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The EU’s agricultural sector depends on migrant labour from more recently acceded

member states, non-EU European countries, and non-European countries. A study of

literature covering Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland,

Spain and Sweden shows the broad range of problems faced by millions of migrant

workers who keep Europe fed. The work is hard, days often long – and employers and

intermediaries can be exploitative.

Migrants can either be hired after they arrive or in their country of origin. For the

latter, in order to pay lower wages and/or maintain deliberate demographic selection

criteria (based on gender, origin, migration status, etc.), some employers work through

intermediaries to hire ‘posted workers’. Not only do these migrants often pay to be

hired, but they may also find their pay reduced further to cover private health insurance

when they begin working, because they are not covered by social insurance in the

country they work in.

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