Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 March, the European Parliament approved the agreement it reached in late 2013 with the Council of the EU on the proposed directive guaranteeing a better application of EU legislation on the citizens' right to work in another member state.
This proposal, in a version which has been amended in the course of the inter-institutional negotiations, has already received the blessing of the national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper), and is now just awaiting the final approval of the Council. There are no new legislative constraints, as its principal objective is to clarify existing rules (Article 45 of the TFEU and Regulation 492/2011) on the freedom of movement of workers.
However, as an EPP Group press release stresses, “there are still lots of unjustified obstacles laid down by the member states”, to say nothing of the recent removal of all restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian workers, which has given rise to some fairly spirited reactions to what is simply the application of a “fundamental freedom of the citizens of the Union and (which) constitutes one of the pillars of the single market”, as this directive points out from the first recital.
The European Parliament's rapporteur, Edit Bauer (EPP, Slovakia), explained that this proposal aimed essentially to ensure a better coordination between the member states, notably by setting in place a network of contact points to facilitate “mutual understanding” in the event of disputes. The directive also establishes the fact that any European citizen should be able to enjoy assistance and support free of charge to exercise his or her rights in the host country. (JK)