THE EUROPEAN SOCIALIST PARTY SEEKS TO REGULATE THE WORKING TIME OF THE SELF-EMPLOYED

02/03/2009: Following the latest evolutions in the road transport sector, the European Commission has presented a proposal amending Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities, commonly known as the 'Road Transport Directive', excluding the category of self-employed performing mobile road transport activities. According to the study presented by the Commission, an inclusion of the self-employed performing mobile road activities could result in discrimination towards other categories of self-employed persons.

Road safety, driving time and rest time, are elements already synchronised by Regulation 651/2006 which applies to both employees and the self-employed.

During the Employment and Social Affairs meeting, the Socialist Group rejected the Commission's proposition and introduced the category of the self-employed within the scope of the Road Transport Directive. This will lead to a limitation of the liberty of entrepreneurship in EU countries and to a tendency to further regulate the category of the self-employed in other professional fields.

The final decision on this dossier will probably be taken at the plenary session in May.

"Some political groups keep putting forward past arguments, absolutely null and void nowadays. Those groups do not wish to support the liberty of entrepreneurship. Moreover, they do not wish to guarantee to workers that they will never be in a situation of false self-employment. To this end, the Commission proposal established criteria proving a dependant relation between the so-called self-employed and the employer", declared Marie Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou MEP.

For further information: Tel: +32-2-2847447, Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu

SOCIAL POLICY: QUESTION TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION BY MARIE PANAYOTOPOULOS-CASSIOTOU MEP

08/01/2009: Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou (EPP-ED, Greece) submitted a written question to Commissioner Spidla relating to the October 2008 issue of the Social Agenda, published every month by the Directorate General for Employment Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission. In this issue, fields such as education, social and family policies, freedom of expression of religious beliefs are dealt with as if they were regulated at a European level, regardless of the fact that the principle of subsidiarity applies to them.

The question quotes specific extracts of various articles in which it is taken for granted that a) labour relations are going to undergo changes b) family is not perceived as an essential factor of social cohesion and its decline within society is presented as inevitable c) European legislative measures have been announced in the field of education and finally d) the adoption of the proposal for a Directive on anti-discrimination will most probably result in the progressive banning of religious symbols and clothing worn in public.

For further information:
Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP
Tel: +32-2-2847447 - Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu

''BETTER LATE THAN NEVER'' FOR TEMPORARY WORKERS

21/10/2008: The Directive on Temporary Workers was the focus of MEPs' discussions in the October plenary session in Strasbourg.

Speaking in the plenary, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP, Member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, stressed the importance of the Directive which provides for the consolidation of the rights mainly for women as they constitute a large part of temporary workers.

According to Eurostat (2005, Europe of 25), the percentage of temporary female workers reached 14.9% compared to 13.9% for men. The percentage reached 14.7% (10.25% for men) in Greece, 13.6% (14% for men) in Germany and 14.2% (12.5% for men) in France.

"The new proposal protects and promotes the rights of workers with respect to human value and contribution. The implementation of laws must be safeguarded for all workers and the same payment, insurance and protection conditions have to be guaranteed for any type of work, whether it is for a one-day job or a permanent one", said the MEP.

The Directive intends to fill the existing legislative void on the matter, and it constitutes social progress. It is also an important victory for the EU-27, as it puts forward several issues:

• The equality of treatment for temporary workers;
• The respect of social rules by the companies
• The recognition of temporary employment companies as a legal and professional commercial activity.

Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou underlined that the present Directive will create the framework in which temporary work will contribute in creating new and flexible jobs and an alternative to unemployment without leaving out security, and where healthy competition distortions will be avoided.

Taking into consideration the Member States' different traditional employment practices, differences in the Directive may be allowed in agreement with the social partners. As an example, Greek legislation guarantees the same treatment for both temporary workers and permanent workers from the very first working day within the same company.
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For further information:
Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP
Tel: +32-2-2847447 - Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu