After 18 months of negotiations, the directive on “posted workers” overcame its first obstacle on Monday 16 October at the end of the afternoon.
MEPs at the employment and social affairs committee (EMPL) supported (32 votes for, 8 against, 13 abstentions) the report on the “posted workers” directive by a large majority. This was submitted by Elisabeth Morin-Chartier (EPP, France) and Agnes Jongerius (S&D, Netherlands).
Some of the major novelties introduced by the committee MEPs include, in particular, the compromise amendment on extending the legal base of the draft directive to article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). Nonetheless, obtaining this was not certain in the beginning, given that it had not received the support of the rapporteurs, contrary to the majority of the other compromise amendments (see EUROPE 11881).
This request for extension was not originally included in the Commission’s proposal. It has a twofold objective (see EUROPE 11507), as explained by the two co-rapporteurs to journalists: it makes it compulsory to begin social dialogue before revising the text in future (the Council is looking at a revision of the text eight years after the entry into force of the directive); and to urge the European Court of Justice to use it not just for interpreting the freedom of movement of the provision of services but also for protecting workers.
In a confidential opinion, the European Parliament’s legal services (which was explained in our publication EUROPE 117783), was not particularly in favour of this proposal by the two co-rapporteurs. The judicial affairs committee (‘JURI’), on the other hand, supported the proposal (see EUROPE 11807). In replies on a number of occasions to EUROPE, the European Commissioner for employment and social affairs, Marianne Thyssen, said that she did not support the proposal.
All the compromise amendments unveiled last week by EUROPE (see EUROPE 11881, 11879), were adopted. These include amendments on pay, maximum duration of postings at 24 months, the introduction of non-universal collective agreements, the definition of pay- including transport and accommodation costs, coverage of subcontracting companies in the event of member states having national legislation and the mention of the specificity of the international road transport sector.
Ms Dlabajová against After the vote, Martina Dlabajová (ALDE, Czech Republic), the shadow rapporteur took a position against the draft report, whilst recognising that her opposition was not representative of the position of her group. In her eyes, the text is not “balanced” enough.
The ENF group also rejects text.
Parliament's plenary session vote is planned for the next October session, and is very likely to be on Thursday 26 October. Member states are expected to adopt a political agreement in principle (general approach) during the Employment and Social Policy Council (EPSCO) on 23 October next. The dossier, however, did not make significant progress during the most recent meeting of the Council of National Representatives to the EU (Coreper) (see EUROPE 11881) and according to certain observers, could possibly lead to a delay in reaching an agreement at the December EPSCO Council. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)