The Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU has asked member states to respond to a detailed questionnaire on the draft review of an EU directive dating from 1996 on the posting of workers (see EUROPE 11507), while a Council working group met to discuss the matter on Friday 2 September.
In a note submitted to the member states, the Slovak Presidency, which does not hide its hostility to the European Commission’s draft legislation (see EUROPE 11613) says it is seeking governments’ opinions for 9 September. The questionnaire is divided into five themes corresponding to the main aspects of the draft legislation: - the 24-month limit on posting; - replacing the idea of ‘minimum pay rates’ with reference to ‘remuneration’; - application of general collective bargaining to posted workers in all areas of the economy; - the option for member states to require companies to subcontract only to companies granting certain remuneration conditions applicable to the contractor; - introducing the principle of equal treatment of posted and local workers.
When answering the questionnaires, member states must indicate whether they back the principles laid down, whether they want changes to be made or whether they want the measures replaced. The answers will give a valuable indication of the cohesion of the group of opponents to the draft rules (see EUROPE 11574) and should reveal the negotiations’ key elements. The Slovak Presidency has thus far scheduled three further meetings, on 12, 15 and 16 September.
During the working group meeting on Friday, Poland was the first country to voice opposition, attacking the Commission for failing to respect the ‘yellow card’ issued by 11 national parliaments, mostly from Central and East European countries. The Polish representative was backed by his Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts. The United Kingdom simply indicated that it would reply to the questionnaire, but would miss the deadline set by the Slovak Presidency. As will Estonia, probably because its government tends to favour changes to the directive, but its parliament is hostile and has joined the others in the ‘yellow card’ procedure. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)