Cyprus’s biggest trade unions are warning that a European Commission legislative proposal on start-ups contains a provision that could allow companies to apply the labour conditions of their home country when operating in other EU member states, effectively enabling labour dumping on a pan-European scale.
The issue was discussed at the ETUC Executive Committee meeting in Brussels on May 19 and 20, and has drawn comparisons with the notorious Bolkestein Directive of roughly 20 years ago.
That directive triggered mass protests across Europe over a “country of origin” principle that would have allowed a company registered in one member state to apply that country’s employment terms even when operating in another.
The symbol of the backlash became the “Polish plumber” — shorthand for the feared mass movement of cheap labour from eastern to western EU countries, with workers bearing the cost of living in wealthier states while being paid wages from their home country.
European trade unionists at the Brussels meeting expressed strong reservations about the new provision, warning it could undermine employment conditions in cross-border operations, put pressure on collective agreements, wage levels and workers’ rights.
PEO Secretary General Sotiroula Charalambous told Phileleftheros that legislation nominally designed to support start-ups should not be used to smuggle in provisions that obstruct the free movement of workers.
She described the measure as labour dumping being promoted from within the EU’s own decision-making centres, and said it reflected a broader economic philosophy embraced by many employers — one that harms workers while fuelling unfair competition between businesses.
Charalambous warned that if the provision advances to a vote, the trade union movement will respond on a pan-European level, given the serious threat it poses to workers’ rights.
DEOK President Stelios Christodoulou told Phileleftheros the proposal reflected neo-liberal employer policies that routinely pursue labour dumping. The trade union movement, he said, would stand united against measures that, under the guise of supporting start-ups, seek to cut labour costs and create unfair competition between businesses operating in the same country.
Christodoulou added that the provision contradicts the EU’s own directive on expanding collective agreements, and would also disrupt pension and benefits arrangements. He said DEOK would seek meetings with both the Labour Minister and the President of the Republic to brief them fully and press them to take a clear position against the proposal.
SEK Secretary General Andreas Matsas, who attended the ETUC meeting, had previously told Phileleftheros the proposal should be blocked before it reaches a vote, as it overturns the balance of workers’ employment status and contradicts the EU’s own policy of expanding collective agreements. Matsas said the matter is currently before the European Parliament, with a vote expected in either 2026 or 2027.