Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-20-Speech-1-067"
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"en.20081020.13.1-067"2
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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, although I could not physically hear you, Mr Désir, your remarks have, I believe, been faithfully reported to me, as have yours, Commissioner.
This is essential, because we also know, regarding all these subjects, that temporary workers are at present exposed to physical risks at least as significant as those to which permanent workers are exposed, and to a pace of work that is at times faster.
The principle of equal treatment from day one will also apply regarding pay. From the start of their assignments, temporary workers will receive the same pay as people recruited directly by the user enterprise to do the same job.
Derogations from this principle, and in particular the introduction of qualification periods, will be possible only if there is agreement between the social partners, that is to say, compensation for workers.
Lastly, the directive will provide new guarantees in terms of temporary workers' access to permanent jobs, access to collective facilities, catering services, childcare facilities and transport services, and in terms of access to vocational training or representation.
I should like to say to you, as President-in-Office of the Council, that I am delighted to observe that the conditions are in place today for the adoption of this text. It is true, too, that this text incorporates a large number of the amendments adopted by Parliament at first reading in November 2002. This also without doubt explains why the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs – virtually all of its members – decided not to amend it, and I should like once again to thank for their constructive approach the rapporteur of the text and all the Members who worked actively on it.
This virtually unanimous support is also a clear sign of the usefulness and quality of this text, and I should also like to pay tribute in this House to Mr Špidla, who has always supported this initiative and who agreed not to withdraw this text even though the debates seemed to be at a standstill in December 2007, in Brussels for example.
As you know, it was during the Slovenian Presidency that we were able to reach a positive outcome. I should also like to highlight the efforts made in this matter by the United Kingdom, by paying tribute to the agreement reached between the United Kingdom's social partners on 19 May 2008. This was an important element. Lastly, I should like to refer to the support given by the European social partners to the common position adopted on 9 June concerning the strand on temporary work.
We can thus say today that there is agreement between all the players in this matter. This also demonstrates that, with perseverance, creativity and dialogue, we can emerge from situations that are seemingly at a standstill, even on social matters, even in Europe, even in order to adopt directives.
On 9 June, in Luxembourg, the Council reached an agreement on two texts that the Member States of the European Union had been debating for several years. The first, as you know, is a proposal for revision of the Working Time Directive, which has been the subject of negotiations since 2004. This is not the subject of this evening's debate.
The second is a draft directive on the working conditions of temporary workers that has been debated since 2002. The aim of this draft is to enhance the protection received by temporary workers and to improve the quality of temporary work. It is for the purpose of its definitive adoption that we are meeting today.
I should like first of all to say to you that, in my view, the adoption of this text on temporary workers will send out a very strong signal to all Europeans: that 2008 can be the year of the revival of social Europe. For years we waited for substantial legislative progress to be made in the social sphere. With the definitive adoption of the Directive on Temporary Work, we are beginning to move on from those years of deadlock.
The people of Europe were waiting for this signal, that of a more protective Europe. Their expectations, as we know, are even greater in the current context, with the financial crisis and its consequences for the economy. Now more than ever, it is time to give them tangible signs of our ability to reconcile the objective of economic prosperity with that of social cohesion and of our will to defend and promote the European social model.
The draft directive that we are debating this evening is a vitally important text, for a start because of the number of Europeans it will affect. In 2006, there were 3.4 million temporary workers in Europe. However, if we count the number of people who, at one time or another, find themselves on the list of temporary employment agencies, we arrive at 6 million people who are affected.
I would add that, for 20 years, temporary work has been the type of atypical work that has increased the most. Furthermore, according to the Dublin-based European Foundation, it has at least doubled in almost all the Member States, and increased fivefold in Denmark, Italy, Spain and Sweden – there being an increasing number of European businesses that have recourse to it in order to find workers meeting their specific requirements.
Thus, we are talking today about a key sector of the European economy, and for this key sector, you have submitted a key text, Mr Désir, that will offer real additional guarantees to European workers.
The first of these guarantees is the principle of equal treatment from day one between permanent workers and temporary workers. This innovation is a major advance for temporary workers in Europe, those for whom the laws did not previously lay down such protective provisions. Throughout their assignments, these workers will henceforth be covered by the same working conditions as those who are recruited directly by the company to the same post. This will apply with regard to working time, overtime, break times, rest periods, night work, paid leave, the protection of workers' health, the right to non-discrimination and the protection of pregnant women."@en1
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