France hopes to reach an agreement with the European Parliament on the minimum wage directive “in the first months of the (EU Council) Presidency”, a French government source said on Thursday 6 January.
On the basis of the general approach agreed by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council on this text (see EUROPE 12847/1), the Presidency hopes to make rapid progress on this emblematic text of European social policy. This is despite the fact that it expects “complex” negotiations to find a balance between the Council’s position, which safeguards national social models, and the European Parliament’s more ambitious position (see EUROPE 12840/18).
Platforms. On the directive on working conditions on digital platforms, France has not indicated any major ambitions. Rather, our source only discussed wanting to “initiate” discussions on the legislative file. “We will first take time to study the text on a technical level and then we will have an initial discussion with the Member States on this subject”.
Coordination of social security systems. Despite the renewed failure of interinstitutional negotiations on the regulation on the coordination of social security systems (see EUROPE 12859/10) at the end of December, the Presidency does not intend to bury the text.
“We will, of course, continue to work on the revision of the regulation on the coordination of social security schemes, in particular on the question of posting notification, which is an issue for the social protection of posted workers”, said the same source.
The work programme did not mention a willingness to reach an agreement on the minimum wage directive and was silent on the future of the regulation on the coordination of social security systems (see EUROPE 12860/12). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Camille-Cerise Gessant)