The growing phenomenon of labourers coming into Europe from south-east Asia and elsewhere is fuelling a dangerous rise in exploitative labour practices that requires urgent EU action, labour unions and civil society groups have warned.
Trade unions fear that a "political" opinion from the European Court of Justice could lead to the overhaul the rules on the posting of workers employed with companies that hire out temporary staff and the single market.
Marek Benio, who will chair the 6th European Labour Mobility Congress in Krakow on 14-15 March, offers his commentary regarding the European Parliament's proposals for the revision of regulations affecting social security schemes for posted workers.
Truck drivers should earn the same salaries as their foreign colleagues while working abroad, according to new EU rules. But non-EU competition and disgruntled hauliers complicate the issue further. EURACTIV Czech Republic reports.
Associations working to fight against inequalities are calling on the EU to adopt a more aggressive policy against fraudulent employers. This approach echoes a survey showing that the majority of French people are closely following this issue. EURACTIV France reports.
European manufacturers are supposed to do business freely within the European Union’s single market, but in reality, companies face considerable restraints when sending employees abroad.
Doing business across EU borders should be frictionless. But in reality, European companies still face excessive bureaucracy when posting workers to another EU country, writes Thilo Brodtmann.
After 27 months of negotiations, MEPs approved a revision of the posted workers directive, an issue which symbolises divisions between East and West in the EU. EURACTIV.fr reports.
The European Commission wants to set up a new EU agency to oversee cross-border labour disputes and manage the growing number of people who travel within the bloc for work. The agency would receive a budget of €50 million and open before the current Commission’s term ends next year.
The European Union reached a tentative agreement on Thursday (1 March) to tighten employment rules for workers who move to richer member states in order to earn more money but also risk undercutting wages in their adopted country.
A recent uptick in EU legislation on social issues has sparked disagreement between member states on controversial files to regulate labour rules across the bloc. Now legislators are trying to hammer out a way to enforce the growing number of rules.
Although the compromise in the field of posted workers would not be beneficial to the single market, to drastically reduce the number of posted workers would be even more catastrophic for Europe as a whole, writes Marek Benio.
EU ministers yesterday night (23 October) struck a compromise after marathon talks about low-cost labour from Eastern and Central Europe, a decision affecting workers posted temporarily to more affluent bloc members.
After this week's European Council summit in Brussels, EU leaders are already preparing for their next meeting, which will take place in Sweden next month and focus on social issues. It's a divisive area and member states still have one major hurdle in their way before they reconvene.
Employers from the western EU Member States don’t stick to the rules when it comes to posted workers, a series of checks conducted by the Czech Republic has shown.
MEPs adopted the equal pay for equal work principle but the maximum time posted workers are allowed abroad remains unanswered. EURACTIV France reports.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wants to set up a new EU institution to monitor how labour law is applied in member states. The Commission will outline its plans for the supervisory authority by the end of 2018.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło accused French President Emmanuel Macron of "trying to introduce protectionism" on Wednesday (6 September) amid a clash over his proposals to overhaul a controversial EU rule on sending workers abroad.
The debate on posted workers has flared up again following Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Austria, Romania, Bulgaria and Luxembourg. But to break the deadlock, Europe needs to broaden its approach to the issue, write Frederic De Wispelaere and Jozef Pacolet.
There needs to be an EU-wide solution to precarious app economy jobs, said Estonian Labour and Health Minister Jevgeni Ossinovski in an interview with EURACTIV.com.
The centre-right French MEP in charge of guiding the controversial posting of workers directive through the European Parliament has lashed out at Emmanuel Macron after he promised to strike a compromise on the legislation by the end of this year.
Snubbing Poland, French President Emmanuel Macron is touring eastern EU countries to gather support for tightening EU rules over the employment of cheap labour in other member states. But Warsaw said it would oppose this reform “to the very end”.
The French and Austrian heads of state shared their views on EU workers from low-pay countries and on the future of the EU during a summit in Vienna. EURACTIV France reports.
