Full text - European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

Temporary agency work in the European Union
lodge complaints should not be limited to particular issues and trade unions
should be allowed to take action on behalf of workers, including without their
approval, to implement the Enforcement Directive, but also obligations arising
from the Posting of Workers Directive.
While from an economic perspective open borders and markets within the
EU are of major importance for the rapid recovery of Europe’s competitive position,
the ETUC recognises that workers everywhere in Europe are increasingly
questioning the added value of such measures for them (ETUC 2010).
The side-effects of the internal market and increased cross-border mobility
of companies and workers are endangering social cohesion. In this context,
the Posting of Workers Directive plays a pivotal role not only as key device to
prevent unfair competition on wages and working conditions in situations of
temporary cross-border provision of services, but also and even more so the
main instrument to maintain the social dimension of the internal market.
WP 2012.13 61