Scramble to finalise company statute deal

Date: 14/12/00

By John Shelley

THE French presidency has hastily called a meeting of social affairs ministers next week to wrap up a deal on 30-year-old plans to give companies the right to establish themselves as pan-European enterprises.

After EU leaders agreed a formula at last weekend's Nice summit to end the deadlock, diplomats were this week frantically drafting a legal text to make good on the promise to finalise a deal on the company statute plans, originally put forward by the European Commission in 1970.

Insiders say the proposals could have been rubber-stamped at any ordinary ministerial meeting and claim Paris has called the extraordinary gathering next Wednesday (20 December) to extract maximum glory out of brokering the deal. "I think they just want to have a bit of political theatre," said one EU diplomat.

The accord hammered out in Nice would allow companies to opt out of rules requiring them to give their workers rights to participate in the management of their company. Spain had been blocking a deal on the statute on this issue - previously regarded as an essential part of the proposals - since April, and insiders say it is no coincidence that an agreement was finally reached in the political melting pot of the summit.

Speculation is rife that Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar was promised or given a significant sweetener in return for unblocking the deal. Suggested 'payoffs' include the decision by EU leaders not to end national vetoes on regional aid funds until 2007, thus guaranteeing Spain generous handouts for years to come. Others say Madrid has been promised better fishing rights in Moroccan waters in the ongoing negotiations with Rabat. "A deal on the company statute was very important for the French; the Spanish will have extracted a high price for it," said one insider.

There is also speculation that the Nice deal could clear the way for agreement on another blocked proposal to give workers across the Union the right to be consulted on the running of their firm, regardless of whether it is set up as a pan-European business or not.

Berlin had said that once the company statute has been passed, it will lift its objection to the proposed consultation rules. This would be enough to get them agreed by a qualified majority vote despite fierce opposition from Dublin and London.

But diplomats say agreement on the plan at this stage seems unlikely given London's political sensitivities over the issue, with some predicting Germany might wait until after the UK elections, expected next spring, before lifting its veto.

Next week's meeting will not be the end of the road for the company statute. The new version will have to be scrutinised by MEPs, although they have no power to force a rethink, before it is formally approved by ministers.

The French Presidency has hastily called a meeting of social affairs ministers to wrap up a deal on 30-year-old plans to give companies the right to establish themselves as pan-European enterprises.