European Parliament resolution on the transitional arrangements restricting the free movement of workers on EU labour markets (2006/2036(INI))
Date: 2006-04-05
Institutions: Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: EU employment policy, EU national, accession to the European Union, enlargement of the Union, foreign national, free movement of workers, job access, labour market, transitional period (EU)

C 293 E/230

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

2.12.2006

Wednesday 5 April 2006

P6_TA(2006)0129

Transitional arrangements restricting the free movement of workers on EU
labour markets

European Parliament resolution on the transitional arrangements restricting the free movement of
workers on EU labour markets (2006/2036(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Article 2, first indent, of the EU Treaty,

— having regard to Article 3(1)(c) and Articles 12 and 39 of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to the Accession Treaty signed on 16 April 2003 between the EU-15 Member States of
the one part, and the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of
Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of
Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic of the other part (the Accession Treaty) (1),

— having regard to the Commission communication of 8 February 2006 entitled ‘Report on the function-
ing of the transitional arrangements set out in the 2003 Accession Treaty (period 1 May 2004 to
30 April 2006)’ (COM(2006)0048),

— having regard to the resolution adopted by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Executive
Committee at its meeting of 5 and 6 December 2005, entitled ‘Towards free movement of workers in
an enlarged European Union’,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A6-0069/2006),

A. whereas freedom of movement for workers is one of the four fundamental freedoms provided for in
the EC Treaty, as well as an expression of solidarity between the EU-15 and the new Member States;
whereas, furthermore, freedom of movement for persons is a right and should not be used to promote
mass movements of persons and workers,

B. whereas the Accession Treaty makes provision for the possibility of introducing transitional arrange-

ments for freedom of movement for workers in three stages (2 + 3 + 2 years),

C. whereas twelve of the EU-15 decided in May 2004 on some restriction of freedom of movement of
in response, three of the new Member States
workers from eight of the new Member States, and,
likewise restricted freedom of movement; whereas Germany and Austria have taken the option to
restrict freedom to provide services in certain sectors and have tied this to the transitional arrangements
for freedom of movement for workers,

D. whereas a ‘status quo clause’ stipulates that if an EU-15 Member State regulates access to its labour
market under national law during the transitional period, nationals of the new Member States must not
be subject, in that Member State, to greater restrictions than those in force on the date of signing of the
Accession Treaty; whereas this rule applies to access granted under national provisions or bilateral
agreements,

E. whereas the status quo clause also requires the EU-15 to observe a preference rule (2), which provides
that, when a job is offered to citizens of countries other than the EU-15, nationals of the new Member
States have priority over third-country nationals,

(1) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 17.
(2) List referred to in Article 24 of the Act of Accession: for Czech Republic, see Annex V, paragraph 14; for Estonia, see
Annex VI, paragraph 14; for Latvia, see Annex VII, paragraph 14; for Lithuania, see Annex IX, paragraph 14; for
Hungary, see Annex X, paragraph 14; for Poland, see Annex XII, paragraph 14; for Slovenia, see Annex XIII, para-
graph 14; and for Slovakia, see Annex XIV, paragraph 14.

2.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293 E/231

Wednesday 5 April 2006

F. whereas the EU must face ineluctable global challenges,

including the growing might of economic
players such as China and South-East Asia, and population ageing in Europe, which could eventually
cause the financing of social security systems to collapse; whereas it is therefore vital for the EU to
improve its competitiveness and create more jobs, and, to that end, increase mobility within its enlarged
territory,

G. whereas the Lisbon growth and employment strategy (2005-2008) points precisely to the need to
implement policies to encourage occupational and geographical mobility, and whereas Guideline
No 20 of the employment guidelines (1) calls for the obstacles to worker mobility in the EU as a
whole to be removed under the Treaties in order to make labour market more adaptable,

H. whereas 2006 has been declared European Year of Workers' Mobility,

I. whereas Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country
nationals who are long-term residents (2), lays down a legal framework for enabling a long-term legal
resident in a Member State to obtain long-term residence status, which may, in certain circumstances,
also permit that long-term resident to be employed in another Member State,

J. whereas Directive 2003/109/EC also, in some cases, grants, long-term third-country residents a more
favourable status as regards their rights of residence and access to the labour markets of the EU-15 than
citizens of eight of the new Member States; stressing that displaying solidarity with workers from third
countries should not result in discrimination against workers from the new Member States,

K. whereas under the preference rule, the EU-15 must give priority, whenever a job is offered to a non-EU-
15 national, to nationals of the new Member States; and whereas it is necessary to elaborate the rules of
procedure for the implementation of the preference rule as soon as possible,

L. whereas according to the Commission communication of 21 December 2005 on Policy Plan on Legal
Migration COM(2005)0669, the Member States' labour markets are showing signs of structural strain,
reflected in the fact that as well as high unemployment, there are also severe labour shortages; whereas
to relieve the strain,
increase
mobility, and make the markets more adaptable,

it is essential to take steps to provide greater flexibility and security,

M. whereas, because of the structural strains affecting the European economies, labour demand in individ-
ual sectors can in some cases be met only with difficulty by drawing on the reserves of the national
labour market alone,

N. whereas migration from the new Member States is having beneficial effects on the economies of those
Member States that have opened up their labour markets, as it is improving industrial competitiveness,
reducing undeclared work, helping to raise economic growth rates and create more new jobs, and
generating higher tax revenue for the host countries' budgets,

O. whereas not only should consideration be given to the beneficial effects of opening up labour markets
in the EU-15, but an analysis should also be carried out of the positive and negative effects on the new
Member States of economic migration,

P. whereas the continued denial of opportunities for legal work in the EU-15 for workers from the new
Member States has led to more illegal work, the promotion of the black economy and worker exploi-
tation,

Q. whereas migration is a very sensitive political issue in the EU and whereas it is therefore vital to inform
European citizens adequately about the underlying principles and practical consequences of freedom of
movement for workers in the EU,

(1) Council Decision No 2005/600/EC of 12 July 2005 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States,

(OJ L 205, 6.8.2005, p. 21).

