The 16th interinstitutional meeting, which lasted until midnight on Monday 1 March, did not allow the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament to reach a political agreement on the revision of the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems.
The main stumbling block remains prior notification before sending a worker to the competent authorities of the host Member State. The Portuguese Presidency, in accordance with its mandate (see EUROPE 12665/16), has recognised the principle of prior notification, which in itself is already seen as a major concession to the European Parliament.
However, the Council of the EU considers it necessary to introduce a horizontal temporal exemption. Fearing that such an exemption would constitute a Pandora’s box for fraud in the context of the posting of workers, Parliament, for its part, would like to introduce safeguards to this temporary exemption. For example, it advocates full application of prior notification for certain sectors, such as construction.
The discussions did not cover the time limit for derogating from prior notification (at the EU Council, requests vary between 3 and 7 days). The co-legislators have reportedly made progress on the “business trip” exemption and are close to an agreement. The question of a digital solution has reportedly been addressed as well, without bringing any major disruption to the existing proposals.
The co-legislators will meet for the 17th time to discuss the issue. No date has been given. Some hope that the next trilogue will take place by mid-March, at the same time as the possible visit to Brussels of the Portuguese Minister of Labour, Ana Mendes Godinho. The Portuguese Presidency will inform the Member States of the negotiations on Wednesday 3 March at the level of national ambassadors to the EU. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)