WORKING CONDITIONS : MEPS WANT RESPONSIBLE SUBCONTRACTING PRACTICES.

• Position: Members of the Parliament - Brief article

MEPs want the European Commission to come up with a legal instrument at EU level that would ensure the social responsibility of subcontracting companies at the different stages in the supply-manufacturing chain in the EU. In a report by Lasse Lehtinen (PES, Finland), adopted by the Employment and Social Committee on 11 February, MEPs refer to the principle of joint responsibility and solidarity' that is currently being introduced by the so-called sanctions directive'. This latter directive should be voted on by MEPs at their next plenary session, on 18-19 February.

The sanctions directive will allow member states to penalise employers of clandestine immigrants throughout the EU. It sets out standard penalties, from fines to prison terms, to combat illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings. MEPs in the Employment Committee underlined the "responsibility" of employers in the case of subcontracting undertakings in supply-manufacturing chains, in...