Report reveals poor working conditions in accession states

By Peter Chapman

Date: 30/10/03

PEDRO Solbes, the commissioner for economic and financial affairs, has told member states to do their duty and back moves to bring France's wayward budget deficit into line.

The Spaniard was responding to claims that France, Germany and Italy will oppose the Commission's latest recommendations to stem France's budget deficit - expected to break until at least 2005, the EU's Stability and Growth Pact, which limits budget deficits to 3% of national income.

He said: “The procedure is well defined we have fulfilled our obligations. The problem is now in the hands of the Council of Ministers. It is up to the Council to take its responsibility.”

The Commission has called on Paris to take urgent measures to rein in its budget - including a controversial demand for up to €6 billion euros in budget cuts next year.

The recommendation is the last stage in a tortuous process that could eventually lead to massive French fines of 0.5% of national income.

The issue is on the table at next week's meeting of EU finance ministers (Ecofin). However, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi have indicated their support for France.

Schröder told reporters after a meeting with French premier Jean-Pierre Raffarin that “an opinion that would go against us would be negative”.

Berlusconi last week called for a loosening of the stability pact to allow deficits of 4% of national income during an economic slowdown.

The big three's budget stance is unpopular in capitals of smaller member states, however. Dutch Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm, who is pressing ahead with tough cuts, has threatened to take a case to the European Court of Justice if France is let off the budget hook.

Report reveals poor working conditions in accession states

A MAJOR new report says people in accession countries work longer hours and are exposed to higher risk than those in EU member states.

The survey is the first overview of conditions in the ten accession and three candidate countries (ACC), Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Key findings include:

• The average working week in the ACC is 44.4 hours, compared with the EU average of 38.2;
• 51% of the workforce in the ACC is over the age of 40 (47% in member states);
• 40% of ACC workers believe their health and safety is at risk due to work (27% in the EU) and report a “significantly”.higher exposure to potential risks such as dangerous substances, fumes and noise, and;
• a higher proportion of these workers (41%) report suffering from fatigue as a result of their work compared to their counterparts in the EU (23%).

The survey also found there are fewer salaried workers in the ACC (77%) than in the EU (83%) and that 10% of employees in the ACC have a second job compared to the EU's 6%. Only 63% say their work involves learning, compared with 71% in member states.

The study was carried out by Dublin-based EU agency European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Its results are based on personal interviews with 1,000 workers in each country.

A report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 'Working conditions in the acceding and candidate countries', has found that workers in accession countries work longer hours and are exposed to greater risks than those in current Member States. The report was published in October 2003.

http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0306.htm http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0306.htm

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