Verbatim report of proceedings

Monday, 24 October 2011 - Strasbourg

17. Promoting worker mobility (short presentation)

  President. – The next item is the report by Traian Ungureanu, on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on promoting workers’ mobility within the European Union (2010/2273(INI)) (A7-0258/2011).

  Traian Ungureanu, rapporteur. – Madam President, the free movement of workers is a very sensitive problem indeed. Ultimately, it is going to shape the economic and social future of the European Union. As rapporteur, I have to stress that we face a situation that is politically untenable and economically irrational. The free movement of workers cannot be accidental. It is a right that all the Member States have agreed upon. Yet we are witnessing a situation in which Member States are deciding to introduce or to re-introduce restrictions and are even suggesting that they could introduce more later on.

This is pure politics: national and electoral politics. The economics tell a very different story. For years, official figures – some of them from the Commission – proved that east European migrant workers did not generate unemployment and did not put under stress the welfare systems in their countries of destination. On the contrary, this European influx brought economic growth, which is generally accepted and evaluated at around 1% of GDP.

The idea of more Europe has been fashionable lately. Should we mean by this more Europe for fewer Europeans? Because we do have a single market for capital and goods, but we do not have a single market for labour.

What does this mean? This means that western companies can operate in the east, sometimes successfully, sometimes generating thousands of unemployed, while east European workers cannot seek a job in the west. And this is not all. The same countries that restrict east European workers, Romanians and Bulgarians in this case, are happy to hunt for the best of the best in eastern Europe: medical doctors, engineers, IT specialists.

This should be stopped. It is economically, politically and morally wrong. People will seek jobs as it is their right to do so. We have granted them this right. That is what my report supports. That is what the committee supported in its vote, and this is what I hope this House will support tomorrow.

  Iliana Ivanova (PPE). – (BG) Madam President, I would like to congratulate and thank Mr Ungureanu for his report. A few days ago, we also organised a special hearing in the European Parliament on the subject of workers’ mobility. We heard many different points of view being expressed, including those of European business.

There is one conclusion which I came to from this hearing. There is no clear evidence to show that we should still keep the labour markets closed to Bulgarian and Romanian citizens. I wish to call on Member State governments which are still applying such restrictions to review their positions before the end of 2011 when the second transitional period of the restrictions expires.

Now is the time to show your real attitude to European integration, to a genuinely functioning, open single European market. I want to address, in particular, Commissioner Andor and the European Commission and ask you to be really strict and impartial when examining the evidence which Member States must present if they want to continue these restrictions. I also want to tell you that we are counting on you specifically to protect one of Europe’s fundamental values – the freedom and right of all European citizens to work.

  Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (S&D). – (LT) Madam President, first of all, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Ungureanu, for this important report which reflects the basic idea that we must promote workers’ mobility, one of the fundamental values of the European Union, but we must do this responsibly. In other words, we must promote full mobility for workers, not just any mobility. When encouraging people to move, we must offer them a guarantee that their rights as workers will not be violated and that they will not be exploited in a foreign country. It is precisely for these reasons that there must be close cooperation between law enforcement and labour inspection bodies in different states. We must ensure that people leaving to work in other countries are not forced to waste the education, qualifications and work experience they have acquired and take lower qualified jobs. To do this, it is necessary to further strengthen the recognition of professional qualifications throughout the European Union. It is also necessary to evaluate the situation in countries where the scale of migration is very significant for economic and social reasons, with many educated skilled workers leaving such countries. Such mass emigration might cost these countries very dear in the future, both in an economic and a social sense. I would therefore once again like to call on the European Commission, the Commissioner here present, and the Member States, to find solutions to resolve this problem now.

  Emilie Turunen (Verts/ALE). – (DA) Madam President, I would like to thank the rapporteur for his report. I will start by saying that this report is essentially an agreeable one, and that the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance is able to fully support it, because it is correct that the right to live and work in another country of the Union is one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms, and that is something that we must protect and develop. However, we in the Group of the Greens would like to introduce the concept of ‘mobility under decent conditions’, because it is the case in our Member States – I know this from my own country of Denmark – that there are major problems with social dumping and pressure on wages and working conditions. We see discrimination against workers from other EU Member States in relation to Danish workers, and that is unacceptable. I do not believe that, as a society, we can accept a division of our labour markets and pressure on wages and working conditions. We therefore need to focus more on combating discrimination and social dumping. The Member States must do more to enforce national rules. We need increased control, more information, more investigative work and a consistent effort on the part of the EU to ensure that mobility also continues to take place under decent working conditions.

  Andrea Češková (ECR). – (CS) Madam President, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality contributed an opinion to this report for which I was the rapporteur. The free movement of workers is unquestionably one of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the EU, contributing to greater economic and social cohesion. Considerable progress has already been achieved in this area, but there are still legal and administrative obstacles to mobility in the EU.

