Romanian president says EU workers directive needs improvement

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday the European Union's directive on "posted workers" had to be clarified and improved.

"On the one hand, there is discontent in France over undeclared workers, on the other there are many people in Eastern Europe, in Romania, who want to work in France, Germany, Spain," Iohannis told a briefing in Bucharest with French President Emannuel Macron.
"It is clear the directive needs to be clarified and improved."
The EU is trying to overcome differences between western and eastern European countries about the rules governing how firms in low-wage countries post workers elsewhere.
Macron has pledged to overhaul a system under which posted workers can be sent to other European Union states on contracts that must guarantee the host country's minimum wage, but under which taxes and social charges are paid in the home nation.
"It is very important to avoid useless simplification in this area," Iohannis said.
He added that further integration of social systems of all EU members was needed.
Iohannis also told Macron that Romania's objective of joining the Schengen zone remains unchanged.
Twenty-six European states are in the zone, meaning there are usually no border controls among them.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Writing in Warsaw by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Andrew Roche)