Activities of Elena GENTILE related to 2015/2233(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) (A8-0009/2016 - Viviane Reding) IT
Amendments (15)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for all ILO core labour standardsas a minimum, for the ratification and implementation of all ILO core labour standards as well as other relevant ILO conventions such as ILO 94, and for them to be a compulsory and enforceable element of EU trade agreements, such as TiSA from the outset;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that increasing mobility must be accompanied by high and binding social and labour standards so as to ensure that workers are protected against exploitation and social dumping; stresses furthermore in this regard the importance of sufficient control and enforcement mechanisms;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Considers that any future agreement on trade in services must include a clause on control and enforcement mechanisms so as to deter and prevent companies from infringing labour and social rights, including collective agreements; is particularly concerned about the effects of complex cross-border subcontracting chains through which it becomes very difficult to ensure and monitor compliance; calls therefore on the Commission to propose EU legislation ensuring liability in sub-contracting chains, and considers that such liability must also apply and be enforceable on companies from third-countries; points out in this regard that the principle of equal remuneration for equal work at the same workplace should be enshrined in EU law and underlines that labour inspectorates and trade unions have a vital role to play in the prevention and monitoring of abuse and also help to enhance expertise and information provision at company level; urges the Member States to increase the staffing levels of, and the resources available to, their labour inspectorates and to meet the target of one inspector for every 10 000 workers, as recommended by the ILO, as well as to impose more severe penalties on firms that fail to comply with their obligations concerning fundamental rights (including remuneration, working hours and OHS); considers that the penalties in such cases must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Deplores the decline in funding for labour inspection and the inadequacy of cross-border access to data within the EU; is concerned about the consequences this inadequacy and decline might have with regards to further liberalisation of the trade in services through TiSA; highlights that labour inspections in particular face challenges in monitoring companies where migrant workers and posted workers from the EU and third countries are employed; stresses that, for labour inspections to be effective, it is important that they are sufficiently aware of situations with a high risk of non- compliance; points out that national-level electronic systems for the compulsory advance registration of foreign workers by employers could substantially facilitate the task of labour inspection;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses, in order to avoid unfair competition, social dumping and exploitation of workers, that the principle of equal remuneration for equal work is enshrined in EU law and respected in all of the trade agreements signed by the EU; underlines that all workers, irrespective of their home country must, as a minimum, enjoy the same rights, conditions of employment and salaries as nationals in the place of work; stresses that this principle be included through a protection clause for deployed workers in any future agreement on trade in services;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Considers that any future agreement on trade in services must include a clause preventing companies from circumventing or undermining the right to take industrial action, through the use of workers from third countries during negotiations on collective agreements and labour disputes;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that the right of the State to organise and regulate the provision of services, taking account of social and environmental criteria as well as the public interest, must be retained in full, and calls for; underlines in this regard the duties and the role of public authorities to serve the society and our citizens through ensuring availability, accessibility, acceptability, affordability and quality of public services; calls for services of general interest, services of general economic interest as well as social services of general interest1 a to be excluded from the scope of the agreement, irrespective of whether they are provided privately or publicly; __________________ 1a European Parliament Report, 22 June 2011, A7-0239/2011 "on the future of social services of general interest": http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getD oc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A7- 2011-0239&language=EN
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Considers that the EU should make very limited commitments as to any future provisions through the current Mode 1 of the GATS, so as not to undermine the high working standards and conditions in the EU through the provisions of services being supplied from third countries, particularly concerning the ICT sector;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers furthermore that the EU-wide posting of workers should not be regulated in trade agreements; considers however that, as a minimum, the Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers, together with other national and EU labour and social legislation as well as collective agreements, should be applicable to contractual service suppliers and business sellers accessing the EU, today and in the future, through the Mode 4 provisions in GATS;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses the importance of the social partners and their expertise, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to involve and closely cooperate with them throughout the negotiations on TiSA, especially regarding the possible effects any trade agreement in services have on the labour market;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. ExpectsConsiders that the agreement musto include a clause making it possible to unilaterally amend and revierse the liberalisation of services, particularly in the event of infringements of labour and social standards;
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes the intention of including a chapter in TiSA on the deployment of natural persons; is deeply concerned however about the current non-existence of statistics and data concerning the movement of natural persons (mode 4) under the already existing General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); underlines the importance of transparency for this category of service providers so as to monitor and avoid abuse and exploitation of third-country nationals, for example in the form of bogus self-employment; calls on the Commission to urgently collate and present information on the number and type of service providers, including the duration of their stay, entering the EU through GATS mode 4; calls furthermore for an EU Directive to harmonise and monitor the flow of third-country individual service providers coming into the EU through these provisions in order to establish the conditions of entry and stay of individual service providers;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Underlines that any provisions concerning the deployment of natural persons or mode 4 provisions, must only concern highly skilled professionals, i.e. persons holding a University or equivalent Masters degree and employed in a senior managerial role, and the duration of their stay in the EU must be for a specific purpose, for a well determined, limited period of time and under precise conditions; therefore rejects any changes to the current mode 4 rules as defined in the GATS and considers that the current Directive 2014/66/EU on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals in the framework of an intra- corporate transfer should be revised in order to avoid abuse and social dumping;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Stresses that Member States must retain their full sovereignty as to whether or not to commit to any future Mode 4 provisions; underlines furthermore that any sectors included in these provisions must be identified together with and in full cooperation with the social partners;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Stresses that before making any new commitments on global trade in services, the Commission must present an extensive impact assessment of the effects on the economy and on the labour market of all current modes of GATS since its entry into force; calls furthermore on the Commission to as soon as possible present an impact assessment of TiSA with regards to working conditions, possible effects as to unfair competition and any eventual decline in certain sectors due to increased competition from third- countries;