POSTED WORKERS : COMMISSION PLACES MEMBER STATES UNDER SURVEILLANCE.

The European Commission on 4 April adopted two documents on the highly topical issue of posting workers abroad in Strasbourg. The first is a Communication outlining the policy it proposes henceforth to pursue in this area, and the second a report reviewing application of various aspects of the 1996 Directive, article by article. Publication of these two documents is basically a response to the European Parliament's calls for Articles 24 and 25 on seconded workers to be removed from the draft Services Directive. The Commission intends to point out that the removal of these articles should not be interpreted by member states as a green light for (re)introducing bureaucratic obstacles to impede the posting of workers by businesses in violation of the principle of free movement of services.

In its Communication setting out 'guidelines on the posting of workers in the context of the provision of services', the Commission reviews the various control measures introduced by the member states (authorisation regime or declaration, necessary documents, additional controls) and, drawing on case law, declares them consistent or inconsistent with EU rules. It also informs the member states of additional measures which should be introduced to improve information on the terms and conditions to be implemented.

12 MONTHS TO IMPROVE

The Commission has chosen not to commit to a review of the existing text, at least not immediately. It believes there is first and foremost 'an urgent need to clarify the control measures which member states can introduce in the light of EU Court of Justice case law on Article 49 of the Treaty, and to improve access to information and administrative cooperation'. Secondly, it is counting on more scrupulous compliance by the member states, notably as a result of wider monitoring. A fresh report will be published in 12 months' time, assessing efforts made by the member states. If the situation does not improve, the Commission is not ruling out 'taking whatever measures are necessary to remedy this situation' without indicating at this juncture precisely what form these measures might take.

In the meantime, a detailed questionnaire will be sent to national authorities and social partners inviting them to comment 'not only on their own measures, but also on their perception of measures or actions taken by other member states'. A form will also be available on the Commission's website for users to 'report their positive or negative...