Activities of Laura AGEA related to 2015/2255(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on social dumping in the European Union PDF (540 KB) DOC (186 KB)
Amendments (38)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas social dumping has a greater impact in social and cultural environments in which there is little knowledge of workers’ rights and in which women have greater difficulty in entering the labour market;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas so many migrant women and girls arriving in Europe are forced to accept inadequate working conditions in economic and social conditions that vary from country to country and are often inappropriate for the work done;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Member States to adopt specific measures with the aim of professionalising and qualifying, in a harmonised manner, work such as housekeeping, which today is often done illegally, also because of a cultural heritage that hinders change;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Expresses concern about the impact that bilateral and multilateral agreements, such as TTIP and TiSA, might have on social standards in the labour market in Europe, particularly for women, and calls for specific safeguards to be provided in this regard against all forms of social dumping;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States always to take into consideration, in their laws, the social impact of the harmonisation of existing rules and the implementation of new provisions, in order to eliminate all forms of social dumping, with specific reference to aspects relating to women;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to carry out ex ante assessments of the impact that structural reforms have in Europe on social and labour conditions, with clear reference to aspects relating to women;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make provision for equal minimum salaries throughout Europe, for various types of work, in order to prevent social dumping;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the structural employment market reforms called for by the EU have resulted in casualisation and social security cuts in some Member States;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas there is a growing trend toward using vouchers instead of regular employment contracts, which is unfair and, very often, illegal and leads to increased job insecurity;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas there is a need to verify the state of implementation and the benefits of applying Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas we do not yet know which Member States have correctly implemented Directive 2014/67/EU on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on Member States to increase and improve the efficiency of the staffing levels and resources of their labour inspectorates and their liaison offices, in particular for interpretation and translation;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Urges Member States to foster exchanges of information between labour inspectors and, following proper training, with the European body of cross-border labour inspectors, and to create a joint database of ‘letter box companies’, their holding companies and their commercial partners; (Information-exchange and data-sharing in the European Union are an essential precondition to combating all illegal activity.)
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for the implementation by Member States of electronic systems for the registration of the prior declaration of posting missions; recommends, in that connection, appropriate training to create an effective system and avoid further burdensome red tape;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive based on ILO Convention No. 189 concerning decent work for domestic workers; urges, in that connection, that this directive should provide for appropriate training and information on the rights and obligations of this category of workers;
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Takes the view that the competent authorities should be able to suspend the provision of services in cases of serious breaches of legislation on postings; considers that the amount of the fines should exceedbe no less than double the employees' contributions; (The original wording of the article provides for penalties that are higher than employees'’ contributions;, without setting a minimum which, in principle, could also be a higher but nominal amount, and thus not constitute a deterrent for breaching the rules.)
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls its appeal for the creation of 'a forgery-proof European social security card (...) on which could be stored all the data needed to verify the bearer’s employment relationship'11; wishes all the information associated with the worker's postings to feature on this card; calls, further, for all the information and data to be processed in the interests of the workers and in a manner consistent with their right to privacy; __________________ 11 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDo c.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA- 2014-0012+0+DOC+XML+V0//FR
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls for a public list to be drawn up of enterprises responsible for serious breaches of EU legislation;, and of members of the board of directors, members of the board of statutory auditors, associated companies and their commercial partners; (The enterprise list alone is not an adequate instrument, given that companies can easily be dissolved and replaced with another company.)
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on Member States to combat social dumping by imposing penalties that are not less than double the profit made from breaching European Union legislation, for which the company guilty of the breaches, the members of its board of directors, the members of its board of statutory auditors, and its associated companies should jointly and severally liable; (Deterrent and punitive penalties should be significant and, not just the company, but also those responsible for their administration, including de facto, and supervision should be jointly and severally liable.)
