"Portugal given EC deadline for seasonal workers"

The European Commission has opened an infringement procedure and has given Portugal two months to resolve flaws in transposing European Union (EU) rules on seasonal workers.

By sending a notification letter, the community executive requires Portugal to correctly transpose and apply certain obligations under directive 2014/36/EU, relating to seasonal workers.

The European law in question aims to guarantee transparent rules for hiring seasonal workers from third countries, with guarantees of adequate working and living conditions, equal rights and protection against exploitation.

In a statement, the Commission highlights that full compliance with the directive is an important condition for reducing irregular immigration.

In addition to Portugal, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden also received notification letters.

If, within two months, it does not receive satisfactory responses, the European Commission will move to the second phase of the infringement procedure.