Posting ‘not addressing right priorities’

Proposals for the revision of the Posting Directive are not addressing the right priorities, according to FIEC (the European Construction Industry Federation).

The posting of workers is the moving of EU workers, on a temporary basis, from the Member State were they usually work to another Member State.

FIEC president Jean-Louis Marchand said, “The proposal presented by the European Commission does not address the real concerns related to posting.

“Furthermore, it exacerbates a West-East split between Member States, and in the current circumstances this is not what we want for the European Union.”

FIEC said that most of the problems identified in relation to posting were linked, on the one hand, to difficulties or shortcomings in the application and enforcement of the existing legislative framework and, on the other hand, to illegal practices, which would not be solved by this proposal.

It said that because of this, priorities should be concentrated on these problems before considering possible changes to the legislative framework itself.

“Letterbox companies, bogus self-employment, fake A1 forms, incorrect or non-payment of social security contributions, inefficient exchanges of information between administrations – these are the major obstacles for a level playing field in posting situations,” said Marchand.

The Enforcement Directive (2014/067/EC) addresses some of these concerns, said FIEC, adding that it regretted that, currently, 15 Member States still hadn’t implemented it at national level.

“Social fraud is affecting the sustainable development of our sector. Companies, in particular SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), are forced to close, and thousands of jobs are lost because of such fraudulent and illegal practices.”

In 2015, FIEC and its EU sectoral social partner the EFBWW (European Federation of Building & Wood Workers) presented some joint proposals for fighting against social fraud, which they said could be put in place without modifying the Posting Directive.

FIEC said it would continue to “collaborate in a constructive manner” with the European institutions and all the concerned stakeholders, in order adequately to address the problem of illegal practices and social fraud in general, including in the framework of posting.