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Considers that the notion of 'minimum wage' contained in Directive 96/71/EC should be revised to ensure equal pay for posted workers and local workers in similar positions; stresses the need to respect the collective agreements of the host country and to ensure, through the revision of Regulations (EC) No. 883/2004 and (EC) No. 987/2009, the payment of gross earnings corresponding to the remuneration paid by the employer before the deduction of taxes and social security contributions payable by employees and withheld by the employer; recalls that specific postings bonuses should be paid on top of remuneration; stresses that the notion of ‘minimum wage’, like that of equal pay for posted workers and local workers in similar positions, are conditions that can be guaranteed by applying homogeneous economic and tax rules, which are the primary condition for fighting unfair competition and therefore social dumping;
Amendment 437 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for increased controls on the implementation of working time and rest times in transport; calls for the introduction of automatic digital records and the development of 'smart tachographs' for all means of transport, including inland waterway transportrecommends that, in the event of acquisitions or the transfer of company property, it is clearly stated which requirements are not disregarded but carried over into the new contracts; calls for the introduction of automatic digital records and the development of 'smart tachographs' for all means of transport, including inland waterway transport; stresses that instruments such as ‘smart tachographs’ and ‘GNSS systems’ used on all means of transport guarantee constant traceability in real time of the vehicle, in particular freight vehicles; recalls the desire expressed in its resolution of 3 July 2012 on road transport that 'by 2020 all vehicles which are not exempted from the application of this Regulation in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 (...) with a smart tachograph’12 ; __________________ 12 www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?t ype=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012- 0271&language=FR&ring=A7-2012- 0195#BKMD-7 (Regulations on working time, driving times, rest times and cabotage are often circumvented by transport companies looking to maximise profits to the detriment of their workers. Nonetheless, there are no effective instruments available to police authorities for carrying out the necessary checks. GNSS monitoring systems may be used to this end to check that the law is being abided by, with real time checks and the collection of data and information. These GNSS systems are also compatible with the GALILEO and EGNOS systems, which can ensure added benefits in terms of the precision and accuracy of data.)
Amendment 460 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for the creation of a European transport agency bringing together existing agencies; takes the view that at the very least, a specific road transport agency is neededessential, recalling that this sector is heavily affected by social dumping;
Amendment 464 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on Members States and the Commission to mobilise the instruments and economic resources necessary for fighting, particularly in the shipping and air transport sectors, the phenomena of exceeding the maximum number of hours of work per day and the failure to respect the minimum number of rest hours, including weekly days of rest and public holidays; (In many Member States, staff (such as sailors and flight crews in Italy) are forced to work long hours without a break: the failure to respect working hours seriously impairs the safety of the workers and the means of transport, and - of course - constitutes a harmful form of unfair competition.)
Amendment 475 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Asks the Commission to clarify the provisions so that a distinction can be drawn between employees and self- employed workers to combat 'bogus self employment'; stresses, in this regard, that low-cost airlines in particular use self- employment contracts for pilots, which often provide for the employment of pilots at the end of their careers, who are often hired through temporary agencies based outside the EU; recommends to this end to establish, where this is the case, urgent regulations limiting the abuse of this practice; emphasises that airline pilots and train drivers cannot be considered to be independent of the companies for which they work;
Amendment 480 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Recommends that the Commission carefully monitors acquisitions by airlines from outside the EU to provide for urgent regulations in this area to fight the largely widespread phenomenon of ‘selling off’ social safeguards in exchange for economic conditions that only appear to be more advantageous; calls on the Commission to ensure that the social safeguards provided for by the contracts of workers from the European Union are the ‘conditio sine qua non’ for these acquisitions;
Amendment 481 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Recommends to the Commission that a national collective agreement be drawn up and applied correctly in all Member States in cooperation with the social partners, to guarantee certain rules on rest times and suitable social safeguards, above all in the event of acquisitions by airlines outside the EU;
Amendment 500 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Believes that the rules on cabotage are currently not sufficiently precise or harmonised at European level, which facilitates the practice of some road operators of engaging in permanent cabotage; wishes cabotage operations to be subject to mandatory prior notification; calls for the European register to be made accessible to the police forces of Member States so that they may carry out the appropriate checks;
