Negotiations on the regulation on the coordination of social security systems suffered two setbacks in less than 24 hours, suggesting the outcome for revision of one of the oldest legislative texts in the European Union is unlikely to turn out as planned.
At the end of the day on Wednesday 10 April, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU announced to the European Parliament that it had not succeeded in obtaining a qualified majority to support the agreement reached with the European Parliament in mid-March (see EUROPE 12217/5).
To regain the support of Poland and even Hungary and the Czech Republic, the Presidency had suggested to the negotiating group earlier in the week that the changeover period regarding responsibility for social benefits between Member States should be reduced to 3 months, a suggestion that had been accepted by part of the European Parliament negotiating group.
However, the European Parliament did not accept the proposals to reconsider prior notification before a worker is sent to a Member State’s competent authority or to revise the criteria for determining the place of business of people who work in more than one country.
Provisional political agreement has now been rendered invalid, caught between, on one side, the so-called “like-minded” Member States (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark), who are opposed to the over-generous export of social benefits, and, on the other, by Eastern Member States, who do not want overly restrictive rules applied to the legislation in question.
“The situation is symptomatic of an ailing Europe with the Western countries on one side increasingly closing in on themselves, giving in to the alarms raised by populist speeches, particularly on the subject of so-called mass “social tourism”, and with some Eastern Member States on the other side refusing to undertake more rigorous checks on workers, with the sole aim of underpinning their competitiveness by using social dumping”, the French rapporteur, Guillaume Balas (S&D), told EUROPE.
“The failure of the agreement is therefore a direct consequence of the need for a qualified majority in the Council of the EU. As a minimum, the rules in the social affairs coordination regulation must be reviewed. Otherwise the agreement will be constantly blocked”, added the MEP.
Danger at the European Parliament
Another shadow hangs over the text, however. On Thursday 11 April, as anticipated by many observers (see EUROPE 12233/3), the Conference of European Parliament Presidents opted to postpone the vote on first reading of the legislative text, i.e. on the European Parliament position voted on in difficult circumstances last December (see EUROPE 12141/13). The EPP, ECR and ALDE groups supported postponing the text, while the EFDD and ENF groups abstained.
“The right wants revenge for last December's vote. But, even odder than that, ALDE also wants to bury the text. This clearly shows Emmanuel Macron's weakness at European level, as he cannot even convince Guy Verhofstadt, the president of the Liberal group, who he is very close to politically”, commented Mr Balas.
According to a number of sources, the discussions at the ALDE group meeting were very intense, with the shadow rapporteur, Marian Harkin (ALDE, Ireland), opposed to postponement, along with other delegations, including the French delegation. According to one source, the debate was very polarised, with some delegations deciding that their decision to campaign on behalf of ALDE would be based on the vote on the group's position on this legislative text.
The S&D, the Greens/EFA and the GUE/NGL groups are preparing to call for a vote on Monday, 15 April, to put the legislative text back onto the agenda for the plenary session. A simple majority will then be required. However, the outcome remains uncertain for two reasons: the vote in December ended with a small majority in favour, and a lot of MEPs are absent at the beginning of a session. If the plenary supports putting the text back on the agenda, MEPs will hold a final major marathon vote on Thursday 18 April. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)