Another obstacle has been crossed. On Tuesday 29 May during the plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament passed by a much stronger majority than expected to adopt (456 votes for, 147 votes against and 49 abstentions) the inter-institutional agreement on the posted workers directive.
Ms Morin Chartier stated ahead of the vote that “I'm going to tell you, frankly, this instant; I dreamt about it many, many different times and arrived at the conclusion that this work was so difficult that for me, for so long, for 27 months, it was like a dream”. She also explained that to obtain this agreement they needed to “grit their teeth”.
The same relief was expressed by the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen. In a press release, she soberly highlighted the fact that, “Today's vote by the European Parliament marks an important step in the process of building a fairer single market”.
On the other hand, in the ranks of the Czech liberals, it was a completely different tone. The shadow rapporteur, Czech liberal, Martina Dlabajová, a fierce opponent of the agreement, which she considers too favourable towards Western European countries, exclaimed “Supporting the revised rules on posted workers means choosing more protectionism that will jeopardise businesses: do we really want a protectionist Europe where free movement becomes a one way street?”
Contents
The agreement reached in March ratifies the cardinal principle introduced by the Commission to guarantee “equal pay for equal work in the same place” (see EUROPE 11972).
The agreement particularly stipulates: a maximum posting period of 12 months that can be extended for six months; - application of the directive in its non-revised version (directive 96/71/EC) for international road transport whilst awaiting the Lex Specialis; - reimbursement of allowances (accommodation, food and transport) according to the conditions of the host member state; - directive cover of the posted workers directive for non-genuine posted workers. The directive covers non-universal collective agreements, in addition to universal agreements. The transposition period has been set at two years. The extension of the legal base to article 153 of the TFEU requested by Parliament was not retained in the framework of the inter-institutional negotiations.
ALDE
Intense political debates persisted until the very end. Ahead of the plenary session, a range of amendments were submitted by the ECR and ENF groups (see EUROPE 12028).
Those from ALDE submitted by the shadow rapporteur, Martina Dlabajová, were withdrawn at the very last minute following significant internal tension, particularly with the French delegation. It is true that the amendments submitted by the group directly targeted the maximum posting duration (proposing 24 months, as opposed to the 12+6 months in the trilogue agreement), which the French President, Emmanuel Macron, has made into a strong political reference for his own mandate.
In reply to EUROPE, the French Minister for European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, indicated that the President of the ALDE group, Guy Verhofstadt from Belgium, who shares a very close European vision with that of President Emmanuel Macron, would prevail. According to the French minister, “when one obtains real progress, we don't open things up again at the last minute”.
According to an internal source, Mr Verhofstadt had concerns that these amendments would have an impact on the future of political group after the European elections. Another source indicated, however, this this was a pragmatic decision, given that it was impossible to obtain a majority in Parliament for supporting the amendments as ALDE was divided, as well as the EFDD (with an Italian delegation that appeared to be more on the side of progressive approach), as was the EPP.
Voting error
In this regard, the analysis of the vote demonstrates the existence of a front between central and eastern Europe against the text. A few particularities include the fact that several Polish MEPs from the EPP, including the former Commissioner for the Budget and Financial Programmes, Janusz Lewandowski, and Andrzej Grzyb, supported the agreement. This was, however, due to the result of an error resulting from a certain confusion during the vote. Certain German EPP MEPs, such as Daniel Caspary, voted against the agreement. The latter expressed concern about the directive covering working parties. The response from Commissioner Thyssen, sent on Friday 25 May in an attempt to assuage these concerns, did not, therefore, manage to obtain any perceptible impact. The text still needs to be formally adopted by the member states during the Employment and Social Policy Council (EPSCO) on 21 June before the final publication of the directive in the Official Journal. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Mathieu Bion)