The member states would like to have the possibility to exclude certain civil servants from the scope of application of the directive on transparent and predictable working conditions, according to a compromise proposal dated Thursday 14 June, prepared by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU ahead of the 'Employment and Social Policy' Council of 21 June.
During the negotiations, several national delegations reportedly asked for the option to exempt the armed forces, the police, judges, public prosecutors, investigators and, more generally, all law enforcement services. The reason put forward is that the regimes in place cannot comply with the directive. Additionally, the delegations stressed that the regimes in place for civil servants are already favourable.
The member states also increased the maximum time worked in order to benefit from a derogation to the directive. The Commission is considering a mechanism for workers who work up to eight hours a month. This is too short, in the view of the member states, which agreed for the mechanism to apply to all workers working up to five hours per week over an average of four weeks (article 1 §3). This modification will concern all workers working up to 20 hours per month.
Another change concerns the time frame to provide workers with all essential information about the contractual relationship. The Commission is proposing that this information is provided on the first day, which several national delegations felt was too strict and suggested increasing it to two months.
The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU therefore suggested a staggered system, on which there is consensus. During the first calendar week (starting on the first day of work), the basic information (place of work, job title, date of start of employment, duration of the probationary period, etc.) must be notified to workers. The remaining information - collective agreements in force, references to the social security institution - may be sent in up to one month (article 4 §1) from the first day of work.
As anticipated (see EUROPE 12041), two major questions have been left to the ministers: the definition of workers and the exclusion of seafarers and sea fishermen from the scope of application of the directive.
It is worth noting that most delegations have entered general scrutiny reservations, among them Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The ministers will have their work cut out at the 'EPSCO' Council, at which they will be called upon to reach three political agreement in principle ('general orientations') on the regulation on the coordination of the social security systems (see EUROPE 12041) and the work-life balance directive (see EUROPE 12039). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)