MEPs adopted by a solid majority (459 votes in favour, 160 against and 41 abstentions) the negotiating mandate of the rapporteur, Jeroen Lenaers (EPP, Netherlands), on the European Labour Authority, on Tuesday 11 December, in plenary session in Strasbourg.
As a reminder, the Members of the Employment and General Affairs Committee extended the scope of the Authority's action to go beyond cross-border mobility alone and focus on worker mobility in general, while reducing the scope of the entity's activities, in particular by removing the introduction into the Authority's portfolio of the European Job Mobility Portal, EURES. In addition, the Authority may make policy recommendations to the European Commission. In addition, MEPs introduced the presence of six representatives of the social partners on the Authority's Management Board (see EUROPE 12146).
"I welcome the European Parliament's confidence in starting negotiations with the Council", the rapporteur soberly welcomed, but said that there was no doubt about the outcome of the vote, as the support obtained in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee was so broad.
The negotiators soon got up to speed: the first meeting with the Council was held on the same day in the margins of the plenary session.
The Council adopted its position at the meeting of the competent ministers on 6 December last. There are many differences with the European Parliament. Delegations renamed the Authority to make it simply an Agency. The participation of Member States in joint inspection activities is completely voluntary, as is the use of mediation procedures. Mediation activities in the field of social security have also been excluded from the scope of the future entity (see EUROPE 12153). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)