Undeclared work / European Platform

Key points

The EESC:

• believes that undeclared work undermines the European ideals of legality, security, solidarity, social and tax justice, free market competition and free movement of workers in the EU;
• considers that tackling undeclared work, using appropriate measures to prevent, control and combat it, is a fundamental strategic choice if we are to bring this phenomenon out of the shadows;
• welcomes the proposal to establish a European platform to enhance cooperation in combating undeclared work and believes that its remit could be expanded to include the possibility of making recommendations on legislation at EU or Member State level;
• believes that through joint and coordinated participation of all the EU countries it will be possible to address cross-border matters and issues connected with the presence of undocumented undeclared workers from third countries;
• hopes that the platform will help defining bogus self-employment and thus pave the way to an effective strategy for combating this phenomenon;
• believes that measures designed to prevent and deter undeclared work should combine a variety of tools, including tax incentives to coax undeclared work into the open;
• hopes that the EESC will be made one of the platform's observers;
• hopes that recognition will be given within the platform to the role that could be played by Eurostat, Eurofound and the OECD.