"We do not have enough Europe yet" - IHK press talks on the implementation of the EU Posting of Workers Directive in France - "The French internal market is a little absurd!"
Originally, the European Union was established to facilitate economic development in Europe and to reduce economic boundaries. In the meantime the European single market has long been a reality and the border fences within the EU have been reduced.
With the EU Posting Directive, which was actually adopted to protect the minimum wages and working time laws, this development is now reversed.
The protection against dumping and the economic exploitation of workers has resulted in the implementation of a bureaucracy that far surpasses the real frontier fences. The French state, in particular, has created major obstacles with the implementation of the posting of workers guidelines for cross-border commercial transport. The Industry and Commerce Chamber of Southern Upper Rhine, whose members are particularly affected by the proximity of the border, took a position today in a press conference. Invited also was Dr. Andreas Schwab, an MEP of the EPP.
"The issue of the Posting of Workers Directive is a problem for us and our member companies," explained IHK CEO Andreas Kempff. "Our companies in the region are severely affected by this. The European internal market is a little absurd", adds Kempff. Pascale Mollet-Piffert, Head of the International Division, reports on daily calls from member companies in the double-digit range. "The companies are completely insecure and need help and information to implement the directives at all," says Mollet-Piffert. The regulations are too bureaucratic and in part not implementable at all. For example, a contact person in France should be appointed for each posting, which is, of course, usually a salaried position. Every border crossing is separately notifiable and the necessary health insurance certificate from German health insurance organisations is no longer available. A 2018 planned fee for each posting will sharpen the situation additionally. "There are companies that do not undertake any cross-border work," reports Mollet-Piffert. With punishments up to 8000 euros per case is too understandable.
EU Internal Market Officer Petra Steck-Brill reported on a survey conducted by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, which involved 350 companies. The interviewees complained massively about the rising costs and the administrative burden that the assignments of employees to France brought with them. 30 per cent of the respondents said that the activities in France were massively reduced. There are companies that are affected by up to 3,500 postings a year. The consequences were that the companies no longer planed trade fairs, no longer offered the maintenance of delivered systems and thereby lost the personal customer contact.
EU Parliamentarian Dr. Andreas Schwab (EPP) is convinced that it was not the aim of the French government to hinder German firms, but confirmed national tendencies in France, which were very welcome. "This is against existing EU law," said Dr. Schwab, but the EU Commission does not care. "It is hair-raising, what happens here," the EU MEP, but also warned against condemning only the French regulation. "In return, the French also have problems with the German implementation of the directive.
Chief Executive Officer Andreas Kempff reported that talks with the aim of mitigating the directive were already in progress for the Upper Rhine region and expressed the hope that relief would soon be given to the companies near the border. Dr. However, Schwab spoke of a new general rule. "It cannot be that something is bilaterally done that does not apply to the rest of the EU states," is Dr. Schwab convinces. As nice as a bilateral solution for the region would be, such a regulation would not be compatible with the European idea. The deputy pleaded for a general solution and referred to much more liberal implementations in Great Britain, Spain or Luxembourg. The aim should be a uniform regulation of all European states: "This would also help the companies, which currently have to deal with 27 different directives of the individual EU states. "We just have too little Europe in this area," Dr. Swab to the point. Source
The protection against dumping and the economic exploitation of workers has resulted in the implementation of a bureaucracy that far surpasses the real frontier fences. The French state, in particular, has created major obstacles with the implementation of the posting of workers guidelines for cross-border commercial transport. The Industry and Commerce Chamber of Southern Upper Rhine, whose members are particularly affected by the proximity of the border, took a position today in a press conference. Invited also was Dr. Andreas Schwab, an MEP of the EPP.
"The issue of the Posting of Workers Directive is a problem for us and our member companies," explained IHK CEO Andreas Kempff. "Our companies in the region are severely affected by this. The European internal market is a little absurd", adds Kempff. Pascale Mollet-Piffert, Head of the International Division, reports on daily calls from member companies in the double-digit range. "The companies are completely insecure and need help and information to implement the directives at all," says Mollet-Piffert. The regulations are too bureaucratic and in part not implementable at all. For example, a contact person in France should be appointed for each posting, which is, of course, usually a salaried position. Every border crossing is separately notifiable and the necessary health insurance certificate from German health insurance organisations is no longer available. A 2018 planned fee for each posting will sharpen the situation additionally. "There are companies that do not undertake any cross-border work," reports Mollet-Piffert. With punishments up to 8000 euros per case is too understandable.
EU Internal Market Officer Petra Steck-Brill reported on a survey conducted by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, which involved 350 companies. The interviewees complained massively about the rising costs and the administrative burden that the assignments of employees to France brought with them. 30 per cent of the respondents said that the activities in France were massively reduced. There are companies that are affected by up to 3,500 postings a year. The consequences were that the companies no longer planed trade fairs, no longer offered the maintenance of delivered systems and thereby lost the personal customer contact.
EU Parliamentarian Dr. Andreas Schwab (EPP) is convinced that it was not the aim of the French government to hinder German firms, but confirmed national tendencies in France, which were very welcome. "This is against existing EU law," said Dr. Schwab, but the EU Commission does not care. "It is hair-raising, what happens here," the EU MEP, but also warned against condemning only the French regulation. "In return, the French also have problems with the German implementation of the directive.
Chief Executive Officer Andreas Kempff reported that talks with the aim of mitigating the directive were already in progress for the Upper Rhine region and expressed the hope that relief would soon be given to the companies near the border. Dr. However, Schwab spoke of a new general rule. "It cannot be that something is bilaterally done that does not apply to the rest of the EU states," is Dr. Schwab convinces. As nice as a bilateral solution for the region would be, such a regulation would not be compatible with the European idea. The deputy pleaded for a general solution and referred to much more liberal implementations in Great Britain, Spain or Luxembourg. The aim should be a uniform regulation of all European states: "This would also help the companies, which currently have to deal with 27 different directives of the individual EU states. "We just have too little Europe in this area," Dr. Swab to the point. Source
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