Activities of Heinz K. BECKER related to 2015/2255(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Social dumping in the EU (A8-0255/2016 - Guillaume Balas) DE
Amendments (37)
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. having regard to the increased trend towardsexisting phenomena of undeclared work, and bogus self- employment, outsourcing and subcontracting, which leading to an increase in precarious jobs and deterioratinge levels of worker protection,; having regard to an increasing trend towards outsourcing and subcontracting which may create possibilities to abuse existing labour and social law;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. having regard to the fact that there is no legal definition of social dumping which may create confusion with respect to respective recommendations and their application;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. having regard that to the fact that there are different ways on how "social dumping" is being interpreted and that for the purpose for this report social dumping should be considered as "the intended abuse or circumvention of existing European and national laws in order to gain competitive advantage while unlawfully minimising labour and operational costs and not respecting workers' rights;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. having regard to the distinction in the EU law of rules governing the free movement of workers, the right of establishment and the freedom to provide services;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. having regard to the importance of the principle of 'equal pay and social protectioArticle 45 of TFEU stipulating that freedom of movement shall entail the abolition of any discrimination based on nationality between fwor the same work at the same place' for all European workers,kers of the Member States as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. having regard to the fact that one of the main principles of EU policies is a social cohesion, which means a constant and ongoing approximation of wages and social security protection guaranteed to all workers, be it local or mobile;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal forMember States to make more staff and resources available in the area of labour inspection and achieve the goal of one labour inspector per 10 000 workers, in accordance with ILO recommendations; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in establishing effective and efficient labour inspectorates and to draft a directiveommendation based on ILO Convention No 81 on labour inspection;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Warmly welcomes the agreement to establish a European platform to combat undeclared work which brings together the Commission, the social partners and national authorities in order to step up the fight against undeclared work throughout the Union; regards the platform as a prime example of the added value which the Union brings to social policy;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on Member States to increase thsecure appropriate staffing levels and resources ofor their labour inspectorates and their liaison offices, in particular for interpretation and translation and to make sure that inspections are proportionate, justified and non- discriminatory;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for the creation of a European body ofmeasures to promote cross- border labour inspectors to carry out on-the-spot checks in suspected cases of social dumping, including by identifying 'letterbox companies', which body would work incooperation between labour inspectors in close coordination with the work of the platform againsto combat undeclared work in order to limit the financial burden involved;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for checking whether implementation byt would be effective and efficient if Member States ofwere to set up electronic systems for the registration of the prior declaration of posting missions;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive based on ILO Convention No. 189 concerning decent work for domestic workMember States to establish legal frameworks allowing for lawful employment of domestic workers and carers, in order to provide legal certainty for both the workers and their potential employers;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Requests that information on postings should not beCalls for an assessment of the opportunities and risks which would arise if information on postings were not to be submitted retroactively and that it isif it were to be entered in an electronic register; stresses that care should be taken to check that the competent authorities of the host Member State shwould be able to revise form A1 in the event of serious doubts about whether a posting is genuine;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls its appeal forInvites the Commission to consider evaluating the feasibility of the creation of 'a forgery-proof European social security card (...)or other EU-wide electronic document on which could be stored all the data needed to verify the bearer’'s social security status based on an employment relationship'11 [1]; wishes all the necessary information associated with the worker's postings to feature on this card; __________________ 11 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDo c.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA- 2014-0012+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Stresses the need to complement the action against the breaches of social rights with a fight against tax fraud and tax evasion, in order to guarantee a fair competition and a level playing field for the enterprises;
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading II
Subheading II
Amendment 326 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Ccalls on the Commission to combat the phenomenon of letterbox companies by applying more generally the principle that each company should have a single corporate headquarters; recalls the rejection by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the proposal for a directive on single-person limited liabilityand the Member States to intensify their efforts to combat letterbox companies;
Amendment 369 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Considers that the notion of 'minimum wage' contained in Directive 96/71/EC should be revised to ensure equal pay for posted workers and local workers in similar positions; sStresses the need to respect the collective agreements of the host country and to ensure, through the revision of Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and (EC) No 987/2009, the payment of gross earnings corresponding to the remuneration paid by the employer before the deduction of taxes and social security contributions payable by employees and withheld by the employer; recalls that specific postings bonuses should be paid on top of remuneration;
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Wishes periods of postings to be limited in Directive 96/71/EC and temporary employment agencies to be excluded from the scope of the directiveStresses the need to take a nuanced view of the temporary employment industry and its collective agreements in particular; the Commission and Member States should support all forms of temporary employment, particularly those which act as a bridge to permanent employment ;
Amendment 409 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Notes that due to differences in Member States labour laws it is difficulty to make a clear distinction between employees and self- employed workers at EU level; thus in order to combat bogus self- employment calls on the Commission to propose specific recommendations based on indicators of the existence of an employment relationship according to the ILO Convention 198 on Employment Relationship Recommendation;
Amendment 431 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for increasedmore efficient controls on the implementation of working time and rest times in transport; calls for the introduction of automatic digital records and the development of 'smart tachographs' for all means of transport, including inland waterway transport; recalls the desire expressed in its resolution of 3 July 2012 on road transport that 'by 2020 all vehicles which are not exempted from the application of this Regulation in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be fitted with a smart tachograph'12 on a swift implementation of the Regulation No 165/2014 on the tachographs in the road transport; __________________ 12 www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do? type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012- 0271&language=EN&ring=A7-2012- 0195#BKMD-7
Amendment 432 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for increased controls on the implementation of working time and rest times in the transport sector; calls fourges the Commission to analyse whether the introduction of automatic digital records and the development of '“smart tachographs'” for all means of transport, including inland waterway transport; recalls the wish expressed in its resolution from 3 July 2012 that “until 2020 (...) all vehicles that are not exempt from Paragraphs 2 and 3 of this regulation (mutransport makes sense; in doing so, it should also take account of the administrative burdens and costs for honest) be equipped with a smart tachograph” 12usinesses; __________________ 12 www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do? type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012- 0271&language=DE&ring=A7-2012- 0195#BKMD-7.
