European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication on New European Labour Markets, Open to All, with Access for All (COM(2001) 116 - C5-0188/2001 - 2001/2084(COS))
Date: 2001-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU employment policy, enlargement of the Union, free movement of workers, labour market

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30. New European labour markets

A5-0375/2001

European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication on New European Labour
Markets, Open to All, with Access for All (COM(2001) 116 ( C5-0188/2001 ( 2001/2084(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the communication from the Commission (COM(2001) 116 (cid:1) C5-0188/2001),

(cid:1) having regard to the communication from the Commission entitled ‘EURES activity report 1998-

1999:’Towards an integrated labour market: the contribution of EURES’ (COM 2000) 607),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 31 May 2001 on that communication (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the communication from the Commission entitled ‘Acting locally for employment (cid:1)

a local dimension for the European employment strategy’ (COM(2000) 196),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 30 November 2000 on that communication (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the communication from the Commission entitled ‘An action plan for free movement

of workers’ (COM(1997) 586),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 16 July 1998 on that communication (3),

(cid:1) having regard to the conclusions of the European Councils of Lisbon of 23/24 March 2000 and of

Stockholm of 23 and 24 March 2001,

(cid:1) having regard to Articles 39 and 40 of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the opinion of

the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport (A5-0375/2001),

A. whereas the free movement of persons is a fundamental right of citizens of the European Union,
which is also stated as an individual right in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union, and which has not yet been fully carried into effect,

B. whereas the free movement of persons is an essential prerequisite for the creation of a European
labour market, with particular reference to frontier workers and also in anticipation of the Union’s
forthcoming enlargement,

C. whereas the free movement of persons within the European Union can only be fully achieved if
people who move from one country to another can be certain that they will not lose their social
security entitlements,

D. whereas, according to the Commission’s communication, mobility of European Union nationals within
the EU is a phenomenon that involves fewer than 0,4 % of the resident population, of whom 0,2 % are
returning nationals,

E. whereas, however, the concept of mobility in Europe, and hence the phenomenon itself, is not com-
parable with its counterpart in the US because of linguistic differences, differences in circumstances
and, above all, cultural differences,

(1)
‘Texts Adopted’, Item 12.
(2) OJ C 228, 13.8.2001, p.128.
(3) OJ C 292, 21.9.1998, p.145.

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F. whereas as a general rule, however, the free movement of persons between the States of the European
Union offers increased opportunities to employers and to employees, given the existence of certain
rights in relation to employment, remuneration and social services which are recognised in principle
at least throughout Union territory, in line with the admirable precepts set out in the Charter of
Fundamental Rights; whereas the aim is to ensure that workers are not placed at a disadvantage,
irrespective of whether their work falls into the category of ‘typical’ or ‘atypical’,

G. whereas the above considerations are particularly relevant in the light of the forthcoming enlargement
of the Union, which raises the question of the mobility of residents of the current CEECs (and pros-
pective Member States) and the strong possibility of migration into the current CEECs, in particular
from neighbouring non-member countries,

H. whereas, moreover, arrangements to encourage labour mobility within individual Member States and,
indeed, within their constituent regions are not strongly developed or likely to give rise to what the
Commission calls ‘virtual mobility’,

I. whereas, therefore, there are still serious obstacles to the free movement of workers, starting with the
accessibility and transparency of economic and social information, which are compounded, in the case
of persons moving to a state other than their state of residence, by linguistic, cultural and educational
obstacles and others connected with the recognition of skills and qualifications,

J. whereas the Commission has already analysed these obstacles on various occasions, inter alia in con-
nection with the 1997 Action Plan (report of the High Level Group chaired by Simone Veil) which
culminated in the report on obstacles to cross-border mobility of February 2001,

K. whereas the objective must not be to create greater mobility of labour solely for particular highly-
qualified workers in categories in which there is a shortage, but whereas the obstacles to freedom of
movement must be removed in all strata and sectors of the labour market;

L. whereas the decisions taken at the Lisbon European Council (March 2000), reinforced by the plan
submitted to the Stockholm European Council (March 2001) to remove obstacles to the free move-
ment of labour in the European Union by 2005, call for a new Commission initiative specifically to
promote mobility,

M. whereas, however, the Commission’s action in this field should aim to improve the situation of
workers taking advantage of freedom of movement while also significantly increasing the number of
such workers, bearing in mind that mobility should be a choice freely decided upon by the person
concerned, who should not be penalised if he decides not to opt for mobility and to remain in his
country of residence instead,

