After a slight scheduling conflict, negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council will meet again on Thursday 12 December to discuss the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems. However, the chances of reaching an agreement would be slim, according to some, given that the Finnish Presidency of the EU Council has not succeeded in having a renewed mandate from the Member States (see EUROPE 12378/17).
“The Romanian Presidency has gone very far in the negotiations and now it is really the last stages of the negotiations that are the most difficult”, analyses a diplomatic source close to the issue, for whom the Finnish Presidency has very little flexibility in the negotiations.
This will be the first interinstitutional negotiation under the mandate of the new Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Nicolas Schmit. The main points of discussion remain the same: the duration of the export of social benefits for frontier workers, prior notification in the event of posting and the deletion of the notion of working time in the article dedicated to pluriactivity (see EUROPE 12372/26).
Prior notification. In the EU Council, discussions will be intense between ambassadors to the European Union, in particular on prior notification in the event of the posting of a worker. The “hybrid” proposal of the Finnish Presidency of the EU Council, which seeks to bridge the gap between the European Parliament's position (exemption according to the nature of the trip) and the EU Council's position (exemption according to the duration of the trip), would pose a problem for most national delegations - albeit for different reasons - but also for the European Commission, for which the proposal is simply not viable.
Multiple activity. Pluriactivity would remain a subject of disagreement. A group of Member States - such as Belgium and France - would support the integration of the notion of working time into pluriactivity, while other Member States, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, but also in the South, such as Cyprus, would remain opposed.
Social benefits. Similarly, the export of social benefits for frontier workers would continue to be a matter of debate between national delegations, even though flexibilities have been mentioned by France, Italy, Ireland and Romania. Denmark has a strong position on the subject and would be for a 3-month export (the March Interinstitutional Agreement provided for 15 months - see EUROPE 12217/5). Austria would be for less than 6 months. Germany would support an export at 6 months. The Netherlands wants an export as quickly as possible.
We are told that the Finnish Presidency is not optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations. The legislative dossier could end up on the desk of the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council, which would be responsible for seeking a compromise that satisfies a majority of Member States and the European Parliament. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Agathe Cherki)