The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) “strongly opposes the ‘EU talent pool’ proposal in its current form and urges Members of the European Parliament to reject it”, it said in a statement on Monday 10 February.
While the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs is due to approve its position on 19 February on this platform designed to help Member States employ workers from third countries to meet specific needs (see EUROPE 13431/4), the EFBWW considers that the “proposal poses serious risks for the protection of workers and will lead to an increase in social dumping and labour crime in the construction sector”.
It “will not provide safer immigration channels for third-country nationals. On the contrary, it risks becoming a tool for the increased exploitation of these workers”. The construction sector is already classified as a high-risk, fraud-sensitive sector, with long-standing problems such as false postings, abusive subcontracting chains and illegal working practices, the body points out.
Among other things, it is concerned that the proposal defines employers as “any natural or legal person, private employment agencies, temporary employment agencies and labour market intermediaries”, but “does not lay down any requirements as to the good repute of recruiters, any screening procedure or any exclusion from the reserve in the event of misconduct”.
“In addition, the talent pool overlooks the key role that sectoral social partners should play, by excluding them from key governance structures despite their vital role in enforcing labour standards”.
The Commission's initial draft regulation, dating from 2023, provides for the Talent Pool to provide services to employers established in the participating Member States, including private employment agencies, temporary work agencies and labour market intermediaries.
In her draft opinion, Marianne Vind (S&D, Danish) states that the talent pool should concern employers established in the participating Member States “who have significant economic activities in those Member States other than purely internal management or administrative activities and who have, or intend to have, a direct employment relationship with a third-country worker”. It also stresses the role of the social partners, but that concessions have been made to the right-wing groups or Renew Europe, whose amendments insist, for example, on the Commission's original wording with regard to the employers concerned.
Some groups in the European Parliament, such as The Left, also point to concerns similar to those of the EFBWW regarding intermediaries and subcontracting, or insufficient sanctions against ill-intentioned employers.
Links to the EFBWW position and European Parliament opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/ff9 ; (French): https://aeur.eu/f/ffa (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)