The negotiating teams on the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems of the European Parliament and the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU agreed on Tuesday 22 October in Strasbourg on the scope of the forthcoming interinstitutional negotiations, namely: unemployment benefits for frontier workers, prior notification for posted workers and the definition of pluriactivity.
The European Parliament negotiating group, led by Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, German), reportedly insisted on reopening the issue of business trips.
The meeting lasted less than an hour, but was of importance. While there was consensus among the co-legislators to resume negotiations where they had ended last March, some feared that they would cover not just a few articles, but the entire chapters on unemployment benefits and applicable legislation, which would have seriously complicated the negotiations.
Last March, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament agreed to increase the maximum export of unemployment benefits for frontier workers to 15 months, to require prior notification of a posted worker before departure to the competent authorities of the host Member State and finally, to provide a more restricted definition on the issue of pluriactive workers (see EUROPE 12217/5). The provisional agreement had been rejected by the ambassadors (see EUROPE 12225/15), leaving the future of the text uncertain.
The date of the next interinstitutional meeting has not yet been definitively decided. The co-legislators could potentially meet on 11 or 18 November. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)
***Article amended on 23.10.2019. The co-legislators intend to discuss the issue of business trips and not the deposit, contrary to what we had written in the original version, as this last subject remains outside the negotiating table. ***