Protect migrant workers, raise standards for all: strengthening enforcement in Farm-to-Fork sectors

Employers in Farm to Fork (F2F) sectors face growing economic uncertainties and value-chain pressures. At the same time, they are increasingly unable to meet labour demand with EU workers and turn to non-EU workers to fill the gaps. Foreign workers have come to form a crucial part of the EU’s F2F workforce, contributing vitally to the EU’s economy and food security. Yet, while often grouped together, foreign nationals working in F2F sectors are a highly heterogeneous population. They use different channels to move to EU member states for work and fall under different policy and legal frameworks. Some already reside in and move from other member states. Others may be awaiting a decision on their asylum claim or are recruited seasonally. Others still may be in a situation of irregularity, move between irregular and regular stay, or transition from one type of residence status to another. Whatever their channel of entry or resident status, the outcome is often the same: subsistence needs and precarity push many foreign workers in F2F sectors to accept substandard working conditions in the absence of better alternatives. Limited access to information on rights and safeguards aggravates their vulnerability to abuse, particularly for those in situations of irregularity, reinforcing a downward spiral in labour standards affecting all workers. These dynamics underscore the need for more robust EU action to detect, prevent and remedy exploitation of foreign workers. The current restrictive turn in EU migration policy suggests that, in the short-term, member states are unlikely to pursue ambitious labour migration agendas. Yet, persistent labour shortages and economic pressures signal that F2F sectors will continue to rely heavily on foreign labour. Unless the EU ensures more effective measures that strengthen enforcement and address structural labour market realities, protection gaps will continue to generate negative spillover effects across the workforce, undermining social cohesion and food systems.