Foreign workers in the EU: moving towards multiple standards, founded on unequal treatment?

Within the framework of regulating foreign workers in the European Union, the European Parliament will vote this autumn on two directives concerning seasonal workers and intra-corporate transferees.

After a comparative analysis of the texts in the legislative package on foreign workers, which includes these two directives, the AEDH is concerned about shortcomings in the texts and the possible infringement on the right to equal treatment. The AEDH maintains that all workers must enjoy the same rights on European territory, regardless of their country of origin or skill level.

The AEDH believes that it was imperative to draft a European text with a view to ending the exploitation of seasonal workers and guarantee them a minimum of rights. However, the Commission’s proposal is insufficient and will not allow these objectives to be obtained. The rigidity of the seasonal worker status, the weakness of the assurances provided, and the non-transferability of social rights to the country of origin are all reasons that will encourage workers to work illegally, in turn greatly exposing them to exploitation.

In addition, the AEDH criticises the fragmentation of the labour market by the Commission, which creates different working conditions and therefore variable rights according to worker category.

A separate framework will be created for third-country national seasonal workers, thereby creating a discriminatory policy of unequal rights due only to the worker’s nationality. Seasonal workers from other Member States remain subject to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1408/71 (1). As an example, the duration of seasonal work is fixed at a maximum of six months for foreign workers while Europeans are allowed eight months.

Although very positive provisions have been created for intra-corporate transferees, this leads to differences in treatment according to worker skill level, which the AEDH considers to be contrary to the principle of equal treatment. In particular, the right to family reunification will be accorded to manager level staff and not seasonal workers. The respect of private and family life should never be dependent on a worker’s skill level or remuneration.

The AEDH criticises the utilitarian vision of the EU’s legal immigration policy and finds it inadmissible that foreign workers be considered as economic tools for European growth and thereby subject to different rights than European workers. This type of approach endangers the principle of equal treatment and thereby social cohesion in Europe.  

Read AEDH full analysis here. (In French only. The translation into English is in progress, it will follow shortly).

Contact:

Pierre Barge, President

AEDH, European Association for the Defense of Human Rights

33, rue de la Caserne B-1000 Bruxelles

Tel: +32(0)25112100  Fax: +32(0)25113200  Email: aedh@aedh.eu