WRITTEN QUESTION E-1452/01 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Labour leasing agencies.
Date: 2001-05-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, drafting of EU law, labour law, labour market, temporary employment, temporary employment agency, working conditions

C 350 E/158

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

11.12.2001

The Commission has initiated infringement proceedings against France and Germany for non compliance
with the Directive as regards the recognition of teaching diplomas. All the proceedings have been closed
further to the adoption by the Member States concerned of the appropriate changes in their legislation
and/or administrative practice.

From a legislative standpoint, the operation of the general system has been improved by the adoption on
26 February 2001 of the Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market (SLIM) Directive (4) which has
introduced the obligation for the host Member State to take into consideration, during the examination of
the request for recognition, the experience which the individual has gained after obtaining a diploma. At
the same time, the Commission is just now launching a public consultation to prepare for a new Directive
on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. The Commission has a proposal for a more
uniform, transparent and flexible regime for professional recognition programmed for adoption before the
Spring European Council in 2002.

(1) OJ L 19, 24.1.1989.
(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.
(3) COM(96) 46 final and COM(2000) 17 final.
(4) Directive 2001/19/CE (n(cid:146)est pas encore publiØ) of the Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directives
89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC on the general system for the recognition of professional qualifications and Council
Directives 77/452/EEC, 77/453/EEC, 78/686/EEC, 78/687/EEC, 78/1026/EEC, 78/1027/EEC 80/154/EEC, 80/155/
EEC, 85/384/EEC, 85/432/EEC, 85/433/EEC and 93/16/EEC concerning the professions of nurse responsible for
general care, dental practitioner, veterinary surgeon, midwife, architect, pharmacist and doctor (OJ C 28,
26.1.1998).

(2001/C 350 E/170)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1452/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 May 2001)

Subject: Labour leasing agencies

The Greek General Confederation of Labour has complained that agencies leasing workers to businesses
have mushroomed recently in Greece. The agencies act as intermediaries between the companies and the
workers, hiring workers on behalf of the final employer on whose premises they will work. In other words,
they (cid:145)loan(cid:146) or (cid:145)lease(cid:146) workers to companies, usually without paying the workers their social security or their
rightful pay, and without the job rights established by other workers in the company.

Since such terms of employment result in a permanent squeeze on workers(cid:146) incomes as a whole and
undermine their job rights, does the Commission consider that there is a need for Community provisions
to safeguard workers against such practices? Does the Commission know whether this development has
also occurred in other Member States?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2001)

In view of the growth in temporary work, the Commission proposed a directive as early as 1982 to create
a framework for this employment model, which is rapidly becoming popular in Europe. This proposal,
which was amended in 1984 (1), was never adopted. While the Directive (2) on the health and safety of
temporary workers was adopted in 1991, two other more general proposals concerning atypical work
(covering part-time work and fixed-term contracts) came to nothing. Following this failure, discussions
with the social partners at European level were begun in 1995 concerning the flexibility of working hours
and the safety of workers. The social partners agreed to negotiate on this issue but to do so by separating
the various subjects, which led to a framework agreement implemented by the adoption of a Directive on
part-time work in 1997 (3) and a Directive on fixed-term work in 1999 (4). Finally, in May 2000, the social
partners decided to open negotiations on temporary work. Unfortunately, one year later, on 21 May 2001,

11.12.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 350 E/159

they had to acknowledge that they were unable to reach an agreement. In accordance with Article 138
(ex Article 118a) of the EC Treaty, the Commission could make use of its power of initiative and submit
a proposal for a Directive on working conditions for temporary workers to the European Parliament and
the Council in the next few months.

(1) Amended proposal for a Council Directive concerning the supply of workers by temporary employment businesses

and fixed-duration contracts of employment (OJ C 133, 21.5.1984).

(2) Council Directive 91/383/EEC of 25 June 1991 supplementing the measures to encourage improvements in the
safety and health at work of workers with a fixed-duration employment relationship or a temporary employment
relationship (OJ L 206, 29.7.1991).

(3) Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the Framework Agreement on part-time work

concluded by UNICE (OJ C 14, 20.1.1998).

(4) Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work

concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (OJ L 175, 10.7.1999).

(2001/C 350 E/171)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1453/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Record of industrial accidents and occupational diseases

(17 May 2001)

Despite the fact that funding has been provided under the second Community Support Framework, Greece
is the only country in the European Union which does not have a reliable system of recording industrial
accidents and occupational diseases, making it extremely difficult for the government to intervene on
health and safety issues. At the present time, industrial accidents and occupational diseases are recorded by
only one social security agency, the IKA (Social Security Institution), and only in respect of its own
contributors who total some 45 % of the labour force. Moreover, there are no records of occupational
diseases.

What steps will the Commission take, in co-operation with the competent Greek authorities, to enable
Greece to acquire a reliable system of recording industrial accidents and occupational diseases?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2001)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member(cid:146)s concern about the need for reliable recording of
industrial accidents and occupational diseases in the Community.

Since 1990, the Commission, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) and the
Employment and Social Affairs Directorate-General, have been working together with the Member States
under a (cid:145)gentlemen(cid:146)s agreement(cid:146) on the harmonisation of European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW
Project) (1) and European Occupational Diseases Statistics (EODS Project) (2). The aim of this work is to
harmonise the criteria and methodologies to be used for recording data on industrial accidents and
occupational diseases.

Under Article 9(1)(c) and (d) of the framework Directive (89/391/EEC (3)), the employer must (cid:145)keep a list of
occupational accidents resulting in a worker being unfit for work for more than three working days(cid:146) and
(cid:145)draw up, for the responsible authorities and in accordance with national laws and/or practices, reports on
occupational accidents suffered by his workers(cid:146). ESAW data (accidents involving the loss of more than
three days(cid:146) work or fatal accidents) are currently available for the period 1993-1998 and include
information on the economic activity and size of the business, the age, sex, nationality, occupation and
employment status of the victim, the nature of the injury and the part of the body concerned, the
geographical location, the date and time of the accident and the consequences of the accident, i.e. number
of days lost, permanent incapacity or death. A final set of variables permitting the identification and
investigation of the causes of industrial accidents and the circumstances in which they took place has now