Vanguard News Network
VNN Media
VNN Digital Library
VNN Reader Mail
VNN Broadcasts

Old May 16th, 2007 #1
dogman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,499
Default Brussels Proposes Tougher Penalties Against Employers

May 16, 2007

EU CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL LABOR
Brussels Proposes Tougher Penalties Against Employers

The European Commission is hoping to tackle the "pull" factor in illegal immigration by imposing harsher penalties on the employers of undocumented workers. The measures include bans on public contracts and subsidies, increased fines and possible jail sentences.


Around half a million people arrive in the EU each year illegally. Now the European Commission wants to tackle the problem by hitting the employers of illegal labor with tough penalties.

The European Commission wants to impose much harsher penalties on those who employ illegal immigrants, including prison sentences, a bar on public contracts and the removal of EU subsidies. At the same time the commission plans to make it easier for legal migrants to enter and leave the 27-member bloc.

Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini is presenting his colleagues with the proposal to tackle illegal employment on Wednesday in Brussels. The draft legislation includes barring offenders from public procurement contracts for five years, and forcing them to reimburse EU subsidies. Employers would also be made to pay for their illegal workers' flights home. The worst offenders, such as those involved in human trafficking, could face jail time or much tougher fines, although it would be up to individual EU countries to decide on the specific penalties. The plan also calls on member states to ramp up their annual inspection rates of companies.

Frattini complained back in February that the shadow economy is worth 7 to 16 percent of the EU's gross domestic product. The main sectors that would be affected by a crackdown are construction, agriculture and catering. Critics of Frattini's plans argue that these vital sectors would suffer from excessive measures against illegal labor, which could harm the economy.

The commission is caught in something of a bind. While there is widespread public concern at the level of illegal immigration into the 27-member bloc, there is also the realization that with an aging population, Europe needs workers from countries outside of the bloc. However, many of the illegal migrants now in the EU are not educated or skilled enough to meet current labor market needs.

Parallel to the measures to curb illegal immigration, the commission is proposing a new system of visas for the EU that would meet these specific labor requirements. The multi-entry visas would allow immigrants to come to the EU in the short-term and return home at intervals, and eventually for good. Brussels is hoping to sell the idea to the bloc's interior ministers at a meeting in June.

"You need to be tough on illegal migration to allow for more liberal policies on legal migration," one EU official told Reuters. The commission is hoping to curb the "pull" factor in illegal migration, while promoting a more organized quota system, similar to that in the US and Australia. "The possibility of finding illegal work is the main driving force behind illegal immigration. The EU must act together," Frattini told Reuters on Wednesday.

According to the commission, the EU is currently home to between 3 and 8 million illegal immigrants, with another half a million entering the bloc illegally (more...) each year. Many of these people work in terrible conditions -- exploited by unscrupulous employers, some are paid less than €3 an hour and are forced to work up to 16 hours a day.

The proposals on tackling illegal employment will have to be approved by the member countries and the European Parliament. While there is already increased cooperation at an EU level on the issue of illegal migration, any interference from Brussels in the area of domestic criminal law is likely to be opposed by many member states.

And attempts to create an EU-wide legal migration system could also falter. After all, many countries in the EU, such as France and Germany, are still preventing citizens from the newest member states in Eastern Europe from entering their job markets.

smd/reuters/afp

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...483208,00.html
 
Old May 16th, 2007 #2
Librarian
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Closer than you think
Posts: 1,385
Default

As usual, these regulations will be applied selectively.

They will be applied harshly to all small businesses (who they wish to see swallowed up by the large corportaions), and occasionally to bigger businesses that do not conform to their larger political agenda.
__________________
Spreading paranoia in the ranks of the enemy is an old trick.
Remember that the next time someone starts accusing all and sundry of being an 'infiltrator', 'traitor', or 'red'.

 
Reply

Share


Thread
Display Modes


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:18 PM.
Page generated in 0.05198 seconds.