*** modified on Wednesday 13 September, 1:30 pm ***
The European social partners, on both the employer and trade union sides, are awaiting with some trepidation the legislative text of the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI), which is expected to be formally adopted on Monday 19 September.
The text (which we reported on in our daily bulletin - see EUROPE 13013/4), initially expected to be presented on Tuesday 13 September, has finally been postponed to next week due to too many proposals submitted in connection with the State of the European Union speech that Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, is expected to give to the European Parliament tomorrow in Strasbourg.
Contacted by EUROPE, Martynas Barysas of BusinessEurope expressed strong fears. “We hear that SMEI may become a ‘planned economy fist’, instead of a helping hand to navigate a crisis and use all the strength and flexibility the Single Market offers”, he told us.
For him, the instrument should focus on preserving the functioning of the Single Market, monitoring national and European crisis mitigation measures so that they are proportional and non-discriminatory approach.
“If SMEI forces companies to disclose commercially sensitive information for market monitoring, if it orders companies what production to prioritise under any type of the crisis the Commission decides upon, or if SMEI provisions deny the contract law, Europe risks damaging the real capacity of businesses to respond to crises”, he warned.
Sophia Zakari, who follows the case for SMEunited, agrees to some extent. For her, mandatory reporting linked to product stock is “of course necessary”, but overly burdensome reporting mechanisms should be avoided. In her view, the creation of the advisory group should include SME envoys at least as observers. Furthermore, Mrs Zakari regrets that the instrument does not include a section dedicated to the free movement of workers. “Workers need real-time information when crossing borders, and their right to social security must be guaranteed”.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) recently sent a letter to the Commission expressing its concern about the repeal of the so-called “strawberry” Regulation and in particular its provisions safeguarding the right to strike (see EUROPE 13016/5).
For a recent (but not today’s) draft of the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/31V (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)