Danish MEP demands stronger enforcement, better workplace data and action against abusive subcontracting chains
Danish Left MEP Per Clausen has accused the European Commission of placing business mobility ahead of worker protection in its new Fair Labour Mobility Package. While welcoming plans to strengthen cross-border enforcement and digitalise social-security documents, he says the proposals fail to confront some of the practices that leave mobile workers vulnerable to exploitation.
The Commission’s package addresses a significant part of Europe’s labour market. According to its figures, 14.1 million EU citizens live in another member state, while around 10 million people live or work across national borders.
Brussels says the reforms will make it easier for workers to prove their social-security status, obtain recognition for qualifications and exercise their right to work elsewhere in the European Union. The package contains three proposed regulations, two directives and a communication.
Its three principal elements are a European Social Security Pass, known as ESSPASS; a stronger mandate for the European Labour Authority; and new measures intended to make professional skills and qualifications more portable. The proposals will require scrutiny and negotiation by the European Parliament and the Council before they can become law.
Clausen, a member of Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, said the initiative was necessary but described the initial proposals as “more about empty rhetoric and political posturing than genuine, useful proposals”.
Mobility without sufficient protection
The Commission presents the initiative as a way to remove administrative barriers while improving enforcement. Its initial account of the Fair Labour Mobility Package says ESSPASS would incorporate digital versions of the A1 social-security certificate and European Health Insurance Card into the European Digital Identity Wallet.
The A1 certificate establishes which country’s social-security legislation applies to a worker temporarily active across a border. It is not simply proof that ordinary taxes have been paid. Its value for enforcement therefore depends on whether inspectors can connect verified social-security information with the employer, workplace and actual conditions under which the person is working.
Clausen argues that the proposed system does not go far enough in making those connections. He wants ESSPASS to contain or connect inspectors with information on the workplace and location, working hours, company identity and workers’ qualifications.
“The package should be about fair labour mobility, not merely the mobility of labour,” he said.
That criticism draws a distinction between making cross-border employment administratively easier and ensuring that mobile workers receive lawful pay, working time, social protection and safe conditions. The Commission says its proposals pursue both objectives, including by reducing fraud and giving authorities more effective verification tools.
As The European Times reported before the package’s presentation, digital documents can reduce uncertainty for legitimate employers and workers. They cannot, however, replace inspections, accessible complaints procedures or effective sanctions where employment relationships are deliberately concealed.
Subcontracting remains a fault line
Clausen’s strongest criticism concerns long subcontracting chains. Such arrangements can distribute responsibility across several companies, sometimes operating in different countries, making it harder for workers and inspectors to identify who is responsible for wages, social contributions and workplace safety.
He said it would represent a “missed opportunity” if the legislation did not address abuse within these chains. He and other lawmakers are examining possible amendments.
The Commission’s initial public summary does not list subcontracting-chain liability among the package’s headline measures. Clausen is therefore expected to press for rules that connect mobility reforms with clearer corporate responsibility, particularly in sectors where temporary posting and layered contracting are common.
A stronger European Labour Authority
Clausen is more supportive of the proposal to reinforce the European Labour Authority, although he says the agency needs practical powers rather than a broader mandate in name alone.
He wants the authority to be able to request, collect and cross-reference information from posting declarations, tachographs and national registers. In his view, ESSPASS should also be interoperable with these systems so that inspectors can compare company declarations with workplace realities and conduct more informed risk assessments.
This would represent a more enforcement-oriented approach to digitalisation. It could help authorities identify conflicting records or suspicious employment patterns, but it would also require clear data-protection safeguards, defined access rights and reliable procedures for workers to correct inaccurate information.
The debate is likely to continue as Parliament begins examining the legislative texts. Clausen is co-organising a cross-party discussion on the package on 30 September, together with trade union representatives and Danish lawmakers from the Social Democratic and Green groups. A representative of the employment commissioner’s cabinet is expected to participate.
The package gives EU lawmakers an opportunity to make cross-border work simpler and more secure. Its success will ultimately be judged not only by how quickly documents can move between national systems, but by whether workers can rely on those systems when their wages, safety or social rights are at risk.
