Situation of frontier workers

The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN (EPP-ED, NL) on the situation of frontier workers. It pointed out that the regulation coordinating social security (1408/71) and the existing European coordination rules for health and safety were no longer adequate and regretted that the Commission, Council and Member States had not accepted the recommendations made by Parliament in May 1998 concerning the situation of frontier workers. The report called on the Commission to draw up a directive providing for the introduction of frontier effect reports, the purpose of which would be to oblige Member States, when changing their legislation on social security, taxation, employment, pension systems etc., to study the impact on frontier workers. The directive should also create a framework for a statutory compensations scheme if the change in legislation was detrimental to frontier workers. The committee called on the Council to adopt a position on the modernisation and simplification of Regulation 1408/71. The Commission, it felt, should also take measures to ensure that Member States regulated tax matters and the period of secondment by analogy with Regulation 1408/71 (country of employment principle/twelve months). Lastly, the Commission was urged to set up a system to monitor the implementation of measures to protect frontier workers.