Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-25-Speech-3-431"
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"en.20061025.30.3-431"2
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"Mr President, I, too, will begin by expressing my appreciation for the work the rapporteur has done. The Posting of Workers Directive was a cause of constant controversy in the past, and has remained one to this day. The country from which I come was not the only one to be unwilling to extend the directive’s scope to cover the economy as a whole, and, in Germany, it still applies only in the building industry and to occupations associated with it.
I would like to steer the debate on this report towards three aspects of it. One is the emphasis that the rapporteur puts on the need for the social partners to be strengthened if the standards laid down in wage agreements are not to be undermined. That should not, however, be taken to mean that these agreements, reached between the Member States and the two sides of industry, actually do guarantee living wages. There needs to be examination of the degree to which minimum standards actually do meet the need for ‘decent work’ in the individual Member States.
Mrs Schroedter, with some justification, also points out that it is difficult to distinguish between the employed and the self-employed, but, necessary though it is to define them and clarify the status of those who are termed the ‘putative self-employed’, we should not forget that we are talking here about the people who are most on the margins and earn less than anyone else, that they must be accorded a status that secures them rights, including the right to a fair and living wage.
The use of the relevant directives to enforce the freedom to provide services is always justified by reference to – among others – the argument that, at the end of the day, there has to be something in it for the consumer. At first sight, the Posting of Workers Directive would appear to have little to do with the protection of consumers, but I am sure that just how much the two are connected will become clear when we gain a sense of perspective, for the consumer’s interest is no longer only in the quality of the goods themselves, and that is why, today, consumers are protected against imported goods produced using child labour.
The exchange of goods and services is meant to have a social dimension to it, and those who participate in it must be entitled to minimum standards that guarantee them a living, appropriate working conditions and the protection of their livelihood."@en1
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