Tomorrow, October 16, 2019, the European Labour Authority will start its activities by holding its first Management Board meeting in Brussels, in the presence of Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President; Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President-Designate of the European Commission, and Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility.
Alongside the ETUC (the European Trade Union Confederation), the European Transport Workers’ Federation will represent the European trade union federations on the ELA Management Board.
Our expectations are high! Trade unions will be considering ELA as no more and no less than an effective body in strengthening operational cooperation between Member States to fight cross-border fraud via joint inspections, cooperation and exchange of information between Member States.
Particularly in the case of transport, we believe ELA will be a step towards more transparency and access to information by transport workers, but also a key player in guaranteeing a better implementation of the EU rules in regard to the mobile personnel in transport.
With the opening up of markets for goods and services, the labour market is a meeting hub for workers of different nationalities, cultures and wages. Thus, we need a strong commitment from all players to ensure that EU rules are fair and fully respected.
Frank Moreels, the ETF President, said: “ELA is now a reality, and we are part of it. ELA can count on us to guarantee that they will act as a real European Social Inspection body because that is precisely what we are missing today in Europe. We will push ELA as much as possible to play a major role in enforcing EU rules. ELA will be effective if and only if it puts pressure on the EU Member States to effectively enforce European legislation. No more bureaucracy. We need boots on the ground and action against social dumping. That is ETF’s mission, as a member of the Management Board of ELA.”
