MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs heard, on Tuesday 14 June, the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, on the various projects that the Commission intends to present in the coming months.
After the European Parliament reached an agreement with the EU Council on the Directive on adequate minimum wages (see EUROPE 12966/12), MEPs wanted to discuss the level of ambition of future action in this area.
They also questioned the Commissioner on the possible need to review the May 2021 Porto targets in the light of the pandemic and the impact of the war in Ukraine, both of which have “deepened inequalities” and increased the risk of poverty with “inflation, energy costs”, as the Dutch MEP, Agnes Jongerius (S&D), had stressed.
Referring to the agreement on minimum wages, the Commissioner recalled the Commission’s plan to present a recommendation on minimum income this year.
This instrument should help Member States to reduce poverty, “fill gaps in income support” and strengthen “links between employment programmes and social protection”, although it will not be the “only solution” to precariousness, he said at the same time.
The Commissioner also made it clear on several occasions that no binding minimum income instrument will be imposed on Member States.
The Commissioner also confirmed that an initiative on the modernisation of social dialogue structures will be presented in September.
Nicolas Schmit was also asked about the forthcoming communication on asbestos and the reduction of occupational exposure limits. Belgian MEP Sara Matthieu (Greens/EFA) called on the Commission to be more ambitious.
Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left, Denmark) also called for a “revision of the directive on asbestos at work which limits the occupational exposure value to 1,000 fibres/m3”, as recommended by the European Chemicals Agency (currently 100,000 fibres/m3).
“But that won’t be enough, we need a much more comprehensive strategy”, he said, such as rules on selling buildings with asbestos.
“We fully agree”, the Commissioner replied, and said that the Commission is also considering better information on the presence of asbestos in construction and legislative action on building inspections.
While the Commissioner seemed to suggest that Porto’s objectives of boosting employment, fighting poverty and boosting skills are still legitimate after the various crises and do not necessarily need to be revisited, Mr Schmit conceded that the Commission needs to work on energy costs and their impact on poverty.
He explained to the MEPs that the Commission is working on an instrument similar to the ‘SURE’ instrument, which was used to support national short-time working schemes during the pandemic.
Finally, the EMPL Committee Vice-Chair, Leïla Chaibi (The Left, France), wanted to probe again the Commission’s intentions regarding the directive on digital platform workers (presented in December), as platforms are trying to attack the principle of presumption of salaried status and the reversal of the burden of proof, and “5 million bogus self-employed workers” may have to “go to court themselves to be reclassified as employees.
“If we question the system of presumption, we return to the current situation; there is no point if the worker has to go to court himself. This is precisely what we want to avoid”, replied Nicolas Schmit, assuring the Parliament of “all his support” in this ‘fight’ with the platforms and recalling that the directive is very “clear”, with its presumption system based on precise criteria. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)