All the European trade union organisations (ETUC, EPSU, IndustriAll, UNIEuropa, EFJ, EFBWW, EFFAT) sent a joint letter to all MEPs on Tuesday 19 January asking them to reject a last-minute amendment tabled by rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba (S&D, Malta) to his legislative own-initiative report on the right to disconnect.
Indeed, with a view of the vote at the plenary session, Mr Saliba has introduced an amendment (amendment 2) to his report (see EUROPE 12614/28) which recalls that in view of the European treaties and the social partners’ Framework Agreement on digitalisation, a legislative proposal could not be presented within the next 3 years. He added: “a proposal before the end of that implementation period would disregard the role of social partners laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union”.
The amendment has angered the unions, who internally spoke of a “legislative veto” according to a note seen by EUROPE. In their letter to the European Parliament, also seen by EUROPE, the trade unions consider the amendment to be “unacceptable”. The Framework Agreement in question does not establish any right to disconnect, but deals only with the modalities of connection and disconnection, according to them.
Furthermore, in their view, Mr Saliba’s amendment would set a “dangerous precedent” which would potentially undermine the ability of the European Trade Union Confederation and the European social partners to negotiate and conclude a European autonomous agreement in the future, if the existence and implementation of such an autonomous agreement means that no legislative action can be taken by the Commission for a period of 3 years.
On the contrary, BusinessEurope sent a letter to MEPs denouncing the proposal, to which the employers’ association is “strongly opposed”, arguing that the issue can only be dealt with at company level. Above all, “a legal approach would be detrimental to the autonomy and flexibility desired by most workers”, the organisation believes.
According to Mr Saliba, the equation is difficult to solve. It is a legislative initiative, which requires a qualified majority, which is more difficult to achieve than a simple majority. According to another parliamentary source, it is necessary to have the EPP on board in order to reach this majority. However, the EPP made this amendment a key vote.
If the amendment is rejected, the text will also be rejected, which Mr Saliba wants to avoid at all costs. In his view, if the text is rejected, it is certain that the European Commission will not take steps to prepare a legislative act. However, the amendment he had tabled, in his view, did not prevent the institution from initiating the consultation work.
The results of the vote on the report will be known on Thursday at the end of the day. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)