EU proposes e-declaration for the posting of workers
Photo © European Union 2024
(BRUSSELS) - The EU Commission put forward a proposal Wednesday for a common digital form that would help businesses apply the administrative requirements and comply with EU rules on posting of workers.
With around 5 million posted workers in the EU, a major administrative barrier faced by workers' employers is the need to handle multiple and diverse documentation in each EU Member State.
Member States will be able to use the public interface on a voluntary basis. In Member States who choose to do so, the new single digital declaration portal will reduce the administrative cost for businesses when posting their workers abroad. This will contribute to the EU aim of reducing companies' reporting burden by 25%, while at the same time maintaining the existing high-level of protection of rights of posted workers.
The proposal will also allow better compliance with existing rules, allowing the enforcement of fair mobility, in line with high worker protection standards.
To increase transparency, Member States can also send a copy of the declaration to posted workers.
The tool proposed by the Commission will:
- Reduce the administrative burden for posting workers: a single digital declaration portal will allow service providers to use a single form instead of using 27 different national forms. The single form, available in all official EU languages, will provide for a user-friendly one-stop shop for declaring posted workers in the EU. This will facilitate businesses' compliance with declaration obligations to competent national authorities.
- Enhance cooperation among Member States: the new portal will be part of the Internal Market Information System (IMI). Member States are already using IMI today when launching requests for information or requesting mutual assistance to monitor compliance with the rules on posting of workers. The new public interface will also be based on technical solutions already put in place for the electronic declaration of posted road transport workers, where an electronic public interface, which is also connected to the IMI, is already available since 2022.
- Support protection of workers: the simplification of the process of submitting and updating posting declarations will reduce cases of non-compliance with posting rules and increase the transparency of postings. It will facilitate carrying out of effective and targeted inspections by the Member States, contributing to the protection of posted workers' rights.