92001E1482

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1482/01

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(18 May 2001)

Subject: Clergy and employment rights in the UK

Given that the UK, in the Employment Rights Act 1996, did not provide for any exclusion from the Council Directive 91/533/EEC(1) of 14 October 1991 for the clergy, is it the view of the Commission that they must be covered?

Does it not follow that any court ruling that the clergy are excluded cannot be made without a preliminary reference to the European Court of Justice?

If such a ruling were made without a preliminary reference what remedy is available and should the Commission not take the matter up with the UK Government as a breach of Community law?

(1) OJ L 288, 18.10.1991, p. 32.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(12 July 2001)

Council Directive 91/533/EEC (Written Statement Directive)(1) specifies that employers are obliged to notify employees of the essential aspects of their contract or employment relationship. This includes information on the identities of the parties, the place of work and certain other working conditions.

This directive was implemented into British Law through the Employment Rights Act of 1996, which makes no specific provisions with respect to clergy.

Article 1 of the Directive deals with the scope of its application. The Directive applies only to paid employee[s] having a contract or employment relationship defined by the law in force in a Member State and/or governed by the law in force in a Member State (Article 1(1)). If, according to British law, clergy do not have the status of paid employees in the meaning of that provision, they are therefore not covered by the provisions of the Employment Rights Act which implement the Directive.

The application of national legislation implementing Community Directives is subject to national judicial review. According to Article 234 (ex Article 177) of the EC Treaty, a preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice is required if any question concerning (i) the interpretation of the EC Treaty, (ii) the validity and interpretation of acts of the institutions of the Community and of the European Central Bank, or (iii) the interpretation of the statutes of bodies established by an act of the Council, where those statutes so provide, is raised before a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law. The Commission is not aware of such cases in the UK with respect to Directive 91/ 533 and clergymen.

If a national court or tribunal would not comply with its obligations under Article 234 of the EC Treaty it would commit an infringement of treaty rules for which the Member State would be responsible.

(1) Council Directive 91/533/EEC of 14 October 1991 on an employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship (OJ L 288, 18.10.1991).