Socialist MEP warns Commission against weakening CAP's labour protections
Estelle Ceulemans, a Belgian MEP and S&D coordinator in the Parliament's committee on employment and social affairs, visited Borgomezzanone in Apulia with a delegation organised by the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT).
What follows is an edited transcript. You have just visited Italy's largest shanty town, Borgomezzanone, where many migrants who work in agriculture live. What did you see there?
Inhumane living conditions. No water, no sanitary facilities... they have generators for electricity, but for everything else it is truly a matter of survival. Not to mention their working conditions, of course. They must work under the control of gangmasters, who are organised in pyramid-like, mafia-style structures. These are truly lawless zones for the workers, who are paid on average €2 per hour. It's also 40 degrees here.
Is this a local failure in which Brussels has little involvement or influence?
We visited one of the largest settlements here, but across the entire province there are around 20,000 workers living in similar conditions. It's almost an industrial-scale organisation of worker exploitation. Sadly, this situation exists elsewhere in Italy and in other parts of Europe.
So should the EU do more to protect labour rights?
Clearly, this is our responsibility. Our S&D colleague, Johan Danielsson, will lead an own-initiative report in the Parliament's employment committee (EMPL) to better regulate subcontracting chains, the role of intermediaries, and inspections.
As is the case in some member states, we need to set targets to ensure that, especially in high-risk sectors like agriculture, at least 8% of companies are inspected each year. We urge the Commission to propose a directive to this effect.
The social conditionality mechanism of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which links farm subsidies to compliance with labour standards, is now in the spotlight. Some member states and conservative MEPs are calling for it to be reviewed or even scrapped, arguing that it results in double penalties and excessive burdens. Should the Commission reconsider this system in the future CAP?
If the system is revised, it should be strengthened, not weakened or eliminated. We want more EU directives to be added to the conditionality system, especially the one on minimum wage. It won't be easy, but it's a fight we must lead. If the law and money are not aligned, nothing changes.
We also want CAP payments to be tied to the number of declared workers. Because what we've seen here is a huge number of undeclared workers, which is a hallmark of the agricultural sector.
The Commission is set to present its CAP proposal soon, which is expected to 'simplify' social conditionality to make it easier to implement by member states. What do you expect from this move?
We'll see, but we are concerned. We already know that the current Commission's idea of 'simplification' leans towards 'deregulation'. And we've already heard rumours that the question of respecting social rights is somehow in question. Whatever happens, we will lead the necessary fights to reinforce social conditionality, including through sanctions.
Social conditionality already exists in a country such as Italy. However, as we have seen, these rules are not being respected. It's very important to step out of the EU bubble and engage with the situation on the ground. This is the only way to face the reality.
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