(2) OJ L 16, 23.1.2004, p. 44.

C 293 E/232

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

2.12.2006

Wednesday 5 April 2006

R. whereas because the data on migration within the Community is inadequate and has not been suffi-
ciently standardised, there are at present no proper statistical tools that enable the European institutions
and Member States to keep up to date with the main trends and different circumstances on the labour
markets of the enlarged EU,

S. whereas the sketchy statistical data gathered by the Member States indicates that migration among the
EU-15 is much higher than migration from the new Member States, whether expressed in absolute
terms or as percentages of the working-age population; whereas migration from the new Member States
is not putting significant pressure on the EU-15 labour markets,

T. whereas the Member States' statistics also show that the volume of migration from third countries far
exceeds migration among the Member States, whether among the EU-15 or among the Member States
of the enlarged EU,

U. whereas to gain citizens' confidence in open labour markets in the EU-15, it is essential to ensure

compliance with, and strictly enforce, EC and national labour law,

V. whereas a decision by the Member States concerned to end the restrictions imposed under the transi-
tional regime would reflect a clear message of solidarity between citizens in Western and Eastern
Europe, who have been separated for many decades on unacceptable grounds,

W. whereas the Member States in the EU-15 will have to notify the Commission formally by 1 May 2006

whether they intend to maintain restrictions for an additional period of three years,

X. whereas the two sides of industry, in particular the ETUC and the Union of Industrial and Employer's
Confederations of Europe, have pronounced themselves clearly in favour of lifting, as soon as possible,
the restrictions currently in place under the transitional regime,

1.
Calls on the EU-15 to abolish the transitional measures in force, given that there are no signs of strain
on the labour markets of the Member States which have opted for openness without restrictions and that
the fears of massive migration have proved groundless;

2.
Suggests to those Member States that opt to extend the transitional measures, that they do so on the
basis of an in-depth analysis of the threat to their labour market from each individual new Member State;

3.
Notes that the transitional periods are a major contributory factor to higher levels of illicit working
and sham self-employment, and will increasingly lead to regionally acute wage pressure and unfair working
conditions, as well as to discrimination against and the exploitation of migrant workers;

Calls on the Member States to enforce the status quo clause and preference rule so that, when a post is

4.
vacant, nationals of the new Member States have priority over third-country nationals;

5.
Calls on the Commission to institute proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty without delay
should any Member State fail to fulfil its obligations under Articles 12, 39, or 42 of the EC Treaty or the
status quo clause of the Accession Treaty;

6.
Regrets that several Member States are applying laws or administrative provisions that could be con-
sidered to impose greater restrictions on the freedom of movement of workers from the new Member States
than those imposed when the Accession Treaty was signed; concludes that the extent of the restrictions
imposed on nationals of the new Member States seeking to enter the EU-15 labour markets exceeds that
authorised under the transitional arrangements;

Regrets the fact that there are Member States in which provisions or administrative measures that

7.
could be regarded as discriminating between workers remain in force;

2.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293 E/233

Wednesday 5 April 2006

8.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that labour law is strictly enforced so as to
guarantee that all EU workers are treated equally, that there is fair competition among businesses, and that
social dumping is prevented; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure that migrant workers
are aware of their fundamental rights and obligations, in particular with regard to legislation prohibiting
discrimination in line with Article 13 of the EC Treaty;

9.
Urges the Commission and the Member States to increase their efforts to ensure the proper enforce-
ment of existing Community legislation, labour standards and, in particular, the provisions of Directive 96/
71/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of
workers in the framework of the provision of services (1), with appropriate reinforcement of administrative
cooperation where justified;

10.
Calls on the Commission to intensify cross-border joint action by the Member States' labour inspec-
torates and to study the possibility of setting up a corresponding European cooperation network (i.e. a social
Europol);

11.
Calls on the Commission, the Member States, the two sides of industry and other specialised bodies
in the public and private sectors to establish a fair, transparent procedure enabling nationals of the new
Member States to obtain employment under decent work, health and safety conditions;

12.
Calls on the Commission and the Council to produce, by January 2009 at the latest, standardised
statistics on intra-EU migration, to set up a system for the systematic monitoring of migration of workers
within the EU, and to provide the funds necessary to finance these actions;

Calls on the Commission, the Council, and the Member States to launch an information campaign
13.
aimed at the public at large with a view to informing citizens more fully about the principles underlying and
the consequences of freedom of movement for workers within the EU and to help combat discrimination
based on nationality, race and any other form of discrimination prohibited under Article 13 of the EC
Treaty;

14.
Calls on the EU-15 to consult the two sides of industry as necessary, in accordance with national
custom and practice, before deciding whether to end or to extend transitional arrangements concerning
freedom of movement for workers from the new Member States;

Calls on those Member States that wish to continue transitional arrangements to create during the

15.
next stage the conditions to ensure that the transitional arrangements are not continued beyond 2009;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the parliaments

16.
of the Member States, and the parliaments of the accession and the candidate countries.

(1) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1.