It is a question of social justice wanting to ensure that employees get equal pay for equal work being employed by the same company, said President Juncker this week in his State of the Union address in the EU Parliament. The report of the EU Parliament on social dumping in the EU, which was adopted by a large majority on Wednesday, aims in the same direction. This should now be seen as a unique opportunity to put a stop to social dumping in the EU and to develop a clear initiative against unfair competition. The AK has been supporting this motion for years in Brussels. Now the time has come to let actions follow announcements.

Europa is not the Wild West, but a social market economy

This week was historical in two respects. Firstly, for the first time ever, the EU Parliament adopted a report on social dumping and secondly, President Juncker in his State of the Union address, made it perfectly clear that the Single Market is not a place where employees are exploited or where lower social standards should apply to them. Because not only his father, as Juncker explained in his final remarks, but all Europeans believe in the rights of employees and social progress. A first step in this direction would be to implement the social protocol, which ensures that social rights take precedence over economic freedoms, which is a demand of trade unions and which has also been addressed in the report on social dumping.

NEOS MEP Mlinar for social dumping in the EU – a clear contradiction to her party's own programme

Until right to the end it was not clear whether the report on social dumping in the EU would be met with broad approval by the EU Parliament. The issue and how to deal with it is too controversial, even though there should actually be only one clear answer. Up to the last minute, AK and ÖGB went out of their way to persuade MEPs to ensure that the report was indeed adopted. From the Austrian MEPs, only Angelika Mlinar of the NEOS voted against; incomprehensible from the point of view of employees and employers as especially fair and just rules of the game form the basis, on which a common Europe shall be built. Mlinar’s voting behaviour is in contrast to her party’s, NEOS, own programme “Plans for a new Europe”. It includes a clear demand against wage dumping: “[S]ocial conditions to prevent wage dumping provide for fair competitive conditions in the European economic model as well as for fair pay as a target of European economic policy.” The EU Commission and more than 2/3 of the MEPs have realised, which disastrous effects social dumping can have and they are finally prepared to act. The AK will continue to take a keen interest in the issue and to constructively collaborate in finding solutions.

Further information:

Report of the EU Parliament on social dumping