The European Parliament and the Council met a second time on Thursday 31 January to discuss the regulation on the coordination of social security systems, without making any significant progress on the main political issues, in particular on issues relating to the situation of frontier workers, the export of unemployment benefits and the aggregation (or totalisation) of social benefits or even on the applicable legislation.
With regard to frontier workers, the position of the Parliament (see EUROPE 12141) - which leaves workers the choice between the State of employment and the State of residence as regards unemployment benefits and job search monitoring - would remain impossible for the Council to accept.
If the Council's position (see EUROPE 12047, 12046) were to be favoured, namely that the Member State responsible is the Member State of activity and not the Member State of residence (as is currently the case), the Parliament would demand clear guarantees of support for workers and of no social regression compared to the current situation. No compromise appears in sight at this time. However, the agreement on the duration of export of unemployment benefits is linked to the issue of aggregation.
In addition, the issue of sent workers (which includes posted workers) is still divisive. The Parliament would maintain its position of a maximum sending of 18 months in order to maintain the clearest possible position on the Posting of Workers Directive (see EUROPE 11985), whereas the Council would be in favour of maintaining the European Commission's proposal of 24 months. In the Council, the position could be explained in particular by the heated nature of the debates between national delegations on reducing the maximum duration of posting, which is still top of mind for many.
The Parliament's proposal for the financial deposit mechanism would also remain unacceptable to Member States, as it is too complex.
For its part, the Commission continues to find itself at an impasse on the positions of the co-legislators on aggregation (see EUROPE 12173) and would like to see it maintained at 3 months whereas the Parliament wants aggregation from the first day of activity and the Council one month. Similarly, for sent workers, the institution would not welcome the principle of imposing social security affiliation at least three months before the worker is actually sent. Such a provision would potentially be contrary to the principle of free movement and freedom to provide services, the Commission was reported as saying.
The next inter-institutional meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 13 February, alongside the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg. The debate should focus on pluriactive workers and, in particular, on the criteria for determining social security affiliation. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)