No C 207/42 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 8. 86 
— other developing countries, 
bearing in mind, in trade relations with these countries, the 
attitudes of the other industrialized partners (United States, 
Japan, Australia and Canada). 
51. The Committee approves of retaining: 
— the 'basket extractor' safeguard clause (reintroduction 
of quotas), 
— the 'anti-surge' clause (mechanism to prevent an 
excessively sharp increase in imports). 
52. However, it hopes that all contracting parties will 
act in such a way as to keep recourse to these clauses to a 
minimum and — should they have to be invoked — appeals 
for the broadest possible consultation of the parties 
concerned. 
53. It is most important that all parties to the Multifibre 
Arrangement should encourage respect of proprietorial 
trademarks, designs and models ('). 
(') In this connection, see the ESC opinion on the proposal for a 
Council Regulation (EEC) laying down measures to discourage 
the release for free circulation of counterfeit goods (OJ No C 
218,29.8. 1985). 
Done at Brussels, 22 May 1986. 
Gerd MUHR 
Own-initiative opinion on the effects of the CAP on the social situation of farm workers in 
the Community 
(86/C 207/14) 
On 18 December 1985 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the fourth paragraph of 
Article 20 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion on the effects of the CAP on the 
social situation of farm workers in the Community ('). 
The Committee's opinion is based on the information report drawn up by its Committee for 
Agriculture on the same subject (rapporteur: Mr Lojewski) (18 December 1985). 
The Section for Agriculture, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the 
subject, adopted its opinion on 7 May 1986, in the light of the report by Mr Lojewski. 
The Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously at its 237th 
plenary session (meeting of 22 May 1986). 54. They should also refrain from any form of dumping 
or unfair practice in view of this sector's vulnerability in 
both the industrialized and developing countries. 
55. The Committee lays particular stress on the need to 
improve working conditions in the textile industry in all 
developing countries (in the broadest sense of the term). 
Many textile workers are badly paid and work under 
lamentable conditions (heat, noise, dust, working hours, 
child labour, trade union rights). The Committee therefore 
calls for the inclusion in bilateral agreements of provisions 
for the application of fair standards as laid down by the 
International Labour Organization. 
56. Lastly, the Economic and Social Committee urges 
the Community negotiators to take account of the 
implications of Portugal's accession and of the Com­
munity's special written commitments to the Mediter­
ranean countries. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
(l) The subject of this opinion is the situation of hired farm workers and workers in the first-stage processing 
industry. 
18. 8. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 207/43 
1. General comments 
1.1. The Committee would point out that according to 
Article 39 of the EEC Treaty one of the aims of the common 
agricultural policy (CAP) is to improve the social situation 
of all persons engaged in agriculture. 
1.2. The current debate on the urgently needed reform 
of the CAP gives rise to the concern that insufficient 
account might continue to be taken of the effects on the 
labour market and in particular the interests of farm 
workers and workers in the first-stage food processing 
industry. This fear is reinforced by the conclusions drawn 
by the Commission in its document 'A Future for 
Community Agriculture' (1985) following the consul­
tations in connection with the Green Paper. 
1.3. The Committee regrets that, despite the appeal 
made by the 1961 Rome conference on the social aspects of 
the CAP and the related Commission proposals of 1979, the 
Community still lacks adequate data 'on the extent and 
importance of a series of social problems affecting farm 
workers'. 
1.4. Generally speaking the Committee is of the view 
that a really effective agricultural policy can only be 
developed on the basis of reliable information. But it does 
not see the lack of a comprehensive social report on the 
situation of farm workers as an adequate reason for 
continuing to neglect the interests of such workers in the 
reform of the CAP. 
1.5. The information report on this topic adopted at the 
ESC plenary session on 18 December 1985 assembled the 
available data, mapped out particular problem areas and 
formulated some preliminary conclusions. The Commit­
tee's discussion of this opinion was based largely on the 
abovementioned information report, which will be sup­
plemented by information from Portugal and Spain in the 
report appended to this opinion. 
2. The situation of farm workers 
2.1. The employment of farm workers in the EEC has 
undergone far-reaching changes over the last three decades. 
These changes have basically been determined by: 
(a) general economic trends; 
(b) the increasing integration of agriculture into the rest of 
the economy; 
(c) the increasing specialization and intensification of 
agricultural production encouraged by farming policies. 2.2. Over this period the number of regular hired 
workers fell by about 70 % ; the age structure of the 
remaining work force points to a further decline in the 
number of full-time workers by some 300 000 over the next 
decade, down to a mere 350 000 or so. There is a danger 
that the depressing labour market situation in the 
Community and the deterioration in farm profitability 
could lead to an increase in part-time, seasonal and casual 
working and hence to a further decline in social security for 
those workers who, for want of alternative employment 
opportunities, are dependent on agriculture for their 
livelihood. The number of persons drawing only occasional 
income from agriculture and with inadequate social 
security cover is already many times greater than the 
number of properly protected full-time workers. 
2.3. In Italy, the south especially, data from the National 
Economic and Labour Council (CNEL) and the National 
Institute for the Agricultural Economy (INSOR) show a 
trend towards half-day and casual work in agriculture. It is 
mainly women and young people who, for lack of 
alternatives, take up the opportunities for casual work. In 
some cases this gives rise to considerable problems in 
respect of unfair recruitment practices, working conditions 
and social security. 
2.4. Today, in view of the advances in technology and 
the contracting-out of work previously done on the farm to 
specialized outside enterprises, the remaining full-time 
workers are expected to have skills and a versatility which 
all too often bear no relation to the remuneration on offer. 
