Work
29.November 2005 - 00:00
Working conditions in Spanish glasshouse nurseries
According to newspaper reports, most of those working on Spanish crop farms, and especially in Almerian glasshouses, are illegal immigrants. The people concerned, Africans who came in the hope of a better life, have encountered living conditions far removed from the exercise of human rights and the basic wherewithal to live. The glasshouse workers are forced to exist without clean water and in constant fear of arrest.
The Spanish authorities have no plans for coping with the influx of illegal immigrants, and that is why the Guardia Civil ‘hoards’ new arrivals from Africa, holding them in reserve for areas with glasshouses, where the demand for labour is sufficient to absorb them. The immigrants are not considered to enjoy the protection of the law: there are no employment contracts, workers are not registered, working time is not recorded, and employees can be dismissed without notice.
It has been estimated that only about 20 % of those working in the sector obtain a work permit. The rest have to accept whatever working conditions they might find. Almerian crop growers have been receiving EU support since 1986 and a high proportion of it has been used to build glasshouses. Their fields are the source of, among other things, tomatoes found on EU supermarket shelves, but beneath the business of growing them, the hidden reality involves serious violations of working conditions, which taxpayers are, unfortunately, subsidising through EU agricultural support.
What will the Commission do to help improve working conditions in glasshouse nurseries in southern Spain? Does it consider that the eligibility requirements for EU agricultural support are being met, given that the region’s labour force consists mainly of illegal immigrants?
Answer given by Mr Spidla on behalf of the Commission
The Commission takes note of the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member concerning working conditions in the agricultural sector in Spain, particularly as regards the situation of illegal immigrants.
It is worth pointing out that the Commission has always paid attention to the question of clandestine work of illegally staying third country nationals. In 2001 it presented a Communication on a Common Policy on Illegal Immigration which contained a number of ideas on how to fight illegal employment of third country nationals. For example, it was proposed that employers of illegal workers could be charged in full for the return costs of returning their illegal workers and that financial sanctions for employers of illegal workers could be introduced in order to decrease the financial attractiveness of illegal employment. The Commission is currently working on a Communication on the future priorities in the area of illegal immigration, which should be adopted in April 2006. The issue of how to fight clandestine work of illegal immigrants will be one of the focal areas.
In order to address the immigration phenomenon in a comprehensive way, the Commission is also developing EU instruments that will foster legal, especially economic, migration flows. In this context, the Commission is scheduled to adopt a Policy Plan on legal migration by the end of 2005 – indicating a road map of the Commission's priorities and proposals – legislative and non-legislative ones – for the remaining period foreseen in the Hague programme (2006-2009). In particular, two of the initiatives envisaged in the policy plan may be relevant, with reference to the working conditions in Spanish glasshouse nurseries. One refers to the measures and targeted projects that will be promoted to foster and support an enhanced collaboration with countries of origin, in particular to test appropriate forms of legal migration, which may in turn reduce the need to choose illegal channels (e.g. temporary migration schemes, training instruments, etc.). The other intends to propose a specific admission scheme for seasonal workers, supplemented by a general framework instrument defining the basic rights of all immigrant workers admitted in the EU, aiming to grant, on one hand the necessary flexibility and on the other a stronger protection of the workers' rights.
In addition, in the framework of the Lisbon Agenda for Growth and Jobs, the Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States stress inter alia that "combating discrimination … and integrating immigrants and minorities is particularly essential". Member States, including Spain, have recently submitted their first National Reform Programme for Growth and Jobs to the Commission. The Commission is currently analysing these Programmes in accordance with the goals set out in the Guidelines, including the objective of integrating immigrants, minorities and other disadvantaged groups.
1 COM (2001) 672 final
2 Council Decision 2005/600/EC of 12 July 2005 on Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, OJ L 205, 6.8.2005
According to newspaper reports, most of those working on Spanish crop farms, and especially in Almerian glasshouses, are illegal immigrants. The people concerned, Africans who came in the hope of a better life, have encountered living conditions far removed from the exercise of human rights and the basic wherewithal to live. The glasshouse workers are forced to exist without clean water and in constant fear of arrest.
The Spanish authorities have no plans for coping with the influx of illegal immigrants, and that is why the Guardia Civil ‘hoards’ new arrivals from Africa, holding them in reserve for areas with glasshouses, where the demand for labour is sufficient to absorb them. The immigrants are not considered to enjoy the protection of the law: there are no employment contracts, workers are not registered, working time is not recorded, and employees can be dismissed without notice.
It has been estimated that only about 20 % of those working in the sector obtain a work permit. The rest have to accept whatever working conditions they might find. Almerian crop growers have been receiving EU support since 1986 and a high proportion of it has been used to build glasshouses. Their fields are the source of, among other things, tomatoes found on EU supermarket shelves, but beneath the business of growing them, the hidden reality involves serious violations of working conditions, which taxpayers are, unfortunately, subsidising through EU agricultural support.
What will the Commission do to help improve working conditions in glasshouse nurseries in southern Spain? Does it consider that the eligibility requirements for EU agricultural support are being met, given that the region’s labour force consists mainly of illegal immigrants?
Answer given by Mr Spidla on behalf of the Commission
The Commission takes note of the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member concerning working conditions in the agricultural sector in Spain, particularly as regards the situation of illegal immigrants.
It is worth pointing out that the Commission has always paid attention to the question of clandestine work of illegally staying third country nationals. In 2001 it presented a Communication on a Common Policy on Illegal Immigration which contained a number of ideas on how to fight illegal employment of third country nationals. For example, it was proposed that employers of illegal workers could be charged in full for the return costs of returning their illegal workers and that financial sanctions for employers of illegal workers could be introduced in order to decrease the financial attractiveness of illegal employment. The Commission is currently working on a Communication on the future priorities in the area of illegal immigration, which should be adopted in April 2006. The issue of how to fight clandestine work of illegal immigrants will be one of the focal areas.
In order to address the immigration phenomenon in a comprehensive way, the Commission is also developing EU instruments that will foster legal, especially economic, migration flows. In this context, the Commission is scheduled to adopt a Policy Plan on legal migration by the end of 2005 – indicating a road map of the Commission's priorities and proposals – legislative and non-legislative ones – for the remaining period foreseen in the Hague programme (2006-2009). In particular, two of the initiatives envisaged in the policy plan may be relevant, with reference to the working conditions in Spanish glasshouse nurseries. One refers to the measures and targeted projects that will be promoted to foster and support an enhanced collaboration with countries of origin, in particular to test appropriate forms of legal migration, which may in turn reduce the need to choose illegal channels (e.g. temporary migration schemes, training instruments, etc.). The other intends to propose a specific admission scheme for seasonal workers, supplemented by a general framework instrument defining the basic rights of all immigrant workers admitted in the EU, aiming to grant, on one hand the necessary flexibility and on the other a stronger protection of the workers' rights.
In addition, in the framework of the Lisbon Agenda for Growth and Jobs, the Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States stress inter alia that "combating discrimination … and integrating immigrants and minorities is particularly essential". Member States, including Spain, have recently submitted their first National Reform Programme for Growth and Jobs to the Commission. The Commission is currently analysing these Programmes in accordance with the goals set out in the Guidelines, including the objective of integrating immigrants, minorities and other disadvantaged groups.
1 COM (2001) 672 final
2 Council Decision 2005/600/EC of 12 July 2005 on Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, OJ L 205, 6.8.2005