Renew Europe acts to protect cross-border and seasonal workers

Over 17 million EU citizens live and work abroad in another EU country and more than 1,4 million frontier workers commute across a border every day to go to work. Renew Europe has acted to protect the rights of cross border and seasonal workers during the crisis and beyond and has proposed a debate and resolution on their situation in the context of the COVID-19 crisis during the June plenary session. Renew Europe calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement measures to ensure adequate protection and coordination of national border measures, as these workers are essential for key economic sectors and must be guaranteed equal treatment and protection with their local counterparts.

Dragoș Pîslaru, Renew Europe Coordinator of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, who campaigned for this issue to be addressed by the European Parliament and the subsequent internal negotiations on the forthcoming resolution said today:

“This resolution, which we proposed and coordinated, shows that cross-border and seasonal workers, who were heavily affected by the COVID-19 crisis, are a priority for the European Parliament! We continue to fight for their rights and for a dynamic and resilient EU labour market, one that helps both businesses and workers thrive.

We call for non-discrimination and increased efforts to ensure the well-being of these workers, proper access to information and support, as well as social rights. We also think it is important to have contingency measures in place, in order to avoid any repeat of what happened at the height of the crisis, when borders were closed, people were stuck with no support and little information was available.

I believe that these workers are key for European economies, as they keep some sectors alive -in agriculture, they are the ones who put food on the table. Renew Europe fights for them and for more diligence in the protection of their rights and mobility.”