B3-0297, 0301, 0328 and 0361/94

Resolution on the planned closure of the Japanese company Santana Motor (Suzuki) in Linares (Spain)

The European Parliament,

A.whereas the closure of the company Santana Motor, which is owned by the Japanese company Suzuki, would lead to the loss of 2400 jobs in the region of Linares (Jaén, Spain) and indirectly jeopardize several thousand other jobs in supplier companies, with very serious effects for the future of Andalusia, an objective No. 1 region with the highest unemployment rate in the European Union,

B.whereas Santana Motor has previously received public aid which enabled it to gain a share of the European car market,

C.whereas the Japanese company has failed to honour the arbitration agreement which it concluded with workers and the Regional Council of Andalusia,

D.whereas the conditions set by Suzuki for remaining in Linares require substantial amounts of public funds and an unacceptable reduction in the workforce,

1.Expresses its solidarity with the company's workers and with the citizens of the region of Linares, who have supported them in exemplary fashion;

2.Condemns the action of the Japanese company Suzuki in failing to meet its commitments, obligations and responsibilities as an employer;

3.Urges the management of Suzuki to respect the arbitration agreement and to conclude an agreement with the workers to keep the company open and calls on the Spanish authorities to cooperate to ensure that Suzuki remains in Linares once the agreement has been reached;

4.Considers that joint action by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, the Regional Council of Andalusia, the Linares local authorities and Andalusian savings banks could help ensure the company's survival and prevent job losses;

5.Calls on the Council and the Commission to make representations to the Government of Japan in the context of international trade relations to prevent Japanese multinational companies from withdrawing their investments in Europe, as Suzuki is doing in Linares, and to prevent Japan from unilaterally upsetting the trade balance with the Community;

6.Points to the need for a European industrial policy that will prevent ill-conceived actions of the kind taken by Suzuki in Spain and ensure that multinational companies operating within the territory of the European Union not only enjoy the benefits of the internal market but also meet all the economic and social obligations so that these benefits and obligations are in balance; calls on the Commission to consider introducing measures to regulate investments by multinational companies in the European Union;

7.Calls on the Commission to cooperate with the Spanish authorities, the company and its workers in formulating a rescue plan compatible with the granting of public aid;

8.Calls on the Commission, within the framework of the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund and Community initiatives, and in cooperation with the Spanish authorities, to carry out an industrial development feasibility study in Andalusia, bearing in mind that, according to a report published by the OECD in 1994, industrial production in the region has declined by 30%, compared to an average of 5% in the European Community as a whole;

9.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Spanish Government, the Regional Council of Andalusia, the management and trade union representatives of Santana Motor, the European Trade Union Confederation and the UNICE.