On Wednesday 31 August in Brussels, the Slovak Minister for Employment, Jan Richter, outlined the Slovak Presidency of the Council’s priorities to the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee. He immediately pointed out that they should not expect a political agreement at the Council of the EU on the question of posted workers to be reached by the end of the year.
On a number of occasions, Richter was asked by MEPs about the legislative proposal for revising the 1996 directive on the posting of workers, which the European Commission put back on the table on 20 July (EUROPE 11598). The first meeting focusing on this subject at the Council will take place on Friday 2 September, at a workgroup level.
One of the questions asked related to whether four months would be enough time to reach a political agreement on this proposal, which seeks to ensure equal pay between local and posted workers and which has been the subject of a rare procedure known as the "yellow card" from 11 different national parliaments. The Slovak Minister explained that it would be "excessive" to hope for such an outcome. He said that the dossier is "politically sensitive" and the Commission would have to present a "best compromise".
Although the prevailing rules in use ensure that the rotating Presidency of the Council assumes the role of "a neutral intermediary with appropriate integrity", Richter did not hesitate to assert that he would defend his country's "national position". This position is quite clear: the alignment of salaries in member states should result from economic development and not Union legislative action, as argued by the Slovak National Council to the European Commission.
The Slovak Presidency therefore intends to significantly increase the number of consultations in this connection in the months leading up to December. Richter said that it was particularly important to speak to social partners and pointed out that the majority of employers were opposed to this revision. He explained that directive is absolutely necessary but regretted that the Commission proposal had taken this form. He concluded that "We have taken a step into the unknown with this proposal which also came too quickly". (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)