SIOD Chair to reduce social fraud and social dumping

INTRODUCTION

Social fraud and social dumping is a huge problem with major consequences. Contributions are not paid or benefits are wrongly obtained. Not only does this deprive the government of large amounts of money annually, which undermines the financing and sustainability of our social model, it also creates unfair competition and results in the erosion of social rights. In addition, it also erodes the credibility of and confidence in our social model as well as the willingness for solidarity in its foundations. Needless to say, in the current economic climate, social dumping is moving up the political agenda in almost all European Union member states. Belgium has also made the fight against social fraud and social dumping an important priority both nationally and internationally.

A successful fight against social fraud and social dumping demands thorough knowledge acquisition and research. But research into social fraud and social dumping should not be a non-binding academic exercise, it should result in knowledge that is translatable, applicable and usable in practice. This knowledge should allow to better prevent and fight social dumping and make the social model more efficient, equitable and performing. Thus, combating social dumping presupposes a thorough knowledge of the structure of the - national or international - legal systems at play, and not only at a purely theoretical level. Moreover, practical experiences are necessary for timely and alert adjustment of the legal-technical framework system.

In order to further develop this interaction between the academic world and the actors involved in the fight against social dumping, the FOD WASO/SIOD is setting up a "SIOD Chair for Reducing Social Fraud and Social Dumping" at Ghent University (research institute IRIS), which should allow further research into the fight against social fraud and social dumping and provide the different inspection services with support and legal framework.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the chair is to strengthen the expertise of the chair holder and SIOD in the fight against social fraud and social dumping. This expertise will be used in education within the Master of Laws program. In addition, the chair also offers the supervisor the opportunity to conduct research and provide services (training) and further develop IRIS into a broader knowledge centre and academic support point for actors in the field to create further synergies between academia and lessons and experiences from practice.
To organize these activities, the supervisor will also structurally work closely with the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles) e.g. in the framework of workshops and publications.

DONOR

SIOD (only in Dutch or French available)

PERIOD

2023-2028

SUPERVISOR

Prof. Yves Jorens is professor at the Faculty of Law and Criminology of Ghent University. He has a longstanding experience in managing large European projects on labour and social security law employment of migrant persons in the European Union, the employment situation in the aviation sector and the fight against social fraud and social dumping. He is director of IRIS, (International Research Institute on Social Fraud), a knowledge centre that gathers relevant information on and conducts research on social fraud. It is a unique partnership between academia on the one hand and the various actors involved in the fight against social fraud on the other hand. He is co-founder and director of LIISA (Lab for International & Interdisciplinary Social Affairs) and Honorary Professor School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham. He is also Senior Research Associate, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg (SA).