EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/654

(2004/C 78 E/0696)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3834/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(12 December 2003)

Subject: Discrimination against Portuguese workers abroad

As the Portuguese Northern Building, Wood, Marble, Stone, Ceramics and Building Materials Trade Union recently complained, thousands of Portuguese civil construction workers find themselves the victims of the problems experienced by the sector in Northern Portugal, and as winter draws near, their work contracts are not being renewed. They are therefore obliged to emigrate, and are frequently the victims of unscrupulous recruitment agencies which promise them good conditions and then fail to make good the promises.

Two examples will suffice:

— In Iceland, Portuguese workers are constructing tunnels for a water diversion in connection with the building of dams in Kárahnjúkar, where there are no means of evacuation in an emergency, over and above the fact that they are discriminated against compared with other workers from EU Member States;

— in Germany (in Berne, in the south) and Spain, the Portuguese workers are discriminated against in terms of salaries, accommodation and insurance conditions, and their working timetable. In Spain, for example, they are obliged to work a 12-hour day, and earn less than Spaniards working an 8-hour day (companies in Galicia, the Basque country, Valencia and Lleida, inter alia).

The Commission:

1. What measures does it intend to take to combat this serious discrimination and unacceptable exploitation of Portuguese workers in EU Member States, and guarantee them equality in terms of salaries and working conditions?

2. What steps are being implemented for the professional certification of these workers at EU level?

3. What measures are planned to prevent companies which win international competitions from recruiting workers via workforce recruitment agencies?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

It is not clear from the question whether the situations referred to fall within the scope of Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (1). Where this is the case, the workers concerned must be covered by a ‘hard core’ of protective rules concerning the working and employment conditions in force in the host country; these must include, in particular, rules on maximum working periods, the minimum wage, and health, safety and hygiene at work.

If, however, the situations in question are placements with the objective of having the workers habitually perform their work in the EU Member States or EEA countries mentioned, Council Regulation (EEC) 1612/68 of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community (2) stipulates that a worker who is a national of a Member State may not, in the territory of another Member State, be treated differently from national workers in respect of any conditions of employment and work.

It goes without saying that the Commission deplores situations where these rules are disregarded. It would, however, point out that the monitoring of compliance with working and employment conditions is primarily the responsibility of the national authorities.

(1) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997.

(2) OJ L 257, 19.10.1968.