The French and Dutch ënoí vote on the EU constitution could have serious repercussions for the recruitment sector of the UK economy as possible liberalisation of EU labour markets is now more likely to be blocked, warns the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo).
According to ATSCo, the ënoí vote in France and the Netherlands may lead French and Dutch politicians to renegotiate the various EU treaties with a bias against further labour market liberalisation. This would make it much harder for UK recruitment companies to offer their services in the Eurozone. It would also lead to a tightening of employment regulations in the UK.
Ann Swain, Chief Executive of ATSCo, believes that French and Dutch rejection of the so-called ëfree-marketí constitution can be seen as an assertion of old-style continental protectionism. One possible consequence of this is that the proposed EU Services Directive, which aims to open up Eurozone labour markets to foreign competition, will be ditched.
The Directive would have allowed recruitment companies already compliant with UK law to transact business across the rest of the EU without having to comply with complex local regulations.
Ann Swain says: UK recruitment companies were hopeful about the possibility of expanding into the Eurozone but the French and Dutch ënoí votes mean that continental labour markets are likely to remain as rigid and inaccessible as they currently are for the foreseeable future.
Our concern is that French and Dutch politicians will now also harden their stance against the UK opt-out of the Working Time Directive and seek to entrench inflexiblities in the labour market still further by pushing for quick adoption of the Agency Workers Directive. We hope that the UK Government will continue to resist this.
The recruitment industry will continue to flourish and make a huge contribution to the efficiency of the UK economy but whether it will do so with the assistance of European lawmakers is now open to serious doubt.
ATSCo says it will continue to lobby in order to ensure that the UK retains the flexibility of its labour market.
No vote on EU constitution could have serious repercussions for the UK recruitment sector
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