Employment, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Markets and Companies
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Friday, 29.03.2024, 12:13
Baltics, Visegrad states seek compromise on cheap labor rule
"We will not agree to the introduction of rules that would in practice
eliminate transport companies from the countries of our region from the EU's
common market," Polish Prime Minister Beata
Szydlo told reporters in Warsaw alongside her Latvian and Lithuanian
counterparts and a senior Estonian diplomat.
"We are counting on being able to reach a compromise, thanks to the
involvement of the Estonian EU presidency, that takes into account the interests
of entrepreneurs from our region," Szydlo added.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius
Skvernelis echoed Szydlo, insisting that "the rules of the Posted
Workers Directive, and any future limitations, cannot apply to the transport
sector."
"We will not agree to one-sided initiatives or proposals on the
transport sector," he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron made overhauling the so-called Posted
Workers Directive one of his key election promises and is set to push for it at
an EU summit on Oct. 19-20.
The regulation lets firms send workers from low-wage countries to wealthier
economies on short-term assignments without paying their hosts' social charges.
The rule has caused resentment in western countries like France, Germany
and Austria, which argue it amounts to "social dumping" and creates
unfair competition on national labor markets.
Working together in the so-called Visegrad Group, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Slovakia insist that France's proposals go too far and will
undercut their interests.
Poland - the EU member that benefits most from the regulation - wants to
keep its current rules largely intact.
An estimated 500,000 of Polish nationals are employed by Polish companies
in other EU member states.
Macron and Szydlo traded harsh verbal blows last month over the posted
workers reforms.