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EFBWW News

EFBWW applauds the withdrawal of the services e-card by the EC

20/10/2020

The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) welcomes that the European Commission (EC) withdrew the proposal for a European services e-card for the construction industry. We are happy that the proposal is finally off the EC’s agenda.

The EC communicated its decision yesterday. Therefore, the services e-card will no longer be part of the 2021 Work Program of the European Commission. The EC admits that there is “no foreseeable agreement”, because “no progress has been made by the co-legislators since 2018 and further progress is unlikely.”

The EFBWW considered that the introduction of a services e-card in the construction industry would have led to more cross-border social dumping. Nevertheless, we want to underline that we are not against digital tools for better enforcement. On the contrary, the EFBWW actively lobbies for a European digital business register to fight letterbox companies and for the introduction of a European social security number to protect workers’ social rights.

The services e-card is not a new subject. The social partners of the construction industry were against the proposal from the start. The EFBWW rejected the proposal in 2016, which led to a strong rejection of the services e-card by the European Parliament. This position was shared not only by trade unions, but also by employers of the construction sector.

The withdrawal of the proposal – now announced - cannot, therefore, be anything other than applauded by the EFBWW.