The meeting of the European Parliament's rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs on the regulation on the coordination of social security systems, initially scheduled for Monday 23 September, has been postponed.
Actually, the Conference of Presidents (CoP) on Thursday 19 September decided to postpone the decision on the package dedicated to unfinished legislative dossiers, a package which includes this regulation.
The reason for the postponement is not directly linked to the latter text, but to discussions on the latest issues falling within the competence of the Committee on International Trade (INTA), according to a source consulted on Tuesday 24 September. “A few clarifications requested, nothing too dramatic”, confirms another source.
Some are talking about putting the matter back on the table at the Conference of Presidents on 17 October. However, others are hoping for a much quicker decision, either through another ad hoc meeting of the Conference of Presidents or through a written decision. In any case, this decision should have no impact on the future of the case, we are assured.
On the EU Council side, hopes remain for resuming interinstitutional negotiations at the beginning of October, where they had failed (see EUROPE 12217/5, 12225/15). But according to a diplomatic source, neither Parliament nor the EU Council is in any hurry to reach an agreement, as the co-legislators prefer to reach a solid agreement with broad support. “An agreement will be reached during the political year”, she tells us.
In any case, the possibility of reaching an agreement by the end of the term of office of the current Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen, is slim. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)