European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday that a package
of workers' rights which the EU executive will propose next spring would
reduce differences among labor markets across the bloc.
Addressing a European trades union gathering in Paris, the conservative former Luxembourg premier also criticized a trend away from long-term employment contracts toward short-term hiring and said the latter should not become the norm.
"We, the European Commission, will propose in spring 2016 a pillar of minimum labor rights, a protective cordon around the labor market," he said, adding that it would set labor norms that "cannot be adjusted downwards".
"In doing so," he said, "We will add to convergence in the employment sphere in Europe."
Juncker, who took over the EU executive 11 months ago, has said recently he would propose harmonizing employment standards, though there has so far been little detail on the plan.
The issue is particularly sensitive at present since Britain's conservative government is trying to negotiate terms of membership before holding a referendum on whether to stay in the EU. Employment regulation from Brussels is unpopular on the right in Britain, though favored by many opponents on the left.
In a reference which an EU official said was to workers being posted abroad, Juncker said he wanted to see a level playing field on pay: "In Europe, we must finally agree on a simple principle: the same pay for the same job wherever it is."
Read more: Juncker vows tighter EU labor laws | Reuters
Addressing a European trades union gathering in Paris, the conservative former Luxembourg premier also criticized a trend away from long-term employment contracts toward short-term hiring and said the latter should not become the norm.
"We, the European Commission, will propose in spring 2016 a pillar of minimum labor rights, a protective cordon around the labor market," he said, adding that it would set labor norms that "cannot be adjusted downwards".
"In doing so," he said, "We will add to convergence in the employment sphere in Europe."
Juncker, who took over the EU executive 11 months ago, has said recently he would propose harmonizing employment standards, though there has so far been little detail on the plan.
The issue is particularly sensitive at present since Britain's conservative government is trying to negotiate terms of membership before holding a referendum on whether to stay in the EU. Employment regulation from Brussels is unpopular on the right in Britain, though favored by many opponents on the left.
In a reference which an EU official said was to workers being posted abroad, Juncker said he wanted to see a level playing field on pay: "In Europe, we must finally agree on a simple principle: the same pay for the same job wherever it is."
Read more: Juncker vows tighter EU labor laws | Reuters