The Commission report on the application of the directive of 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move freely within the territories of the Member States showed that transposition of the directive is less satisfactory in relation to family members. It is therefore necessary for individuals to be properly informed about their rights and options, including the rights of their families. In relation to the free movement of persons, I would mainly like to emphasise here that family members and partners – and ‘partners’ is an important word – should be given the same rights and provided with adequate services, such as child care facilities, nurseries, schools, health services and so on. I am therefore pleased that the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has incorporated the opinion of my own Committee regarding family members into its report.

  Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL). – (PT) Madam President, in this debate, we cannot ignore the social situation being experienced in this European Union, in which almost one third of workers are in precarious situations and on low wages, and 25 million people are unemployed, most of whom are young people and women who are being denied a decent future. That is why, in this context, talk about encouraging workers’ mobility often means encouraging social dumping and exacerbating the exploitation of those who need to work in a country other than their own, even where these are countries of the European Union. We are therefore calling for a policy of social development and progress, and for an end to the austerity policies that are exacerbating unemployment, poverty and exploitation, and that are leaving workers with no means of defending their livelihoods and families.

  László Andor, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, let me start by thanking the rapporteur, Mr Traian Ungureanu, for his report on promoting worker mobility within the European Union.

The Commission shares this House’s opinion of the positive impact of geographical mobility on Europe’s economies. Over the last 40-plus years, geographical mobility and the fundamental principle of freedom of movement for workers have contributed to European integration and the building of the Single Market. In addition, geographical mobility contributes to both employment and economic growth. This is particularly relevant at a time when high levels of unemployment coexist with labour shortages across sectors and regions.

Citizens must be encouraged and better informed if they are to undertake a cross-border career move with confidence. It calls, inter alia, for better knowledge of the job market situation. People need to know where the jobs are.

Anticipating and matching labour market and skills needs are a top priority for the EU. That priority has been followed up by practical action and the development of new tools like the Job Vacancy Monitor, for example. These tools will also be helpful for the EURES network of European employment services.

EURES provides high-quality information, advice and recruitment services for workers and employers. It is a powerful resource available to the EU for promoting geographical mobility. EURES will be reformed next year to step up its matching and placement capacity and to develop mobility and employment in Europe, as the Commission announced in its communication ‘An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs’. The Commission will support targeted mobility schemes at EU level through EURES. One such scheme is Your First EURES Job. A preparatory version is currently under trial.

Despite the EU’s very extensive legislation in the area of free movement of workers, more effective channels of communication between mobile workers and state services are needed to give workers full access to information on their rights and obligations. To that end, I can inform you that, in response to your report, the Commission is assessing the advisability of adding an enforcement dimension to existing EU rules on equal treatment of mobile workers and what the best options for that would be.

The Commission has also given fresh impetus to Member State enforcement of the directive on freedom of movement for citizens (Directive 2004/38/EC) in response to concerns voiced on the topic. This rigorous policy of enforcement has produced substantial results: the majority of the Member States have amended their legislation – or announced their intention of amending it according to a clear calendar – to ensure full transposition of the Free Movement Directive.

The Commission is also committed to continuous monitoring of the Accession Treaties’ provisions with respect to the Member States which have opted temporarily to restrict free movement of workers.

In response to a request from Bulgaria and Romania on 20 June under the 2005 Act of Accession, before the end of this year, the Commission will present a new report on the way in which the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from those countries have functioned. The report will analyse the post-enlargement migration flows, the main characteristics of the intra-EU mobile persons, and the economic and labour market impact. While any decisions to maintain restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian workers in the third phase, from 1 January 2012, lie with the Member States, they will have to be notified to the Commission by the end of the year and be justified by serious labour market disturbances.

The Commission welcomes this own-initiative report and agrees with the House that reaffirming a fundamental Treaty principle and promoting geographical mobility is vital. Mobility is among the best ways of reducing skill mismatches and boosting our economies, particularly in the current context of high unemployment and very uneven economic growth. It therefore represents a key element of the Europe 2020 strategy to which all Member States have signed up.

  President. – The debate is closed.

The vote will take place on Tuesday, 25 October 2011, at 12.30.

Written statements (Rule 149)

  Filiz Hakaeva Hyusmenovа (ALDE), in writing. – (BG) The right of every European citizen to choose freely where to live and work within the European Union is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaties.

Unfortunately, this is exercised fairly rarely for reasons to do with linguistic, social and cultural differences, as well as with administrative and legal obstacles. The European Commission report published in 2008 makes it clear that mobile workers from the countries which joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 have had a positive impact on Member States’ economies and have not created major difficulties for their labour markets.

