INTRA-EU POSTING: COSTS AND BENEFITS

Transcription

1 INTRA-EU POSTING: COSTS AND BENEFITS LEUVEN, PARK INN HOTEL, 28 APRIL 2017 Organised by KU Leuven - Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA) for and in collaboration with the European Centre for Workers Questions EZA with the financial support of the European Commission 1

2 Aim of the conference In 2015, some 0.4% of total employed persons in the EU were posted abroad. However, some Member States, and within these Member States some specific sectors of activity, in particular the construction sector and the road transport sector, are confronted with a significantly high percentage of incoming posted workers. The posting of workers has currently a rather negative connotation, mostly referring to the fraud-sensitivity of posting, the potential downward pressure on wages and labour tax revenues (i.e. social dumping) and the potential job displacement effects. The recent proposal of the Commission to revise the Posting of Workers Directive and the EU provisions on the coordination of social security schemes addresses some of these concerns. Moreover, the deadline for the transposition of the Enforcement Directive into national legislation expired on 18 June Despite the heated debate on the negative consequences of intra-eu posting, the size, the profile and impact of this phenomenon have not yet been mapped out in detail. Moreover, a more informed and nuanced debate on the pros and cons of intra-eu posting is needed. This conference has four main objectives: Obtain a better view on the real size of intra-eu posting; Figures collected at European level give an indication of the flows of posted workers among sending and receiving Member States towards a specific sector of activity. Furthermore, these figures provide a more detailed profile of intra-eu posting. It is useful to complement these data collected at European level with figures collected by existing national registration tools. Obtain a better understanding of the motives of intra-eu posting; What makes countries, a more specifically some sectors of activity such as the construction sector and the road transport sector so appealing for foreign employers that contract their services out via posting? Or is it the opposite; is posting more demand-driven? At the same time we know very little about the clients that use posting. What is their business economic profile and do they display a different profile than companies that do not use posting? Obtain a better understanding of the impact of intra-eu posting; Receiving Member States might be confronted with social dumping and the displacement of local jobs. However, posting could be considered as a complement to the jobs performed by domestic workers in case of a higher labour demand than supply. From a sending perspective, posting could be a useful tool to increase trade, employment and higher household incomes. Obtain a view on the possible actions to fight social dumping and fraud at European and national level. The term social dumping has been contaminated by using it to refer to social fraud as well. Therefore a clear differentiation must be made between the terms social dumping and social fraud. The recent Enforcement Directive could be a useful tool in the fight against social fraud via posting. However, also possible actions at national level could be taken to fight social fraud via posting. 2

3 Programme 08:30 Welcome and coffee Chairman of the morning session: Chris Serroyen, ACV The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions of Belgium 09:15 Prof. dr. Jozef Pacolet, HIVA-KU Leuven Welcome and scope of the conference 09:20 Esmeralda Van den Bosh, EZA Maintaining the social dialogue PART I. THE SIZE AND PROFILE OF INTRA-EU POSTING 09:30 Prof. dr. Jozef Pacolet and Frederic De Wispelaere, HIVA-KU Leuven Measuring the size of intra-eu posting on the basis of data collected at European and national level PART II. GLOBAL DRIVERS AND IMPACT OF INTRA-EU POSTING dr. Federico Pancaldi, DG EMPL, European Commission An assessment of the impact of intra-eu posting 10:30 Coffee break 10:50 dr. Damiaan Persyn, Joint Research Centre-IPTS, European Commission The economic effects of intra-eu posting 11:20 Stefan Schwarz, Labour Mobility Initiative dr. Marek Benio, Labour Mobility Initiative and Cracow University of Economics Discussion PART III. IMPACT OF INTRA-EU POSTING ON CONSTRUCTION AND ROAD TRANSPORT 11:40 Frederic De Wispelaere and Prof. dr. Jozef Pacolet, HIVA-KU Leuven Impact of intra-eu posting on the Belgian economy. With a special focus on the construction sector 12:10 Chiara Lorenzini, European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (Europe) Tom Deleu, ACV-CSC BIE (construction) (Belgium) Jean-Pierre Waeytens, Bouwunie (Belgium) Discussion 12:40 Lunch 3

