Brussels, 12/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament employment and social affairs committee, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 10 February, under the chairmanship of Jan Andersson (PES, Sweden), adopted the own initiative report by Lasse Lehtinen (PES, Finland) on “the social responsibility of subcontracting undertakings in production chains” by 28 votes to 14, with no abstentions.
Thus, MEPs call on the European Commission to establish a clear-cut Community legal instrument introducing “joint and several liability” at European level, while respecting the different legal systems in place in member states. They also want the Commission to launch an assessment of the feasibility of an instrument on chain liability as a way of increasing transparency in the sub-contracting process. The scope of such an instrument should cover at least wages, social security contributions, taxes and damages in relation to work-related accidents.
In workers' rights, the concept of “joint and several liability” is an appropriate instrument for ensuring that companies are responsible for their sub-contractors' practices, the report says. The rise of sub-contracting has had far-reaching consequences for labour relations and this has sometimes made it difficult to determine clearly the branch of law applicable to the relationships between the various elements of a production chain. The report notes that the concept of “joint and several liability” has already been introduced in the sanctions directive currently being debated. The report will be put to the vote in Parliament during the plenary session in Strasbourg on 23-26 March. (G.B./transl.rt)