Extension of the posted workers act - minimum wages: A way to safeguard jobs?

Within the framework of free movement of services in EU, the posting of workers from the new EU states is regulated. Current discussion, however, focuses on whether there should be protection of domestic companies and their employees against cheap foreign service providers. This protection would consist of the obligatory application of minimum standards in labour law, especially with regard to compensation, for workers who are despatched to Germany. For Dr. Dieter Hundt, BDA, an extension of the posting law for combating the abuse of the free movement of services is not necessary: "Here no new laws are needed but the consistent application of existing laws. The posting law does not have to be expanded, but it must be enforced." A more comprehensive regulation would even add to job losses, in his opinion: "The extension of the of general application of collective bargaining agreements, the establishment of statutory minimum wages or the expansion of the posting law would be counter-productive and dangerous. They would not help to solve existing problems but would merely create new problems." In contrast, Franz-Josef Möllenberg of the trade union Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten argues for the introduction of a legal minimum wage. He believes that "the development of a social Europe (must lead) to the introduction of minimum social standards for incomes and working conditions". Dr. Werner Eichhorst and Dr. Ulrich Walwei, IAB Nuremberg, see advantages and disadvantages in an extension of the posting law and recommend "cautious and careful regulations".