EESC opinion: Posting of workers

EESC opinion: Posting of workers

Key points:

Taking into account the new proposals, the Committee:

  • stresses that the Commission is moving in the right direction, in particular with the proposal to boost administrative cooperation and set up an information exchange system between Member States;
  • applauds the Commission's intention to set up a high ranking committee in cooperation with Member States, trade unions and employers and emphasises that European sectoral social partners should be explicitly involved in the process, by being automatically represented on the committee as soon as it is set up;
  • expresses concerns about the problems of detecting bogus "self-employed workers" and their legal reclassification and calls on the Commission to consider possible legal and practical solutions;
  • supports the Commission intention to engage with the Member States and social partners in an in-depth examination of cross-border enforcement problems (sanctions, fines, joint and several liability);
  • supports the Commission's initiatives which have been proposed to the Council, but expresses concern that they are too one-sided in their approach, focusing primarily on the removal of the restrictions or obstacles for companies posting workers to other countries. The same degree of importance should also be attached to enforcing employees' protected rights. In particular, the Committee has its misgiving about the abolition of the obligation to keep social registers in the Member State in which the service is being provided.