Mr President, the report before us is a position adopted by Parliament in response to a communication from the Commission on the problems associated with undeclared or illicit work. This problem is being dealt with at European level because it relates not just to one particular country but to all Member States. What is the heart of the problem? Major economic and socio-political damage is being caused in the Member States through work not being declared. Health insurances, pensions systems and the Treasury together lose billions every year. Workers are in no way insured or otherwise safeguarded. Thoughts of a modern slave trade with fatal consequences for those involved spring clearly and inevitably to mind. Those who are rewarded in some way for undeclared work have no right to claim compensation at all and no other consumer rights. The people concerned believe that they are at an advantage but are in fact harming only themselves and society. The fact is that, by definition and by its very nature, undeclared work is difficult to get to grips with in any country. On the basis of estimates and long-term investigations, it may be assumed that a total of 28 million people engage in undeclared work. The volume of undeclared work now corresponds to 15% of gross domestic product in the EU. The sector as a whole is growing three times as fast as the official economy. In the communication before this House, the Commission has problems with the analysis, as well as with the steps that need to be taken to stem the tide of undeclared work. Parliament has been working flat out on these problems for a long time and produced a list of causes which produce combined and many-sided effects. Almost all investigations list unduly high taxes and social security contributions as a cause. However, the Committee lists further causes such as poverty, frivolous bidding procedures, giveaway prices for subcontractors, inflexible employment legislation and poor administrative practice, as well as a clear decline in the perception of undeclared work as something illegal and illicit. In drawing its conclusions, the Committee has, however, come up with a variety of positions derived from the very different evaluations of the various causes. I nonetheless believe that we are united as to our goal. It is only the path about which we disagree. The conclusions adopted by the Committee at its last sitting call for as precise as possible an assessment to be made of the sectors affected and of the most significant groups of people involved, as well as for the social partners to be involved in active measures to combat undeclared work and for the issue to be tackled in national employment programmes. They also call for surveillance and for sanctions to be imposed when undeclared work is detected. However, a majority of the Committee considers a reduction in tax and social security contributions to be crucial as a preventive measure, as well as a reduction in value added tax in the case of labour-intensive services, as already provided for by the Council’s decision of 28 February of this year and as also already practised in new countries. It is also important to find solutions in hitherto unsatisfactory areas, for example in connection with the directive on the posting of workers and with the paid domestic work largely performed by women. In the five minutes granted to me, I can present only a number of important points in the report. The problem is complex and needs to be tackled at a variety of levels. The Committee therefore calls upon the Commission and the individual Member States, each according to its powers but above all with firm determination, to take up Parliament’s proposals and to become active in this matter. I hope that we can demonstrate to you our substantial agreement with the report, together with Parliament’s active resolve. I would thank all my fellow MEPs for their splendid cooperation but, above all, the shadow rapporteur, Karin Jöns, for her constant readiness to engage in discussion. Finally, I would draw your attention to a printing error. In Article 25 of the conclusions, the Committee has clearly formulated the right to a class action. This needs to be revised in the latest text we have before us. The words ‘appeals to the courts’ must therefore be deleted and replaced with the words ‘a class action’. The words then correctly correspond to the will of the Committee, as agreed. Many thanks for your attention. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE