Manufacturing is on the front line of globalisation and EEF members face competition from companies in lower-cost economies to a greater extent than companies in most other sectors. The ability to adapt quickly and efficiently to this changing economic climate is critical for manufacturing companies if they are to remain internationally competitive in the 21st century.
Against this background, EEF members welcome the opportunity of having a constructive debate over modernising labour law to meet these new challenges. They particularly welcome the emphasis in the Green Paper on the importance of promoting flexibility to enable them to respond to competitive pressure. They also recognise that this flexibility should be complemented by providing some element of security for employees and workers.
While the Green Paper poses some specific questions, we believe that the key themes which lie behind these questions are potentially more significant. In discussions with our members, they have highlighted the following issues which need acknowledging or addressing in any debate on modernising labour law both at national and European level:
- The differences between Member States
- Flexibility
- Security
- Rights of workers
- Rights of agency workers
- Harmonising the definition of worker
- Self-employment
- Enforcement
- Working time
- Improving and reforming labour law
- The role of the European Union (EU)
Our response therefore addresses each of these themes directly.