4 Chairman of the afternoon session: Robert Schadeck, Lëtzebuerger Chrëschtleche Gewerkschafts-Bond, Luxembourg and European Economic and Social Council 13:20 Prof. dr. Barbara Palli, University of Lorraine Impact of intra-eu posting on the (French) road transport sector 13:50 Cristina Tilling, European Transport Workers' Federation (Europe) John Reynaert, ABVV-BTB/FGTB-UBT (Transport) (Belgium) Discussion PART IV. POLICY ACTIONS TO FIGHT SOCIAL DUMPING AND SOCIAL FRAUD 14:10 Prof. dr. Herwig Verschueren, University of Antwerp The European coordination of social security systems and posting: legal discussions and proposals to fight fraude 14:40 Prof. dr. Mijke Houwerzijl, Tilburg University The implementation and application of the Enforcement Directive by Member States: overview of the current state of play 15:10 Coffee break 15:30 Claude Rolin, Member of the European Parliament Intra-EU posting and social dumping or social fraud: what should we do about it 16:00 Philippe De Backer, Belgian State secretary for the Fight against Social Fraud Closing speech 4

5 The conference The conference is organised by HIVA-KU Leuven, for and in collaboration with the European Centre for Workers Questions (EZA), with the financial support of the European Commission. Target group The conference wants to confront academic research with the opinion and ambition of stakeholders and policy makers, presented to an audience consisting of representatives from social movements, policymakers, social security administrations, inspectorates and researchers. Date Friday 28 April 2017 Place Park Inn Hotel (located at the train station of Leuven) Martelarenlaan Leuven België Tel. +32 (0) Languages Working language of the conference is English. Simultaneous translation is provided in Dutch and French. Conference fee 60 euro (covers the costs of organisation, documentation files, lunch and refreshments during break periods) Registration To registrate, click here Registration before 18 April 2017 is necessary and is only valid after payment has been received. After receipt of registration, the conference secretariat will send each participant an invoice for the conference fee. This invoice is at the same time a confirmation of your registration. Organisation and contact Prof. dr. Jozef Pacolet jozef.pacolet@kuleuven.be Frederic De Wispelaere frederic.dewispelaere@kuleuven.be Information Inge Vanderwaeren inge.vanderwaeren@kuleuven.be Tel. +32 (0)

6 Relevant HIVA publications De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2017a), De omvang en impact van intra-eu detachering op de Belgische economie. Met een specifieke focus op de bouwsector, HIVA-KU Leuven. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2017b), De omvang en impact van intra-eu detachering op de Belgische economie. Met een specifieke focus op de bouwsector - Samenvatting, HIVA-KU Leuven. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2017c), Étendue et impact du détachement intra-européen dans l économie belge. Avec une attention spécifique pour le secteur de la construction - Résumé, HIVA-KU Leuven. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2017d), The size and impact of intra-eu posting on the Belgian economy. With a special focus on the construction sector - Summary, HIVA-KU Leuven. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2016a), The economic value and impact of cross-border services provided through the posting of workers, with a focus on the construction sector, on behalf of the European Commission DG EMPL. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2016b), Tackling social dumping and fraud in the Belgian construction sector, ESPN Flash Report 2016/54. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2015a), Posting of workers: the impact of social security coordination and income taxation law on welfare states, HIVA Working Paper, HIVA KU Leuven, Leuven. De Wispelaere, F. & Pacolet, J. (2015b), Posting of workers as stabilising mechanism. An enlarged notion of labour mobility as a prerequisite for an optimal currency area, HIVA Working Paper, HIVA KU Leuven, Leuven. Pacolet J. & Baeyens, K. (2007a), Deloyale concurrentie in de bouwsector. Een terreinverkenning van mechanismen van sociale fraude, hun omvang en hun gevolgen voor de sector, HIVA-KU Leuven. Pacolet J. & Baeyens, K. (2007b), La concurrence déloyale dans le secteur de la construction. Reconnaissance de terrain en matière de mécanismes de fraude sociale, leur étendue et leurs conséquences pour le secteur de la construction, HIVA-KU Leuven. Pacolet, J. & De Wispelaere, F. (2016), Posting of workers: Report on A1 portable documents issued in 2015, Network Statistics FMSSFE, European Commission, 54 p. Pacolet, J. & De Wispelaere, F. (2015), Posting of workers: Report on A1 portable documents issued in 2014, Network Statistics FMSSFE, European Commission, 40 p. Pacolet, J. & De Wispelaere, F. (2014), Posting of workers: Report on A1 portable documents issued in 2013 and 2012, Network Statistics FMSSFE, European Commission. Pacolet, J. & De Wispelaere, F. (2011), Belgium, In J. Cremers (Eds.), In search of cheap labour in Europe. Working and living conditions of posted workers, European Institute for Construction Labour Research. International Books. 6