N. whereas, furthermore, the encouragement of mobility should not imperil the development of less-
favoured regions by encouraging a ‘brain drain’ which could aggravate existing imbalances between
the regions of the European Union, thus undermining the European Community’s declared objective
of reducing disparities between the various regions’ respective levels of development as laid down in
Article 158 of the EC Treaty,

O. whereas, finally, encouraging mobility could be an additional factor in the fight against unemployment
and a means of redressing the skills shortage in certain sectors by complementing or supplementing (cid:1)
but certainly not replacing (cid:1) local, regional or national initiatives to promote employment,

P. whereas the need to promote mobility should be borne actively in mind when all legislation is being

considered, including especially employment and social legislation,

Q. whereas improving citizens’ proficiency in Community languages other than their mother tongue(s) is

an essential step towards creating a more integrated European employment market,

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R. whereas, given that the population of Europe is ageing, mobility must embrace all age groups,

S. whereas, if Europe is to become ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the
world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’,
more Europeans must become competent in the new information and communications technologies,

T. whereas the sharing of best practice would help to improve the quality of education and training

systems in the Member States,

U. whereas, as many of the petitions received by the Parliament make plain, some obstacles to free
movement of workers stem from shortcomings in the application of Community law by Member
States,

V. whereas the European institutions should themselves set a good example in eliminating obstacles to

transnational mobility,

1. Welcomes this new initiative by the Commission to promote mobility; stresses, however, that the
abovementioned 1997 Action Plan had the same objective but was only partially implemented; hopes that
this initiative will go beyond the stage of identifying obstacles and will lead to an action plan with clear
objectives which will have a substantial and more obvious impact on citizens’ lives;

Calls on the Commission to draw up summaries of existing Community legislation on free move-
2.
ment, the right of residence and mutual recognition of professional, academic and vocational qualifi-
cations, and to ensure that, through its information campaign, these are disseminated widely;

Calls on the Commission to submit, well ahead of the European Council in Spring 2002, an action
3.
plan of this type together with proposals for legislation on, inter alia, the recognition of qualifications and
skills and the ‘portability’ of social security entitlements, with particular reference to supplementary pen-
sions, as the gaps in provision in these areas were identified long ago;

4.
Calls on the Commission to enforce more rigorously existing Community law on mutual recognition
of qualifications by more speedy referral to the Courts of First Instance and Justice of persistent breaches of
such law by the public authorities in Member States;

5. Welcomes the Council’s Mobility Action Plan, which presents proposals for removing barriers to
mobility, and the priority which the Council intends to accord to it; points out that mobility must be a
choice freely decided upon by the person concerned, who shall not be penalised if she or he decides not to
opt for mobility and to remain in her or his country of residence instead;

6. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to submit proposals designed to create a more transparent
system for mutual recognition of professional, academic and vocational qualifications;

7.
Calls on the Commission to present its proposals for ‘further policy initiatives and recommendations’
in the form of a proposal for a recommendation or a series of recommendations rather than in the form of
an action plan;

8.
Hopes that by the end of 2002, in line with the conclusions of the European Councils of Santa Maria
da Feira and Nice and in response to the conclusions of the Stockholm European Council, the Member
States will reach agreement on the question of the ‘fiscal package’ and the tax disadvantages affecting cross-
border workers;

9.
Urges the Council to take a decision as soon as possible on the mandate given by the Stockholm
European Council to draw up parameters with a view to modernising Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the
coordination of social security systems, in order to enable the Council and the European Parliament to
accelerate final adoption, and also to include third country nationals by the end of 2002;

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10.
Notes the setting up of a Skills and Mobility Task Force; asks to be informed regularly of the work
of the task force; asks the Commission also to forward to Parliament the action plan which it intends to
submit to the Spring 2002 European Council so that it can deliver an opinion before the Council;

Thursday 13 December 2001

11.
Asks the Commission to instruct the Skills and Mobility Task Force to study the impact of the new
information technology and innovations in the organisation of work which enable undertakings to practise
tele-working; asks also for more specific ideas on promoting mobility for the elderly, the handicapped, and
other disadvantaged groups;

12.
Calls on the Commission to require the Task Force, set up to examine the drivers and characteristics
of the new European labour markets, to provide a set of policy initiatives to ensure that these markets are
open to all;

