MEPs expressed concerns about the functioning of the future European Labour Authority (ELA) in an exchange with Jordi Curell, interim executive director of the European agency, during a discussion in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on Tuesday 24 September. Their questions remained largely unanswered, given the limited perspective on the implementation of the Authority.
The committee meeting consisted of an introduction for the new MEPs of the different EU agencies in the social field. Thus, alongside Cedefop, Eurofound, EU-OSHA, and ETF, the ELA was included for the first time. It caught the deputies’ attention.
Germany's Dennis Radtke (EPP) wondered in particular how the ELA would simplify European rules and their application, particularly in the field of secondment, citing the cases of Austria, Belgium and France. These latter countries, he said, impose a large number of administrative barriers that prevent worker mobility. Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, Germany) asked about the role of the ELA in coordinating between Member States and monitoring mobility.
Dragoş Pîslaru (Renew Europe, Romania), for his part, expressed concern about the low degree of digitisation of administrative procedures, which will ultimately hinder inter-state cooperation. Elżbieta Rafalska (ECR, Poland) questioned the effectiveness of the Authority itself, recalling that there were already competent national authorities. Nikolaj Villumsen (GUE/NGL, Denmark) sought to explore the practical application of the role of the social partners in joint inspections, referring to the representative Article 8 of the Regulation on joint inspections.
Mr Curell recalled that the role of the agency was in no way to “create” law, but to enforce it. In addition, recalling the Authority's main objectives and tasks (see EUROPE 12294/1), Mr Curell stressed that the ELA was being implemented and would not reach cruising speed until 2024. He recalled that the ELA’s first actions will be better defined once the first meeting of the Administration Board is held in October, when Member States will appoint the President and Vice-President (see EUROPE 12274/5).
The authority will inform citizens and businesses about their rights and duties in cross-border situations, facilitate the exchange of information between Member States, facilitate joint inspections - at the request of Member States - in a cross-border situation in cases of fraud, abuse and undeclared work and finally, play a mediation role in disputes between Member States (see EUROPE 12194/1). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)