2.5. Further features of the social situation of hired farm 
workers are accommodation problems, few training 
opportunities, difficulties as regards effective political 
representation (due to structural factors), above average 
working hours, low wages leading to low unemployment 
pay and pensions. 
2.6. As far as working conditions are concerned, too 
frequently farm workers are subject to many, often 
cumulative, physical and mental stress factors: pressure, 
monotony, noise, weather, dust, vibration, dangerous 
substances, etc. 
2.7. Hired farm workers and workers in first-stage 
processing are the first to be hit by measures to curb 
production. In the majority of cases there are no CAP social 
measures for this group of workers comparable with, for 
instance, those for farmers. 
2.8. Even a rough assessment of general and agricultural 
trends leads inevitably to the conclusion that the situation 
of farm workers and first-stage processing workers is 
hardly likely to change for the better. Domestic demand 
No C 207/44 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 8. 86 
and export opportunities are stagnating; the general 
economic trend is unlikely to provide adequate alternative 
employment; technological advances in agriculture will 
continue to destroy jobs. It is debatable to what extent the 
industrial market for agricultural raw materials or the 
manifest increase in the land-management demands of 
society (e.g. protection of the environment and nature) can 
help to increase demand for farm workers. 
2.9. Against this background the Committee expects the 
Community authorities to make a greater effort when 
formulating agricultural policy to fulfil their obligation to 
take the interests of all persons engaged in agriculture into 
consideration. 
3. Measures to improve the social situation of farm 
workers and workers in the first-stage food processing 
industry 
3.1. The Committee considers it essential that when any 
agricultural policy decisions are taken the effects on farm 
and first-stage processing workers and on the labour 
market in general be expressly taken into account. 
3.2. A comprehensive social report should be drawn up 
forthwith to provide more information on the situation of 
farm workers in the EEC. Accordingly the Committee calls 
on the Commission to establish contact with the relevant 
parties without delay. This report should contain, in 
particular, information on wages, working hours, terms of 
employment, age, qualifications, employment and health 
protection, labour market trends and social security. 
3.3. The primary aim of CAP reform should be to put 
production and individual farms on a sound long-term 
footing, in order to create the preconditions for secure, 
decent jobs for farm and first-stage processing workers. 
3.4. Suitable training measures must enable farm 
workers to satisfy the increased demands arising from 
technological advances in production and processing, 
microelectronics and biotechnology in particular. The 
Community institutions and national governments must 
give the employers' and workers' representatives the 
chance to tackle the social problems arising from these 
changes and to develop suitable solutions in the course of 
collective bargaining on wages. 
3.5. For those regions and groups of farms where 
agricultural jobs cannot be safeguarded permanently, 
medium-term plans must be drawn up to create jobs outside agriculture. The basic aim should be for the 
remaining and newly created jobs to be full time. Any 
discrimination against part-time work, especially where 
social protection is concerned, must be removed. This can 
also encourage full-time working. In addition, efforts 
should be directed more towards a combination of seasonal 
jobs and jobs in downstream industries. 
3.6. The Community must decide immediately on a 
system of adjustment aid for workers affected by essential 
CAP reforms. Such a programme of social back-up 
measures must include: 
(a) the creation of alternative jobs; 
(b) further training and retraining; 
(c) early retirement arrangements. 
In the Committee's view the necessary funding which in 
any case will be only a barely measurable fraction of the 
money spent on regulating the agricultural markets — 
should, for reasons of social harmony, be provided as a 
matter of priority and as 'compulsory expenditure'. 
3.7. The Committee also urges the Community insti­
tutions to initiate closer cooperation between national 
social security bodies in the field of accident prevention and 
employment protection, and to issue standardized EEC 
regulations on safety at work and accident prevention. 
They should work together with the employers and trade 
unions to speed up the extension and harmonization of 
farm workers' protection against summary dismissal. To 
this end the Committee urges that greater use be made of 
the Joint Committee on Social Problems of Agricultural 
Workers. 
3.8. In addition, the Community Institutions should 
take measures of their own to ensure that any restructuring, 
rationalization and reduction in farm costs necessitated by 
the reform of the CAP are not carried out at the expense of 
workers' health, safety at the workplace and the solidarity 
of the farming community. 
3.9. In future seasonal workers will be less and less able 
to provide the greater skills demanded of farm workers. A 
Community programme to promote employment all the 
year round is therefore essential; this programme could 
comprise: 
(a) the provision of funds for the diversification of 
agricultural production, subject to conditions regarding 
employment; 
(b) aid for the employment of temporary workers, in so far 
as the minimum working conditions are shown to be 
decent; 
(c) suitable further training measures at times when 
employment is scarce in the regions. 
18. 8. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 207/45 
It would be advisable to set up an official advisory agency, 
whose task would be to safeguard agricultural employ­
ment. The Community could carry out a pilot project. 
4. Concluding comments 
The Committee realizes that it is very difficult to 
reorientate an agricultural policy geared almost exclusively 
Done at Brussels, 22 May 1986. to the self-employed farmer — such as we have seen over 
the past decades — towards a more comprehensive, 
socially conscious approach. Nevertheless it is imperative, 
including in the interests of a closer observance of the EEC 
Treaty, that the package of measures put together here to 
assist farm and first-stage processing workers be taken up 
without delay by the Commission and adopted by the 
Council as part of the forthcoming reform exercise. In this 
way consumers and taxpayers will be more inclined to 
accept the CAP. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR