Brussels, 29/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Bureau of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, meeting in Bratislava on Thursday 28 January to plan its vision of social Europe, encountered difficulties on the issue of the revision of the directive on the posting of workers and the desire of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to include in it the principle of “equal pay for equal work”.
In the face of divisions that exist within its ranks on this issue, the EPP Bureau decided ultimately to put off until a later date any idea of setting out a common position on the future of this directive, proposals for the targeted revision of which the Commission is supposed to present this year (see EUROPE 11465). A source within the group told EUROPE that, even though the majority of EPP MEPs believe that a targeted revision “on very specific points” is possible, many, especially in the eastern European delegations, are unhappy about, or even hostile towards, any change to the legislation.
The interim solution arrived at in Bratislava is to wait until the Commission moves to see how the principle of “equal pay for equal work” comes out in the proposal and what the legal basis is. This latter point is one that raises a degree of concern, as does the possible impact on the internal market of revision of the directive. Numerous MEPs have proposed setting up a small working group on this issue in the coming weeks.
In the other social-issue related areas, the group's Bureau backed the ideas of Maltese MEP David Casa, who leads for the EPP on employment and social affairs. These ideas are set out in the “Casa Document” which will be submitted at a later date for approval by EPP MEPs and which will define the party line on social issues “for the coming years”.
At this point, the document lays emphasis on: targeted, simplified measures to finance the integration and reintegration of workers into the labour market; the need for an “entrepreneurship culture” and for support for new “digital jobs”; help for the 50+ generation and the handicapped, and tackling the discrimination faced by both these groups on the jobs market; ensuring a good work-life balance for workers and promoting gender equality; and the need to integrate refugees by means of training and courses. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)
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