However, at present, at the end of 2011, Bulgarian and Romanian citizens continue to face restrictions imposed on them by some EU Member States. I am expecting as soon as possible all Member States to allow Bulgarians and Romanians access to their labour markets. I think that restricting the mobility of workers is detrimental to Europe’s competitiveness. This encourages the informal economy, undeclared work and false self-employment.

During the current economic crisis, workers’ mobility would improve the interaction between the supply and demand for labour, thereby contributing to the European economy’s growth.

  Marian-Jean Marinescu (PPE), in writing. – (RO) We cannot have a single internal market without the free movement of labour. Romania and Bulgaria are still facing restrictions on the European labour market. These restrictions have a legal basis and all new Member States have had restrictions. At the end of 2011, we will see how many Member States are going to express their desire to extend the restrictions on access to their labour market for Romanians and Bulgarians. I believe that the reasons for extending the restrictions in the various Member States are unfounded and promote protection of their own labour market in a populist manner, which is economically unjustified. However, Member States can complement each other as they have certain professional gaps in certain sectors. At the same time, there is an illegal jobs market in the EU maintained by certain Member States. If domestic legislation was applied much more strictly and rigorously, the need for restrictions on the labour market would disappear. Last but not least, on the subject of the various directives, such as the Blue Card or Seasonal Workers Directive, which regulate the European labour market for third-country workers, I think that a key condition for those Member States wishing to bring in workers from third countries is to get rid of the restrictions on workers from inside the EU first.

  Iosif Matula (PPE), in writing. – (RO) I would like to congratulate Mr Ungureanu for the excellent report he has drafted.

The free movement of workers is a fundamental right of the European Union. This is why coordinated action is required between institutions at national and European level to remove all the current barriers preventing workers’ mobility. Bearing in mind the crucial role which SMEs play in the European economy and their contribution to boosting economic growth, employment and social cohesion, we must take specific actions promoting the development of SMEs so that they can absorb the workforce, particularly from the younger generations.

The rise in the number of young unemployed is alarming. According to Eurostat, the number of unemployed across the European Union under the age of 25 is 5 139 000. The EU needs to provide support to these young people, including by increasing the number of projects, such as the European Job Mobility Portal (EURES) or the European Job Days.

Labour mobility within the European Union is a key factor in achieving the Europe 2020 strategy objectives for economic reform and recovery. In light of this, it is vital to remove the labour market restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian citizens.

I regard these restrictions as discriminatory and excessive.

  Alajos Mészáros (PPE), in writing. – (HU) The mobility of employees within the European Union has been treated as a potential problem for a long time. Although the concept of free movement of employees is present in the Treaties, Member States are allowed to introduce temporary restrictions on this. The reason is almost always the same: the large influx of immigrants from poorer to more prosperous states and the threat that the citizens of the recipient state may lose their jobs. These fears, however, are unfounded. Employee mobility has a beneficial effect on the whole of the EU.

In spite of this, only a small amount of employees use their right to free movement. We need urgent harmonisation of national and EU regulations. Current EU strategies must be adjusted to the impacts of employee mobility and the increasingly important role of SMEs. It is paramount to involve SMEs in the process, because their growth ensures the creation of new jobs.

Information and knowledge are also a matter of priority. The current level of information provision is inadequate in many Member States. Employee mobility must receive better support and information must be easily accessible for everyone involved. Enhanced efforts are also required in the area of training programmes. The harmonisation of educational policies and the acceleration of the mutual recognition of diplomas must be treated as a priority in order to achieve a better consensus on how to prepare the active population for any market changes and the prevailing competitive constraints.

  Katarína Neveďalová (S&D), in writing. – (SK) Freedom of movement for the purposes of employment is one of the most important rights of EU citizens. Unfortunately, there are still many problems with mobility, and it is our job to eliminate these for our citizens, so that this privilege may also benefit them in practice. In the first place, it is important to have cooperation between all of the relevant authorities and bodies of the individual Member States, coordination of their activities, and improved control mechanisms and inspection services. Mobile workers are always encountering significant discrimination and abuse of their rights. We must therefore ensure that they have access to sufficient information on their rights and obligations, and the possibilities relating to working and living abroad, and that they have proper legal and social protection. We must try to create legislation that will guarantee them equal rights to those of home country nationals, including the right to equal pay, the right to strike, to engage in business under equal conditions, to have their families with them and for their families to have access to education, health care and so on. I also value highly and encourage the creation of programmes in support of mobility, such as Erasmus, for example, and various twinning programmes. Mobility within an EU framework is highly motivating for our citizens in these times of crisis, and it is now up to us alone to create and ensure the best possible conditions for them.