Erste Schüsse fallen im Kampf um „sozialeren“ Binnenmarkt

"Attempts to revisit the core working conditions provisions contained in the directive have been discussed in the Council and there is no appetite there to re-open them. What is anticipated are more details on enforceability," an EU diplomat told EurActiv.

He added: "The standards in each member state need to be taken into account on their own merits. We are anticipating that the Polish Presidency will come with proposals on enforcement."

"We have to acknowledge that there are concerns, and we are often asked about the challenges by trades unions needing to know who their counterparts are," according to Inger Støjberg, the Danish minister of employment.

She said: "This is likely to be a sensitive issue so the appeal will be to have a pragmatic approach we need to find tools that will help us to find common ground. We know that there will be two proposals and we look forward to seeing them but it is going to be a hard process, we are keen to work on the issue and make it a priority under the Danish Presidency next year, but we would encourage the Commission to be careful."

"The Commission wants to re-interpret the directive but we need to re-issue it. We reject the amending approach: a fundamental review of the [Posted Workers] directive is necessary," according to MEP Pervenche Berès (France; S&D), the chair of the Parliament's committee on employment and social affairs.

"We asked José Manuel Barroso for his support in this matter when he asked us [the Socialists & Democrats faction] us to support his mandate for re-appointment [in 2009]. We need to put an end to the circumvention of the directive. The ECJ rulings have not done that. We need a system that allows for legal redress and gives us the opportunity to appeal cases."

"The idea of a Monti clause is presented as something to brook the conflict between freedom of movement and societal rights. I am sceptical that the type of regulation envisaged, under Article 352 of the EC Treaty, will be effective since that regulation does not allow Parliament an effective voice in the framing of the regulation, so I am sceptical about the regulation's ability to counter the challenge of the freedom of movement's erosion of social rights," Berès concluded.

"The fundamental right to strike as enshrined in EU law has not been affected in any way by the findings of the court in the cases relating to the Posted Workers Directive, so there is no need to change the directive," according to MEP Edith Bauer (Hungary; European People's Party), another member of the Parliament's committee on economic and social affairs.

She added: "Where problems have been highlighted by the court, countries have changed their approach accordingly. I would warn the Commission to take a pragmatic approach. A wide-ranging review will change the balance of the law and it will cut down on growth in jobs and potentially increase undeclared work. Moreover, a new legislative initiative will have few chances of being adopted in the Council and will cause controversy in the Parliament."

"Such a move would end up like the Maternity Leave Directive or the Working Time Directive. The only action that needs to be taken is to make the enforcement of the current directive better, and in order to achieve that what is really needed, is dialogue between the social partners rather than Commission proposals," Bauer concluded.

"I think there is some work to do on the directive but what is needed is the pragmatic approach," said Philippe de Buck, director-general of BusinessEurope, adding: "We are prepared to discuss elements of the Posted Workers Directive relating to shared information across borders and enforcement, because it is in our interests to prevent fraud by companies, but we are prepared to do so only on the basis of proportionality."

"I do not understand how SMEs can do nothing [about the problems thrown up by the directive] when they see workers being used for a third of the salary of ordinary labour," said Patrick Itschert, deputy secretary-general of the European Trade Union Congress (ETUC).

He went on: "We have heard of cases where Chinese and Bangladeshi women have been involved in labour where the agencies were being paid a quarter of their salaries and were confiscating their passports. We want to see a lawful salary climate and a Monti II clause might be a first step to social progress, but such a clause could be limited to the right to strike and we want the clause to be on a horizontal basis so that it covers all areas of cross-border services provision."

"I have come to this problem as a political man. You cannot rely on the judges to respond. As the guarantors of the treaty we have to find the answers and we have to give strength to the social market economy," said Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, adding: "We must give a framework that will give protection to the these workers."