Brussels, 26/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption of the report by Anne-Karin Glase (EPP-ED, Germany) concerning the Commission's communication on undeclared work, the European Parliament urges Member States - given the link between the magnitude of undeclared work on one hand and the level of taxes and charges as well as the degree of cohesion and social protection on the other - to step up efforts with a view to reducing taxes and charges and to increasing the flexibility of the labour market while guaranteeing social protection. It invites the Commission to evaluate, in particular, the impact of undeclared crossborder work and the exploitation of child labour but also to examine the phenomenon of undeclared work in declared companies (i.e. in firms where the same workers are partly declared and partly undeclared), and to present, where necessary, proposals that may combat this phenomenon. Social partners are invited to contemplate strengthened joint action to fight against undeclared work.
Statistics clearly show that, in many Member States, the problem is more acute in the poor regions and in low income sectors. There are, however, other causes of this kind of work such as the high level of tax and social contributions imposed on individuals and excessive administrative charges and general costs on enterprise.
We recall that the Commission adopted its communication on undeclared work in April 1998. With this communication, the Commission hoped: - to initiate a debate at European level on undeclared work, a sector of the economy that represents between 10 and 28 million jobs, or 7-19% of all jobs in the EU; - to identify the causes of this problem; to include the fight against undeclared work in the overall strategy for employment; - and to allow Member States to launch coordinated and integrated actions for fighting undeclared work (see EUROPE of 26/27 April 1998).