As the arrangements around seasonal work differ substantially between Member States, the report looks into the situation in four key destination countries for agricultural seasonal workers in more detail, thereby exploring working conditions as well as data availability:
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
Focus on intra-EU seasonal workers’ conditions in a longer perspective
The report expands on previous work by focusing on areas of seasonal work that have received comparatively little attention.
The focus is on intra-EU seasonal workers. As they enjoy freedom of movement in the EU, and as the Seasonal Workers Directive directly concerns third-country nationals who do not have this freedom, this group has received comparatively little attention.
The report adopts a longer time frame to analyse the situation of intra-EU seasonal workers beyond the confines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the focus of the study is how intra-EU seasonal workers’ conditions have changed over time. Key questions therefore include:
- how the position of seasonal workers has changed in terms of rights and conditions, both in the short term since COVID-19 and in a longer, ten-year perspective.
- whether the number of seasonal workers (and hence their importance for the economy) has increased.
- the main risks and challenges faced by seasonal workers and what ongoing work is addressing these issues.
A final section considers how and whether the war in Ukraine has affected seasonal work in the EU.
Related documents
Report on mobile seasonal workers and intra-EU labour mobility (2023)
