The Ninth Chamber of the General Court of the European Union, in a judgement (Case T-310/18) delivered on Thursday 24 October, considers that the European Commission is entitled, but not obliged, to submit to the EU Council an agreement concluded by the social partners and thus rejects the appeal of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU).
Following a lengthy demonstration (in particular by examining the history of the writing of that article prior to the Maastricht Treaty), the General Court considers that the trade unions' "literal" reading of Article 155(2) TFEU is incorrect: the article does not require the Commission to grant a request from the social partners at EU level.
Thus was rejected the trade union application (see EUROPE 11977/20) for annulment of the Commission's decision refusing to submit to the EU Council a proposal for a decision implementing the agreement entitled 'General framework for the rights for information and consultation of workers to central government administrations', signed in 2015 by the Trade Unions’ National and European Administration Delegation (TUNED) and the European Public Administration Employers (EUPAE).
"The ruling is a blow to 9.8 million government workers who are denied the same EU legal protection for information and consultation rights as private sector workers on restructuring", said Secretary General Jan Willem Goudriaan. For him, this is a major issue: "What is at stake is the real weight social partners have in the development of EU minimum social standards. The right of autonomy of social partners is put into question. The ruling leaves huge uncertainty over future EU social partner agreements".
To consult the judgment of the General Court: http://bit.ly/2pVoOQy (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)