Social partners take stand on EU enlargement

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In April 2001, all Finland's main social partners submitted to the Prime Minister a statement concerning enlargement of the EU. They call for the transition period for the introduction of free movement of labour within the enlarged EU to be flexible. The statement also stresses that Finnish terms of employment must be applied to employees from candidate countries who work in Finland, and that free movementr of labour should not mean importing cheap foreign labour.

In April 2001, the central Finnish social partner organisations handed to Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen a statement concerning enlargement of the European Union (primarily to include central and eastern European countries). The organisations involved were the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals (Akateemisten Toimihenkilöiden Keskusjärjestö, AKAVA), the Commission for Local Authority Employers (Kunnallinen Työmarkkinalaitos, KT), the Employers' Confederation of Service Industries (Palvelutyönantajat, PT), the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö, SAK), the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (Teollisuuden ja Työnantajain Keskusliitto, TT), the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees (Toimihenkilökeskusjärjestö, STTK), and the State Employers' Office (Valtion Työmarkkinalaitos, VTML).

In their statement, the social partners give their support to the aim of enlargement in order to strengthen peace and stability and to increase welfare in Europe. The organisations point out that enlargement will have effects on the economies, societies and labour markets of the existing Member States as well as the candidate countries. According to the partners, these effects should be foreseen and evaluated. The organisations underline that enlargement will bring with it certain problems due to the major differences in living standards between the various countries, and to structural changes. The competitive environment may become distorted and there may be factors that create problems in the labour market, related to labour mobility and temporary work postings. The partners stress that the general transition period for the introduction of free movement of labour within the enlarged Union must be flexible and could even be curtailed after tripartite preparatory work. This reflects concerns expressed earlier by organisations such as SAK over an influx of cheap labour from the new Member States (FI9807168F).

The social partners also draw attention is to the demand for labour, besides its mobility. According to the statement, the growing demand for labour in Finland should be solved in the first place through domestic measures. The organisations emphasise that in the Finnish labour market, Finnish terms of employment must be followed and all employees must be treated equally. Employees from candidate countries working in Finland must also come within the sphere of Finnish legislation. The minimum terms of their employment should be regulated according to Finnish legislation and collective agreements. These terms should be complied with at all workplaces and in all employment relationships, irrespective of what form the work takes. Therefore, the enlargement of the EU and the free movement of labour should not mean importing cheap foreign labour into the Finnish labour market.

Problems also arise, according to the statement, concerning the ability of candidate countries to fulfil the criteria for membership of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Candidate countries must ensure that they have competitive markets and an efficient banking system, and execute necessary tax reforms.