CoR members adopted today the opinion on the European Labour Authority (ELA), by PES member Doris Kampus, Regional minister for social affairs, work and integration of the Styrian regional government (Austria). It sets out the position of cities and regions on a European Commission's proposal for a regulation, which aims at improving labour mobility rules for the some 17 million Europeans who live or work in another Member State.
"Abusive use of the free movement of workers in the EU not only weakens the cohesion of the EU, but also leads to considerable social, economic and budgetary constraints being placed on regions, cities and municipalities, local companies and on citizens themselves", stressed Kampus.
"The establishment of a European Labour Authority – for which our political family has long been fighting for - is an important step for the effective enforcement of labour standards with a view to ensuring decent working conditions in the context of cross-border or posted workers. However, if we truly want to support fair labour mobility and effectively fight social fraud, the Authority needs to be invested with appropriate enforcement mechanisms and endowed with appropriate financial means", she emphasised.
To improve the quality of worker mobility, the rapporteur for simpler cross-border enforcement procedures of national sanctions and for greater transparency and consistency in their implementation.
The opinion also recommends that local and regional authorities, who are affected by irregularities in matters of cross-border labour mobility and have the closest contact with job seekers and employers, are appropriately represented on the European Labour Authority's management board.
Finally, Kampus underlines that, to achieve the ELA objectives, its actions must be based on enforceability and accountability.
