Peter Liese and Dennis Radtke:

Letter to Ursula von der Leyen / Systematic testing of all employees / Liability also for subcontractors / European data protection basic regulation does not stand over infection protection


"The corona outbreak at the Tönnies company in Germany shows that the intolerable conditions in the meat industry not only harm the workers who have to work and live under inhumane conditions, but also affect the general population and that an entire region is now suffering as a result of the corona measures imposed. This is something that must now be remedied quickly and clearly. This was said by EPP MEPs  Peter Liese and Dennis Radtke. The two MEPs sent a common opinion to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. You can find it under

https://www.peter-liese.de/images/JointOpinionLieseRadtke.pdf

Peter Liese, health policy spokesman of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats) explained that the cold and dry air in meat processing obviously massively promotes the spread of coronavirus. "Scientists at the University of Bonn have found out that the cause of the infection is also due to the fact that the air in the slaughterhouses is not filtered and little is exchanged. In the EU, the ventilation systems of slaughterhouses must be checked and retrofitted as soon as possible. One of the things we now urgently need as well is a compulsory and systematic testing of all employees in slaughterhouses throughout the European Union. The distance and hygiene regulations for slaughterhouses should also be made even stricter and more stringent than in other areas, for example. The many outbreaks in slaughterhouses across Europe are also a clear warning of the threat of a second wave in autumn and winter," said the doctor and MEP.


The corona virus outbreak is very much concentrated on the employees that worked in the slaughterhouse. That is why Liese and Radtke appeal to the other European member states to look at their own slaughterhouses instead of exercising travel bans for the average population that is fortunately effected by the outbreak only at a small scale.


Dennis Radtke, social policy spokesperson of the EPP group added that in addition, the accommodation of employees and their employment status is also a major problem. "The fact that many employees are not employed in the actual company but work for subcontractors and are in part pseudo self-employed obviously leads to huge problems. We therefore need entrepreneurial responsibility on the part of the client even for so-called subcontractors. This can only be done by means of EU-wide subcontractor liability for this sector. Especially in the case of on-site work contracts, the contracting companies must be held liable for the employment relationships of subcontractors' employees," Radtke says.
The fact that the respective company has refused to hand over employee data, citing the data protection regulation, is in the view of the two MEPs a scandal. "Our experts immediately made it clear that the data protection regulation naturally provides for exceptions for protection against infection. This must be clarified quickly throughout Europe," Liese and Radtke concluded.