The first talks under the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU at a “social questions” working group level on the directive on posted workers that took place on Monday 11 September, were positive overall.
We were informed that the Estonian Presidency’s compromise text (see EUROPE 11858) was deemed a good starting point because it is more balanced than that of the Maltese Presidency. Nonetheless, the member states’ respective positions have so far only slightly changed and another technical level meeting is expected to be planned for the end of September.
During this meeting, common amendments submitted by several member states based on the Franco-German initiative formed an integral part of the experts’ discussions. It should be recalled that these amendments are a crucial part of the proposals made following the election of the new President of France, Emmanuel Macron (see EUROPE 11800).
Out all the eight proposals made, two of them were actually discussed yesterday. One was on strengthening administrative cooperation by way of the European platform for enhancing cooperation between member states in the fight against fraud and the other focused on what kind of compensation should be included in the concept of remuneration.
One of the two other amendments focused on the maximum legal duration of postings (12 months out of a 24 month reference period). The other amendment focused on the scrapping of clause 10 of the directive, which stipulates the necessity of sectoral legislation for international road transport but we were informed that these were not really discussed in any detail. The last two points are likely to be tackled at a political level during the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (COREPER) at the employment and Social Policy Council (EPSCO) on 23 October next.
The Estonian Presidency would like to obtain a general approach on the directive during this Council. Irrespective of what transpires, it has set itself the objective of maintaining the, “equal work for equal pay” principle.
France, the Benelux countries, Germany and Austria, are seeking a partial general approach on the part focusing on posted workers (revision of regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)