Question for oral answer O-000026/2018
to the Commission
Rule 128
Alberto Cirio, Sergio Gaetano Cofferati, Daniele Viotti, Elisabetta Gardini, Patrizia Toia, Laura Agea, Matteo Salvini, Barbara Spinelli, Lorenzo Cesa, Raffaele Fitto, Massimiliano Salini, Dario Tamburrano, Isabella Adinolfi, Marco Affronte, Daniela Aiuto, Tiziana Beghin, Brando Benifei, Goffredo Maria Bettini, Mara Bizzotto, Simona Bonafè, Mario Borghezio, David Borrelli, Mercedes Bresso, Renata Briano, Nicola Caputo, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Salvatore Cicu, Angelo Ciocca, Lara Comi, Ignazio Corrao, Silvia Costa, Andrea Cozzolino, Rosa D'Amato, Nicola Danti, Paolo De Castro, Isabella De Monte, Eleonora Evi, Laura Ferrara, Lorenzo Fontana, Eleonora Forenza, Enrico Gasbarra, Elena Gentile, Michela Giuffrida, Roberto Gualtieri, Cécile Kashetu Kyenge, Giovanni La Via, Curzio Maltese, Barbara Matera, Stefano Maullu, Luigi Morgano, Alessia Maria Mosca, Alessandra Mussolini, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Massimo Paolucci, Aldo Patriciello, Piernicola Pedicini, Pina Picierno, Salvatore Domenico Pogliese, David-Maria Sassoli, Elly Schlein, Remo Sernagiotto, Renato Soru, Marco Valli, Marco Zanni, Flavio Zanonato, Damiano Zoffoli, Marco Zullo

The decision by the Embraco company to relocate its (operational) Riva di Chiera production plant to another Member State, laying off 497 workers in the process, raises a number of broader political issues, all the more so since the move was prompted by purely financial considerations, effectively amounting to social and fiscal dumping in favour of a Member State in which pay and taxes are lower. This nothing less than deplorable, since we should be seeking to make the most of our human resources and not simply discarding them in a bid to increase already healthy profit margins. The EU internal market should be encouraging growth in all its regions and not in some at the expense of others.

In view of this:

1. Can the Commission assess the situation regarding the smooth functioning of the internal market, especially in view of the beggar-my-neighbour policies being adopted by the Member States, and establish whether public funds are being used to encourage relocations within the EU?

2. Can it carry out exhaustive checks to ensure that no inadmissible use has been made of public funds in the specific case of the Embraco company?

3. Can it make corporate social responsibility a key factor when it comes to weighing up eligibility for public funding and the award of contracts?

4. Can it say whether relocation within the EU in pursuit of lower pay and taxes is compatible with the Treaties?

5. Does it not consider that companies relocating within the EU should be required to help meet the cost of finding alternative employment for their redundant workforce?