Amendment 520 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses the need for a new regulation on ground-handling at airports to ensure mandatory social and wage protection for workers in the event of new calls for tenders or the partial loss of work; supporttresses, in this regard, the need for the social guarantees provided for in old contracts to be upheld whatever changes may take place in these companies; recommends the introduction of rules to ensure the effective implementation of laws with regard to airlines with 'operational bases' on the territory of a Member State; calls for the clarification of the definition of 'home base' to protect the social rights of cabin crews, in particular their rest periods;
Amendment 538 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on Member States to review their laws to eliminate precarious contracts called 'zero hour contracts' or 'pay-to-fly contracts'; believes that precarious working conditions are an additional safety risk; stresses that competitiveness should not come at the price of ‘selling off’ social safeguards for workers and the quality of services;
Amendment 550 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Commission to submit, shortly, a proposal for a directive on requirements with regard to the crews of vessels providing regular cargo, passenger and ferry services operating between Member States so that the conditions applicable on board a vessel are those of the State applying the most favourable standards for workers to guarantee the best economic and social conditions for the workers themselves;
Amendment 563 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission, drawing on the US Jones Act, to take the necessary measures to ensure that vessels carrying goods between two European ports are built in Europe, fly a European flag and are owned by a European company; calls for the law that is applicable to be associated with the country in which the vessel owner is based and recommends that the main economic and tax regulations applied to vessel owners be based on transparency and the clamping down on any practices that expose these regulations to corruption;
Amendment 578 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission to draw up, rapidly, proposals to combat unfair competition in the digital and sharing economy; also recommends transparency in establishing where the persons concerned are to pay their tax contributions;
Amendment 609 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Noting the significant fall in the employment rate caused by the economic and financial crisis and in light of the progress in robotics and artificial intelligence and, therefore, the inevitable further fall in the number of jobs, proposes to the European Commission a change in the paradigm that puts the emphasis on ‘income’ rather than ‘work’ and, as a result, pursues the objective of guaranteeing a ‘minimum citizens’ income’ throughout the European Union that guarantees a free and dignified life; (We are on the brink of a new social and economic revolution that will lead to a decrease in jobs, and not only in the manufacturing sector. Politics must guide this ‘revolution’ with a clear change in the paradigm.)
Amendment 620 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls the Commission's commitment to proposing a basis of minimum social rights; emphasises that the establishment of criteria for comparing the various national social systems cannot provide such a basis, but can only serve as a preliminary analytical framework; hopes, therefore, that we can move, as quickly as possible, from words to a concrete proposal in this area;
Amendment 642 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Desires that wage floors be established, possibly in the form of a minimum wage; emphasises that this instrument should be set up on the basis of legislation or convention, in accordance with national practices, with due respect for the role of the social partners; believes that these wage floors should represent at least 6070 % of the average national wagewage in the European Union; calls on the Commission to consult the social partners with a view to introducing, where appropriate, a minimum wage in some border areas associated with highly mobile workers; (The threshold of 60% is also too low for fighting social and wage dumping, and should not be calculated on the basis of the average national wage, but on that of the EU.)
Amendment 664 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Supports the development of unemployment benefit arrangements as a mechanism for absorbing asymmetric social shocks within the euro area; stresses the need to accompany social stabilisers with effective employment policies that have the main aim of creating quality jobs;
Amendment 675 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Calls on the Commission to increase economic resources and the number of instruments aimed at fighting speculation through the abuse of subcontracting agreements and, therefore, the subsequent suppression of the rights and safety of workers; (in certain cases, subcontracting, like the failure to respect working hours, constitutes a reprehensible speculative instrument.)
Amendment 701 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to carefully consider the proposal to grant market economy status (MES) to China, and then act accordingly; believes that making this decision without involving the European Parliament, the only body that is democratically elected by European citizens, would put the economy, productivity and employment throughout the European Union at serious risk; therefore recommends considering this prospect as opening us up to the serious risk of unfair competition, the dumbing down of social guarantees and a huge loss of jobs, making the paradigm of social dumping more than just symbolic;