The Commission has declared war to undeclared work

László Andor has launched the proposal for a European platform to improve cooperation against undeclared work, a plague subtracting 2,400 euro billion. “Protect workers, level the playing field for companies and safeguard fiscal revenue”

Undeclared work is a heavy burden for Europe: it takes away about 15/20 percent of the European GDP to regular economy, about 2,400 euro billion a year. Moreover, these are just estimates, as denounced by the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor. “By definition, undeclared work is hidden, which makes it difficult to measure,” said Andor, “but we have some estimates.” The European Commission is then trying to fix the problem with the creation of a European platform for fighting undeclared work, which is also just one of the components of the shadow economy (illegal businesses such as counterfeiting, smuggling, prostitution). Undeclared job contracts are hence a little part of a much wider problem: just think that in Italy, in 2011 estimated undeclared work was about 6.4 percent of the Italian GDP, while the shadow economy as a whole take away 21.6 percent for the GPD, over a fifth of it.

The Commission, explained Andor, is hence proposing a new EU Platform to bring together all the various national enforcement bodies involved in the fight against undeclared work, such as labour inspectorates, social security, and tax authorities, as well as other relevant stakeholders, such as EU level social partners (for instance representatives of workers and of employers).

According to the proposal, “all” Member States should participate the platform, as “undeclared work affects all of them, and joint participation of all EU countries is crucial to address cross-border situations.” The platform “would fill a vacuum at the EU level, where until now undeclared work is discussed sporadically and in an uncoordinated way in different committees and working groups,” underlined the Commissioner.

The new system would allow for more effective cooperation between those who deal with undeclared work on the ground every day, creating a network of labour inspectorates (main references for Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romani, Slovakia and Slovenia) and social security inspectorates (for Belgium and Spain) and Fiscal Authorities (for Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom and Sweden).

The new platform would be entrusted with several tasks: providing a forum where experts could share information and best practices, thereby expanding the limited contacts existing so far; exploring national and EU tools to face shared problems; tackling cross-border aspects by, for example, exploring ways to improve data exchanges between national administrations; strengthening operational cooperation; developing common principles and guidelines.

The proposal for a Decision establishing a European Platform will now be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption. “Undeclared work deprives workers of social protection, puts their health and safety at risk and lowers labour standards. It also undermines fair competition for businesses and endangers the sustainability of public finances and social security systems. In the end, everybody loses,” lamented Commissioner Andor, “This is why the Commission is fully committed to support Member States in tackling this scourge, so we can protect workers, level the playing field for companies and safeguard fiscal revenue.

 Renato Giannetti