In its Green Paper on modernising labour law (COM(2006)0708 final) the Commission advocates the inclusion of new 'flexible' forms of employment under national labour legislation stressing that full employment and industrial relations governed by labour law must be considered as traditional concepts, in other words, out of date.

On the other hand, the Commission quotes statistics showing that part-time employment accounts for 60% of employment creation after 2000, while the share of total employment taken up by those recruited under working arrangements differing from the standard contractual model has reached almost 40% of the workforce. Of these 20% found themselves unemployed six years after being recruited under such arrangements, while a similar percentage has remained in the same low quality employment with inadequate social protection.

Is this Commission's vision for the European workforce, that is to say part-time employment without full social protection?