mr president first of all many thanks to the rapporteur
though the amendments voted through committee were not what he wanted in fact he wanted no amendments he nevertheless defended the committee position in the negotiations which led to this first-reading agreement
many thanks also to mr cremers our shadow rapporteur who was the real architect of the content of the agreement
the three additions to the points agreed by the social partners in their advice note on sanctions on transnationality and the removal of the threshold for the special negotiating body are important in themselves but many of us as has been said still feel cheated by this recasting
we were promised a full revision of the directive almost ten years ago
other serious deficiencies need to be addressed and we insist that the commission should bring forward that full revision during the next mandate
another serious concern about the handling of this recasting was the crossover between the social dialogue and legislative tracks
the social partners were consulted in accordance with article one hundred and thirty-nine and eventually signalled their inability or unwillingness to negotiate a framework agreement
but just as we began our legislative work they did signal that they would like to open negotiations
they then agreed an advice note which has no standing at all in the treaties but that gave our rapporteur mr bushill-matthews the opportunity to pretend to be conciliatory by accepting the content of the note but nothing more
rather than acting as a spur to our work that advice note almost became a straitjacket
the article one hundred and thirty-nine and one hundred and thirty-eight procedures need to be kept clearly separated
it is wrong if either undermines or constrains the other and it is the job of the commission to ensure that separation
even as we speak a similar crossover is being allowed to derail a legislative amendment we have been calling for to address the problem of needle-stick injuries
i repeat this is dangerous and can only lead to resentment and distrust between the social partners and parliament
nevertheless this is a step forward in terms of information and consultation rights for workers and i welcome it
