EU: Commission proposes Directive on non-EU seasonal workers

The European Commission issued in July 2010 a draft Directive on a common procedure for the entry into and residence in the EU of seasonal workers from outside the EU, and on the rights of these workers.

The proposed Directive on "the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of seasonal employment" would apply to workers who normally live outside the EU but come to a member state temporarily to perform work in "a sector of activity dependent on the passing of the seasons", based on one or more fixed-term work contracts concluded directly between the worker and an employer established in a member state.