Brussels, 20/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 July, the college of commissioners said it does not consider that the legislative proposal on the revision of the Posting of Workers Directive presented in March infringes the principle of subsidiarity. In saying this, the college thus made a formal response to the eleven national parliaments that had triggered the so-called “yellow card” mechanism.
“We have carefully analysed all the arguments put forward by these parliaments and discussed them - both within the Commission and with the representatives of the parliaments”, drawing the final conclusion “that the proposal fully complies with the principle of subsidiarity”, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Marianne Thyssen said, at the end of the college meeting.
As reported by EUROPE on several occasions, the Commission's intentions and arguments were already known (EUROPE 11595). Its proposal of 8 March thus remains unchanged, with the Commission considering that it respects the principle of subsidiarity and that it is still as pertinent from a political point of view.
This proposal will now be the subject of real in-depth negotiations within the Council of the EU, with the first meeting of its working group being planned in September. However, a Polish diplomat considered the negotiations would be difficult, and was sceptical about the chances for a compromise between the member states in favour and those against. In the diplomat's view, the negotiations will be long with an uncertain outcome. Some member states, such as Poland, very much hope for a blocking minority at the Council, but have no certainty of this.
Thyssen once again underlined that the political split that this proposal has caused had a more subtle aspect than an East-West split. This is despite the fact that the majority of eleven parliaments were from central or eastern European countries, and that the French, British, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese parliaments have also sent opinions to the Commission - but saying that this proposal of a targeted revision of the 1996 directive respected the principle of subsidiarity. The British and German governments have kept out of this debate for the moment.
The European Parliament's co-rapporteur, Elisabeth Morin-Chartier (EPP, France), and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) were very pleased at the college's decision. The ETUC stated that the national unions, including those of the member states against the proposal, supported the Commission's approach. This is an approach that is also aimed at responding to the social discontent that was behind the British majority vote for the UK to leave the EU, Thyssen said, giving assurances of more social security to those who feel uncertain about globalisation. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)