On Thursday 12 February, European Parliament adopted by 332 votes to 209, with 33 abstentions, a report by Sweden’s Johan Danielsson (S&D) calling for a European strategy to combat labour exploitation, in particular illegal employment, abusive subcontracting and labour intermediation.
The elected representatives are calling on the Commission to step up its efforts to combat labour exploitation, including abusive subcontracting, according to a press release. They call for a comprehensive European strategy to combat this exploitation because it “is not only a violation of workers’ rights and human rights, but also undermines fair competition for businesses”.
According to MEPs, outsourcing core business activities can lead to fragmented and unsafe workplaces and reduced transparency and accountability. It can also expose workers to longer working hours, lower wages, risks to their health and safety at work and job insecurity.
It is essential “to address illegal practices in subcontracting chains in order to ensure business competitiveness and fair and safe working conditions”, says the report, but it does not advocate for legislation or limits on subcontracting chains, as Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs initially wanted.
The report also calls for greater collaboration between the European Labour Authority, Europol, national authorities and social partners.
Parliament also calls on authorities to better enforce penalties against labour exploitation, for example, through the mutual recognition of trade bans and criminal sanctions.
European Parliament “finally acknowledges the abuses of cascading subcontracting and the inadequacy of the European legal framework. This is an important political step forward”, hailed French MEP Leïla Chaibi (The Left).
“But the right has weakened the text by removing key elements such as giving priority to direct employment, limiting subcontracting levels and strictly regulating intermediaries”.
Now Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu “must act - and quickly”.
The EPP Group was almost evenly divided on this report, with French members choosing to abstain. The ECR and PfE groups voted against.
Link to the adopted report: https://aeur.eu/f/kq0 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)