Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper I) approved conclusions on telework on Wednesday 2 June, which simply ask the European Commission to continue research and exchange of experiences between Member States on the impact of telework in post-pandemic recovery.
Specifically, the conclusions call for an analysis by the European Commission of the extent to which current social and labour law in the EU ensures “decent working conditions” for teleworkers, including the right to disconnect.
The conclusions recall the very constrained framework of European action, where national specificities must necessarily be taken into account, but also the autonomy of the social partners.
In this respect, the conclusions highlight the recent framework agreed by the social partners on the digitalisation of work found last year (see EUROPE 12640/12) and underline that some elements of the Community acquis in the field of labour law already address the needs of teleworkers, with reference to the Directives on improving the safety and health of workers at work.
As a reminder, the European Parliament has called for legislative action by the European Commission to better protect teleworkers, including the introduction of a European framework on the right to disconnect (see EUROPE 12641/4).
Gender equality is still an issue of concern
Furthermore, the Ambassadors supported the conclusions on the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on gender equality, which were prepared by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) at the request of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council.
The findings show an asymmetrical impact between men and women. Young women are more affected by the pandemic, especially those with lower educational attainment or of immigrant origin. Women are in fact predominantly represented in part-time, atypical jobs, particularly in the restaurant and hotel sectors, the conclusions state.
Unsurprisingly, Poland asked to attach to these conclusions, in addition to those on the rights of people with disabilities (see below), two separate statements essentially distancing itself from the concept of gender, to which the Polish government is opposed, along with Hungary, preferring the term equality between men and women.
Rights of people with disabilities
The ambassadors approved the European Commission’s strategy for the rights of people with disabilities for the period 2021-2030. Here again, there are few surprises: the conclusions mention the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the strengthening of cooperation and coordination between Member States and the Commission, and the improvement of data collection. To the European Commission, they suggest that the disability issue be taken into account horizontally in European policies.
The conclusions also invite the Employment Committee (EMCO) and the Social Protection Committee (SPC) to contribute to the revision of the Social Scoreboard to better take into account the situation of people with disabilities.
Difficult trilogue
During the same meeting, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU reported on the first inter-institutional meeting (trilogue) with the European Parliament on the 4th revision of the Directive on the protection of workers from carcinogens and mutagens, which took place on Thursday evening, 27 May.
Here, the Presidency indicated that the positions between the EU Council and Parliament differed greatly. On the extension of the application of the Directive to reprotoxic agents, dangerous medicines (BDMP), and a risk-based approach to assess the dangerousness of various substances (see EUROPE 12687/12), the Presidency does not currently have a mandate to accept the positions of Parliament. The Presidency has asked Parliament to justify its amendments founded on evidence for a forthcoming meeting, possibly on 22 June, we are told.
To consult the different conclusions: https://bit.ly/3yT9L8S (impact of the pandemic on gender equality); https://bit.ly/3cc4nE8 (telework); https://bit.ly/3vLR05o (people with disabilities). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)