On Monday 18 December, the European Builders' Confederation (EBC) put forward no fewer than 12 proposals to improve the regulation on the coordination of social security systems (Regulation 883/2004 and 978/2009) currently being examined by the Council and European Parliament.
The EBC considers that it is necessary that the social security rules of the host country apply to posted workers for six months after the beginning of the posting. In this regard, the organisation is proposing that derogations are introduced for rules relating to the directive on the posting of workers, as currently being discussed in the inter-institutional negotiations (see EUROPE 11927).
The posted worker must be affiliated to the social security system of their country of origin for six months before the beginning of the posting. The “substantial activity” of the employer in the Member State of origin should be better defined and any threshold should be settled at least at 25% of the total turnover. For persons active in two or more member states, a maximum time period will need to be set after which, the situation of the worker will need to be reviewed. Finally, social security rules will need to be applied for non-European Union posted workers as well.
The EBC would like to modernise the A1 form confirming the worker's affiliation to a social security organisation and also requests its dematerialisation into a digital format. The EBC is requesting that the certificate should be issued before the beginning of the posting but without retroactive effect. The host member state will also have the possibility of examining the reliability of the A1 certificate issued and, if needs be, of rejecting it. According to the EBC, a common European digital database for the A1 certificates should be created in an effort to facilitate cooperation between the authorities responsible for inspection and the member states.
The EBC is also calling on the member states to guarantee a high-quality inspection system and impose dissuasive penalties and fines. It is also proposing to create a European list of countries responsible for serious violations of European social and employment legislation that will also include “letterbox companies”. It is also suggesting that the Commission facilitate the exchange of good practices on the prevention of fraud and inspecting private accommodation.
The full document can be seen at the following link: http://bit.ly/2oJTpiQ. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)