13.
Calls on the Commission also to produce as a matter of urgency a thorough qualitative study on
the possible distortions of the labour market which might result from the significant increase in labour
migration which is principally emerging and may be expected to develop further in particular regions
(especially border regions) and sectors (those with a high degree of mobility such as the construction and
transport sectors); considers that such a study must not confine itself to what goes on within the legal
forms of freedom of movement for workers, but must take particular account of those forms of free
movement of services and establishment (particularly by self-employed people who are not really self-
employed or independent), forms of subcontracting and cross-border temporary work, and illegal moon-
lighting, which are a serious obstacle to the proper treatment of migrant or border workers;

14.
Suggests to the Commission that it is appropriate for the Member States’ national action plans to
contain forecasts of and practical support for mobility within national territory and within national
regions, while providing for regional and local bodies to be involved to a more significant extent in the
drafting of the national action plans in question;

15.
Calls on the Commission, now that the time available to the social partners to come to an agree-
ment in the context of the social dialogue has expired, to submit as a matter of urgency a legislative
proposal on temporary work, based on the principle that temporary workers should receive the same
treatment as those in regular employment with the firms making use of their services; considers that a
directive on temporary work is important, in the same way as the directives on part-time work and fixed-
term contracts, in order to create a level playing field in the European Union as regards ‘atypical employ-
ment’;

16.
Asks the Council and the Commission for the opportunity to assess in advance of the Spring 2002
European Council the planned report containing the detailed programme of work concerning the objec-
tives of the education and training systems, with particular reference to the accessibility of the latter to
migrant workers from non-member countries or to workers moving between Member States;

Also asks, by the end of 2002, to be instructed by the Council and the Commission to assess the
17.
indicators specified by the Stockholm European Council with a view to setting up in the Member States
welfare services for children and family protection schemes;

Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal, in conjunction with the Sixth Framework Pro-
18.
gramme on Research which is due to be adopted by June 2002 in codecision with Parliament, to formulate
a specific strategy on mobility inside the European Research Area, while urging the Member States to pool
their ideas and experience and to strengthen research and development, inter alia by means of economic
incentives and EIB actions, with particular reference to disadvantaged regions of the Union;

19. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal to overhaul the European Employment Service (EURES) net-
work; calls also on Member States to ensure that the careers advisory services they support are able to
advise their clients about careers opportunities in other Member States;

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20. Welcomes the idea of setting up a ‘one-stop’ site for information on mobility in Europe; stresses,
however, that care should be taken when setting up such a site to ensure that it is integrated with EURES
and e-SCHOLA and, to help the network become operational more swiftly, with any existing systems in
the Member States, which are similar in some or all respects, while offering regional and local bodies and
their employment offices greater possibilities of actively participating;

Calls on the Commission to suggest to the candidate countries that they participate in the project in

21.
question, possibly by incorporating it in the action plan for e-Europe 2002;

22.
Calls on the Commission, in view of the fact that the activities of the third sector already have a
significant international dimension, the impact the sector has at local level and the significant contribution
it makes to increasing typical and atypical employment, to consider the possibility of laying down, in
concert with the representatives of the sector, a basic system of Community rights for persons working
in the sector;

23. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to proposing an action plan on lifelong education and
training;

24. Welcomes the Commission’s action plan on e-Learning, which seeks to help schools and edu-
cational institutions in Europe adapt to the new information and communications technologies and to
promote wider access to these technologies;

25. Welcomes the adoption by the Council of the Commission’s report on ‘The concrete future objec-
tives of education systems’ and the commitment of Member States to an exchange, through the open
coordination method, of best practice in reforming educational systems;

26. Welcomes the initiative to establish a Task Force with a view to implementing programmes in
connection with the Recommendation on ‘mobility of students, persons undergoing training, young volun-
teers, teachers and trainers within the Community’;

27.
Calls on the European institutions to set a good example by reforming the conditions of employ-
ment and remuneration of officials and other employees of the European institutions, so as to facilitate, for
example, the transfer to the Community pension scheme of pension rights acquired in previous employ-
ment;

28.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

31. Regional and lesser-used European languages

B5-0770, 0811, 0812, 0814 and 0815/2001

European Parliament resolution on regional and lesser-used European languages

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to Decision No 1934/2000/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 July

2000, establishing the European Year of Languages 2001 (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the Council Resolution of 23 November 2001 on Linguistic Diversity and Language

Learning,

(cid:1) having regard to Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which

guarantees linguistic diversity,

(1) OJ L 232, 14.9.2000, p. 1.