Economic and Social Commit­
tee 9
Chapter II — Work of the Committee 23
1. Agriculture, forestry, rural development and fisheries 2
2. Transport policy and telecommunications9
3. Social, family, educational and cultural affairs 3
4. Economic, financial and monetary policy
5. Regional development and town and country planning policy 52
6. Industrial policy 5
7. External relations, trade and development policy 67
8. Energy policy, nuclear questions and research 75
9. Environment, public health and consumer affairs 81
Chapter III — Press and media relations 93 IV — The Groups
Chapter V — Internal aspects of the Secretariat 10
1. Staff 10
2. Budget1
3. Meetings
4. Structure of the General Secretariat in 1990
Annex A — Presence and influence of the Economic and Social Commit­
tee5
Annex Β — Action taken by the Commission on ESC opinions adopted
between January and September 1990 11
Annex C — List of Opinions, studies and information reports issued
during 1990 179
Annex D — List of Opinions drawn up by the Committee on its own
initiative during 1990 197
Annex E — Graphs 203 Preface
The work of the Economic and Social Committee in 1990 kept pace with the
radical changes occurring both within the Community and in Europe as a
whole.
The steady progress of Member States towards economic and monetary
union has been backed by Committee Opinions generally favourable to
Commission proposals and in line with the decisions of the Madrid
Council.
Preparations for the December intergovernmental conference on eco­
nomic and monetary union and political union have moved with an
increasing sense of urgency, bringing with them far-reaching proposals
for reform of the institutional framework. A considerable part of the work
of the Committee Presidency during the year was thus directed towards
ensuring that the intergovernmental conference would consider a propo­
sal to recognize the ESC as an institution thereby enabling it to fulfil its
allotted task of providing the Council, Commission and European Parlia­
ment with Opinions on the feasibility of Community policy drawn from the
practical experience of the representatives of economic and social orga­
nizations who are its members.
The desire of the President, Mr Barón Crespo, and many Members of the
European Parliament to see the Committee better integrated into the
decision-making process was spectacularly manifested in Parliament's
decision to associate the ESC with the work of the interinstitutional
preparatory conferences leading up to the intergovernmental confer­
ences.
A revision of the Committee's status, while in no way affecting the purely
advisory capacity prescribed for it in the Treaties, would give it the
functional freedom needed to keep up with the ever-increasing demands
of Council and Commission. In 1990 183 ESC Opinions were adopted,
compared with 171 in 1989 and only 100 in 1985. An insight into the influence of ESC work is provided by an overall survey
of action taken by the Council on the basis of ESC Opinions during the
period from October 1988 to September 1990. This suggests that the
Council accepts the Opinion of the Committee in about 60% of cases.
The Presidency and members are grateful for expressions of support from
successive Presidents of the Council of Ministers and for their attendance
at Plenary Sessions and section meetings.
Throughout the year the Committee's efforts to improve its effectiveness
were fully supported by the President of the Commission, Mr Delors, and
by Ms Papandreou, the Commissioner charged with relations with the
Economic and Social Committee. Working relations with the Commission­
ers in specific policy areas have been generally cordial. The Committee
particularly appreciates the Commissioners' readiness to explain new
policies and answer questions both in section meetings and in Plenary
Session.
Despite the speed with which the Committee responded to the Commis­
sion's call for a Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights,
subsequent progress in this area has been slow. By the end of November
1990 only three proposals arising from the previous year's social action
programme had been referred for Opinion: atypical work, the protection of
pregnant women at work, and the reorganization of working time. At its
December session the Committee fully endorsed Commission guidelines
for the organization of a European Year of Safety, Hygiene and Health
Protection at Work.
In March, some 20 years after the idea was first considered, a large
majority of ESC members voted in favour of a European Company Statute.
The agreement of both employer and worker representatives to this
Opinion give it added weight.
Events on and beyond the Eastern borders of the Community have been
the subject of profound consideration. Work initiated by the Committee
itself offers the continuing help of all organizations represented among the
membership in the creation of homologous socio-professional groupings
in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Developing relations with these countries also figured on the agenda of
the 20th Joint Meeting with the EFTA Consultative Committee in Goteborg
in June. Participants stressed the need to integrate the role of social
partners into the final treaty establishing a European economic area.
6 Representatives of ACP economic and social interest groups, emerging
from the workshops on basic education and literacy, and training in rural
areas into which the 14th annual meeting had divided, concluded that
every effort should be made to widen the spread of information to all
socio-economic organizations and NGOs on the possibilities contained in
the Lomé Convention, and to improve existing cooperation mechanisms.
In the coming year the Economic and Social Committee will continue to
use its unique ability to contribute dynamically to every aspect of
Community strategy for economic and social development, and to trust
that the quality of its work will persuade the governments of Member
States to agree to grant it institutional status in the interests of a
democratic representation of all categories of economic and social
activity.
A. Masprone
Chairman 1988-90