The European Commission’s Green Paper Modernising Labour Law to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century was under the spotlight yesterday during an information and consultation seminar organised by Forum Malta fl-Ewropa.
The seminar was organised as part of the European Commission’s four-month public consultation process launched last November.
Addressing participants, Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo said the European Commission’s initiative to modernise labour law showed that the European Union was open to challenges which it was facing due to globalisation.
He said that the European Union was prepared to move ahead in an ever changing world and that globalisation was a reality.
The European Union had to welcome challenges brought by globalisation in particular through the free movement of people as well as ever increasing travel abroad, while sustaining competitiveness and supporting the targets set by the Lisbon Agenda.
Dr Gabriella Pace, the Forum’s chief executive officer, explained the raison d’etre of the Green Paper and outlined the main issues which led to its issue by the European Commission. She said that flexibility and security had become two of the most commonly used buzzwords as a result of various developments which have led to businesses organising themselves on a more flexi basis while ensuring a level of security to their employees.
The director of employment and industrial relations Noel Vella explained that an increase in atypical contracts, including fixed-term, part-time and on-call arrangements, zero-hour contracts and contracts for temporary hired workers, were now an established feature of the EU-25 labour market.
During yesterday’s seminar, a panel discussion was held with the participation of General Workers’ Union secretary general Tony Zarb; Union Haddiema Maghqudin secretary general Gejtu Vella; William Portelli, president of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions; as well as Joe Farrugia from the Malta Employers Association; John Scicluna from the Malta Federation of Industry; and Maria Pia Chircop from the Foundation for Human Resources Development.