Commission is sending out contradictory messages on enforcement of posting directive

Brussels, 05/04/2006

In a period in which transnational provision of services and mobility of workers is increasingly taking place within the EU 25, the Posting Directive plays a key role in providing for fair competition by guaranteeing the respect for workers' rights, labour law and industrial relations systems in Member States.

This key role was challenged by the Draft Directive on Services in the Internal Market, as proposed by Commission in 2004. But in February a convincing majority of the European Parliament voted in favour of fundamental changes to the Services Directive, safeguarding a full respect for all matters covered by the Posting Directive, as well as deleting the articles with regard to ‘prohibited administrative requirements' used by Member States. On that occasion, the Commission promised to come up with a communication on how to improve administrative simplification, summarizing the CJEC jurisprudence in this regard, providing guidance for Member States.

Mid March, the ETUC Executive adopted a position on the implementation of the Posting Directive emphasizing that it expects from the Commission a proactive approach to improve the level of implementation and enforcement of the Directive. ETUC also stressed that an increasingly open labour market in the EU requires a set of firm and fair rules of the game, in which transparency and security for workers are put centre stage, to support cross border mobility of workers, both in the framework of services and the free movement of workers. Such framework cannot do without mechanisms and instruments for the cross border monitoring and enforcement of working conditions and labour standards.

The ETUC welcomes the emphasis in today's documents by the Commission on the need for Member States to step up their actions and activities to monitor compliance and take effective measures in case of non-compliance. However, the Commission at the same time puts into question the very mechanisms and instruments that Member States are currently utilising to that end. The guidelines, summarizing ECJ case-law, appear to be an over-simplification, overlooking the specificities of the various cases, taking no account of the great diversity of national labour market regulation and industrial relations systems, and paying insufficient attention to the legal obligation of Member States to use effective instruments - adapted to their circumstances - to enforce the Posting Directive and provide workers with protection.

The ETUC strongly warns the European Institutions and Member States not to confuse legitimate claims to administrative transparency and simplification with questioning the validity of requirements that - in the framework of complex regulatory systems that exist at national level - are necessary to properly monitor and enforce the Posting Directive.

ETUC regrets that the document has not been subject to prior consultation, calls on the Commission to take a more balanced approach on this issue, and demands that the document will be reviewed on the basis of proper consultation of the Social Partners and the European Parliament.


- ETUC Resolution March 2006