EU states clash over penalties for hiring illegal migrants
RENATA GOLDIROVA
24.07.2008 @ 17:37 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU member states remain divided over a European Commission proposal aimed at setting out EU-wide minimum rules on criminal sanctions against employers who hire undocumented immigrants from outside Europe.
A Thursday (23 July) debate by EU interior ministers revealed that it was mainly countries under the biggest pressure from clandestine migration - such as Italy and Spain - which had thrown their weight behind tougher penalties, including criminal ones.
The European Commission proposal on sanctions against employers who hire illegal non-EU immigrants dates back to May 2007 (Photo: wikipedia)
Italian interior minister Roberto Maroni - whose country has gained a negative reputation for having many illegal workers in the agriculture and construction sectors - suggested further beefing up criminal sanctions by targeting firms' "assets and wealth."
On the other hand, a group of seven countries - including Germany, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden - said the criminal measures would be unjustified.
"There are other ways to fight illegal employment," German interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told his EU partners during the public debate.
Roughly the same group of EU states also rejected an idea to introduce a minimum - five percent - target for random inspections carried out in firms each year. "It's not the number, which counts, but the quality," Mr Schaeuble said.
The European Commission proposal on sanctions against employers who hire undocumented non-EU immigrants dates back to May 2007.
According to the document, employers hiring irregular immigrants could face fines, loss of public contracts and subsidies. They will also have to pay costs for the migrant's return, outstanding wages, taxes and social contributions.
Criminal penalties could be triggered if a company hires such workers three times in two years, if it offers particularly exploitative conditions and if it recruits a victim of human trafficking.
French minister for immigration Brice Hortefeux, speaking on behalf of his country's EU presidency, stressed that ministers agreed to respect the principle of "subsidiarity" - the principle of making laws at national instead of EU level where possible.
In the run up to today's debate, Finland tabled a compromise solution which would "give member states freedom to choose the manner how they are going to implement the directive" - either by criminal law sanctions or by administrative measures.
Such a compromise "would leave room for manuoeuvre for those member states who have doubts about the legal base" of the commission proposal, the Finnish paper states.