Answer given by Mr Schmit on behalf of the European Commission
30.7.2022
1. The Commission has been closely monitoring the situation of mobile workers, including the challenges they have been facing since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. It has collected data on intra-EU mobility of seasonal workers[1], organised a hearing with social partners and followed the discussion in the Platform tackling undeclared work which investigated the link between fraudulent temporary agency work and undeclared work[2]. Furthermore, the Commission presented in detail the lessons learned within the hearing organised by the Parliament on frontier, cross-border and seasonal workers, on 13 of June 2022.
2. The Commission worked closely with the newly established European Labour Authority (ELA) to promote awareness raising on problematic forms of labour intermediation as well as on seasonal work and to implement the action plan on Seasonal Workers, including via the campaign #Rights4AllSeasons. Wide dissemination of information, promotion of targeted inspections (with the involvement of all Member States) and consolidation of cooperation between national authorities continue to be important activities for ELA. These aspects will be also taken into account in the evaluation of the ELA activities, which should be available in 2024.
3. Evidence is being gathered on the use of temporary agency work, in particular in the context of cross-border work. This will provide the basis for the Commission to assess the need for action at EU level.