Amendment 469 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Asks the Commission toand Member States to work on clearify the provisions so that a distinction can be drawn and transparent distinctions between employees and self- employed workers to combat 'bogus self employment'; emphasises that airline pilots and train drivers cannot be considered to be independent of the companies for which they workwhich are practicable and which cover the many forms which employment relationships can take, and which also do not discriminate against genuinely self-employed workers with a small number of clients, which create legal certainty and which prevent abuse of the rules;
Amendment 486 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
Amendment 514 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses the need for a new regulation on ground-handling at airports to ensure mandatory social and wage protection for workers in the event of new calls for tenders or the partial loss of work; supports the introduction of rules to ensure the effective implementation of laws with regard to airlines with 'operational bases' on the territory of a Member State; calls for the clarification of the definition of 'home base' to protect the social rights of flight cabin crews, in particular their rest periodat there is no need for ground-handling at airports;
Amendment 524 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18. Calls for social rights of flight and cabin crew to be protected;
Amendment 569 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission to rapidly draw up proposals to combatinvestigate the extent, and consequences, of unfair competition in the digital and sharing economy;
Amendment 596 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Takes the view that a social protocol is necessary to ensure the primacy of fundamental rights over economic freedomsurgent action is needed to help the social market economy become established in all the EU Member States, to protect the freedom of all market participants and, at the same time, to ensure social balance;
Amendment 616 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls the Commission's commitment to proposing a basis of minimum social rights; emphasises that the establishment of criteria for comparing the various national social systems cannot provide such a basis, but can only serve as a preliminary analytical framework represent the first step towards such a basis;
Amendment 633 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Wishes that wage floors be establishedSupports the establishment of wage floors, possibly in the form of a minimum wage; emphasises that this instrument should be set up on the basis of legislation or convention, in accordance with national practices, with due respect for the role of the social partners; believes that these wage floors should represent at least 60 % of the average national wage; calls on the Commission to consult the social partners with a view to introducing, where appropriate, a minimum wage in some border areas associated with highly mobile workers;
Amendment 658 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Supports the development of unemployment benefit arrangements as a mechanism ft Member States level and their por tabsorbing asymmetric social shocks within the euro areaility under the EU social security coordination;
Amendment 660 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Supports the development of effective and efficient national unemployment benefit arrangements as a mechanism for absorbing asymmetric social shocks within the euro area;
Amendment 665 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a.Sees no need to develop an EU-wide unemployment benefit system; fears that this would represent the first step towards the establishment of a transfer union;
Amendment 672 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. CRecalls on the Commission to propose a legal instrument to address the cross- border dimensions of outsourcing, extending the joint and several liability of the payer to include all economic sectors athat Member States can set up, in consultation with the concerned social partners, "joint and several liability" mechanisms at national level applicable towards local and foreign companies in order to enable local and foreign workers to execute their rights; reminds the entire subcontracting chainat such a possibility was confirmed by the Enforcement Directive on the Posting of workers;
Amendment 676 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Recognizes the risks related to long chains of subcontracting; calls on the Commission to carefully monitor the application of the obligation put on Member States in the Enforcement Directive to provide for measures ensuring that in the construction sector in subcontracting chains posted workers can hold the contractor of which the employer is a direct subcontractor liable for the respect of their workers' rights;
Amendment 687 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Emphasises that in its resolution of 6 February 2013 on Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, (2012/2097 (INI)), the European Parliament made it absolutely clear that charitable activities shall never be an obligation in a free society within the framework of CSR; firmly believes that a commitment to CSR would lead people to be less receptive to charity;
Amendment 689 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28 b. requests that enterprises, particularly SMEs, must not in any way be required to disclose non-financial information about their voluntary social engagement; emphasises that this leads to unreasonably high bureaucratic costs and would jeopardise social commitment instead of promoting it;