We call on European Parliamentarians to consider wisely the proposed services e-card and to push for a Europe with a strong social dimension that protects workers, at home and abroad, and their fundamental rights.

While leading politicians met in the Internal Market Committee to take part in a hearing on the services e-card, trade union members did their bit to set the tone for the political debate taking place in the Parliament.

Opposition to the proposed services e-card stems from clear analysis by the ETUC, EFBWW, UNI-Europa and EFFAT who have studied the legal proposals put forward by the Commission and concluded that it remains in workers’ best interests “to reject the proposed services e-card”.

In order to draw attention to our position and give our arguments a human face, industriAll Europe joined with the ETUC and EFBWW, and Belgian trade union colleagues from ACV-CSC, ABVV-FGTB and ACLVB-CGSLB to reiterate our position outside the European Parliament on 21 June 2017.

The proposed package of legislation to implement the services e-card will not create a fair level playing field in Europe. 

While the European Commission claims that the proposed services e-card will streamline the process of providing services among the 500 million citizens of Europe, trade unions are united in the fear that the services e-card will neglect the social dimension in favour of ease of doing business. 

There is a considerable risk of heightened bogus self-employment, undeclared work, fake posting and the non-respect of social/labour regulations. Not only this but the new initiative, if passed, could spark a revived divisive debate on the country of origin principle and cause interference to the ongoing discussions on the revision of the posting of workers Directive. 

All of this, in turn, risks starting a race to the bottom in terms of working conditions as well as employment and consumer rights. As industriAll Europe, we are firmly opposed to this kind of social dumping. 

On the whole, it is clear that workers’ concerns are not being adequately heard and it is for that reason that we chose to stand together today and call for the rejection of the services e-card proposal. We call on European Parliamentarians to consider wisely the proposed services e-card and to push for a Europe with a strong social dimension that protects workers, at home and abroad, and their fundamental rights.