Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-23-Speech-1-166"
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"en.20090323.19.1-166"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission very much welcomes this report.
However important subcontracting may be for increasing productivity and competitiveness, we fully recognise the need for effective measures to ensure that it neither encourages nor facilitates non-compliance with employment conditions, particularly where there are long subcontracting chains. Adequate, effective, deterrent penalties are needed to ensure that subcontractors meet their legal and contractual obligations in full, in particular in relation to workers’ rights. Greater transparency in the subcontracting process will lead to greater overall protection of workers’ rights, an issue to which the Commission is – and will remain – very attached, as you know.
Whilst I might approve of your general principle, according to which European problems require European solutions, I would be more prudent in relation to the conclusion set out in paragraph 14 of the report, which says that the problem can only be resolved by introducing a clear-cut legal instrument that introduces joint and several liability at European level.
The report also seems to go in this direction in paragraph 15, where it calls for an impact assessment on the added value and feasibility of such a Community instrument. As regards the call for the Commission to guarantee effective compliance with the directive on the posting of workers, made in paragraph 25, I would like to point out that we have recently set up a high-level working party on the posting of workers. This working party consists of representatives from the Member States and the social partners and is aimed at improving the practical application of the directive and, in particular, administrative cooperation among Member States. It will hold its first meeting on 25 March.
In this regard, I would like to mention a study entitled ‘Liability in subcontracting processes in the European construction sector’, published in 2008 by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, which highlights both the major differences between the national joint liability systems and their level of effectiveness. This study also highlighted the fact that there would appear to be no universal solution and recommended further debate and research, particularly in relation to cross-border issues.
The problem that we are trying to solve is of a social nature, but the solution proposed clearly has implications that go well beyond the social domain. We therefore need to study its economic and legal repercussions in detail.
I fully agree that this problem deserves more complete research and that, before presenting draft legislation, we must study carefully various non-regulatory methods for dealing with some of the issues raised in the report, in other words: improved cooperation and coordination among national authorities, inspection and other national enforcement authorities; an awareness of good practice within companies; current guidelines and standards; initiatives on social responsibility; and transnational company agreements, into which are already built innovative provisions relating to risk assessment procedures and the supervision of subcontractors."@en1
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