Letters sent to Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Hungarian and Italian Ministers of Labour and Finance
Call to extend emergency measures to non-standard workers (including self-employed)
Dear Ministers,
I am following up on the joint letter of the European social partners, dated November 30th, on prolongation of emergency measures and involvement in national Recovery and Resilience Plans. I am very concerned by the fact that in your country non-standard workers (including self-employed) are not given income support, or receive very limited support in terms of sectors covered, duration and level of compensation.
This is resulting in a dramatic drop in income for these categories of workers, particularly during this second wave of the pandemic. Millions of these workers are now disappearing from the labour market and falling into poverty.
I appeal to your Government to extend the scope of short-time work / income support schemes so that they also cover non-standard workers (including self-employed) in your country.
May I remind you that all Member States have engaged to protect self-employed and workers in precarious circumstances against the adverse economic effects of the pandemic. This was reflected in the scope of SURE, which many European workers have already benefited from.
Furthermore, in line with the above-mentioned joint letter, social partners should be fully involved in the design and implementation of these schemes. This is part of their engagement in the national Recovery and Resilience Plans, as recommended by the European Commission in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2021.
I remain at your disposal and look forward to receiving further information, and reassurance, about how this very serious problem is being resolved. We need to make sure that the commitment that ‘nobody is left behind’ during the pandemic is turned into reality.
Best regards,
Luca Visentini