The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have failed to achieve a breakthrough on the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems at a long interinstitutional meeting held in the late afternoon on Tuesday 5 March, when the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council was still hoping for a political agreement.
The previous week, the Presidency had extracted political guidelines allowing it to move forward on the negotiations (see EUROPE 12206), which had resulted in a series of proposals to Parliament that included two major concessions to Parliament: the export of unemployment benefits at 6 months and a pre-affiliation to national social security 3 months before a worker was sent (see EUROPE 12206).
Negotiations are thus still stalled on the same points as before, even on subjects such as equal treatment or long-term care, though these are less political.
In exchange for the abandonment of the principle of "free choice" to the frontier worker of the Member State responsible for social benefits, the European Parliament would have requested a changeover of responsibility for social benefits to the State of employment after 9 months, which would be closer to the European Commission's initial proposal (12 months) than that of the EU Council (3 months).
Parliament's idea is to increase the length of workers' contributions so that they can benefit from a longer export of social benefits, or even until their rights are exhausted. Such a proposal that would be very difficult, if not impossible to accept, indicates several sources on the EU Council's side.
The rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs met on Wednesday 6 March to discuss the proposals made by the Romanian Presidency and to make a series of proposals that should be submitted to the EU Council on Thursday 7 March. The group of Member States (the "like-minded" as they reportedly call themselves) that had once tried to form a blocking minority around the Netherlands (see EUROPE 12201) met on Wednesday to take stock.
Negotiators will meet again on Tuesday 12 March to discuss the settlement. Originally, this meeting was supposed to be the occasion for final adjustments, but this will not be the case. Some mentioned the possibility of adding a new negotiation session on 14 March. Others are extending the ultimate deadline for reaching agreement to 18 March. Finally, some consider that as long as Parliamentarians "are there", negotiations can continue.
Trade unions do not want an "agreement at all costs". The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) sent a joint message on Monday 4 March to ambassadors and Parliament negotiators to express their concerns. “The ETUC and EFBWW believe that an agreement should be concluded only if it represents a real improvement in the current situation of mobile and posted workers in Europe,” reads the statement. It concludes, "We are not there yet." (Pascal Hansens)