Brussels, 03/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 April, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation on improving administrative cooperation between national administrations for workers temporarily posted by their employers to another member state. Following on from the European Commission's June 2007 Communication on 'Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services,' the Recommendation sets out a series of concrete actions to remedy shortcomings in the way the existing legislation is implemented, applied and enforced. The recommendations for the member states consist of 1) the introduction of an electronic information exchange system; 2) better access to information for service providers and posted workers; and 3) exchange of information and best practice among member states through a high-level committee, at which the social partners (employers and trade unions) will be invited to play an important role. The Commission will coordinate matters. The 9 June 2008 Employment and Social Affairs Council is expected to endorse the proposal and it would become operational in September 2008.
At a briefing, Katharina von Schnurbein, spokesperson for Commissioner Spidla, said that this meant more detailed and simpler information for employers about employment conditions, less of an administrative burden for companies, work protection conditions for workers, better inspection of work and therefore tackling undeclared work. She said there are a million posted workers in the EU, explaining that posted workers are workers employed in one member state and sent to work temporarily to another member state by their employer. The EU directive on the posting of workers (76*71/EC) foresees a number of rules covering minimum pay and health and safety at the workplace, but problems have arisen with the application of the directive in practice. The recommendations urge member states to remedy these problems, some of which are caused by the increase in the number of posted workers in Europe. This is part of growing mobility and the creation of jobs, commented Katharina von Schnurbein.
When adopting the recommendation, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, stressed the need in order for society and the economy to flourish, of considering social aspects and competitiveness on an equal footing. EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said the Commission would continue to fight against any form of social dumping. The recommendation, he said, includes effective measures to combat undeclared working abroad and will increase administrative cooperation among the member states and help employment inspectors carry out their work. It is now for the member states to improve implementation of the directive on the posting of workers, he added. (G.B.)