Brussels, 13/06/2007
In its Communication on the posting of workers, adopted today, the European Commission endangers the sensitive balance between the freedom to provide cross-border services and the need for effective instruments to monitor and enforce labour standards in the host country, embodied in the final agreement on the Services Directive. It reaffirms a very narrow interpretation of European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law, and announces procedures against Member States that continue to impose requirements regarded by the Commission as incompatible with Community law.
“The Communication shows that the Commission has not sufficiently taken account of the European Parliament's recent clear position on this issue,” said the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) General Secretary John Monks.
The ETUC, in its response to the Commission questionnaire on the implementation of the Guidelines issued in March 2006, warned against moving from legitimate claims for administrative transparency and simplification to steps that would undermine the valid requirements imposed by certain Member States in order to implement and enforce the Posting Directive. The diversity in legal systems and industrial relations across the EU must be taken into account when judging whether certain requirements are necessary and proportionate, as well as the main goal of the Posting Directive: to provide for fair competition and protection of workers' rights.
The ETUC will monitor closely the steps the Commission takes with regard to this important issue, to ensure they will not undermine the key role of the Posting Directive in safeguarding proper conditions for the mobility of workers and services.