The Swedish Presidency of the EU Council received some positive signals on 8 February about its plans to relaunch work on the reform of the Regulation on the coordination of social security schemes, Regulation 883/2004, in particular on the prior notification of postings of workers.
But it will still have to seek further consensus on two other key principles which also led to the failure of discussions at the end of 2021 in the EU Council (see EUROPE 12869/16), namely: the applicable legislation and the minimum period of affiliation triggering the shift in responsibility for the payment of unemployment benefits (in the case of cross-border workers), even though several Member States have shown a certain openness on this last point.
The Presidency had organised a new meeting with the Member States on the basis of a note aimed at unlocking the discussions and targeting the main points of contention.
According to one source, there was broad support for the issue of prior notification, with the principle of a ‘horizontal and temporal’ exemption for all postings of less than 3 days and business trips, as already proposed by Slovenia, as well as for the principle of a posteriori notifications for emergency postings.
On the applicable legislation and pluriactivity, the Presidency has not succeeded in convincing its partners to abolish the criterion of turnover nor been convinced on the criterion of the number of contracts or the value of the contracts. These elements make it possible to determine the location of the company’s registered office or the worker’s establishment.
On unemployment benefits, however, a number of countries have expressed openness and flexibility with regard to the Swedish proposal to define a period of six continuous months of work in a Member State for the latter to become competent to pay benefits, even if the worker concerned is resident in another country.
France might be satisfied with this extension compared to the Slovenian text (6 months interrupted or 3 months continuous), but also Germany, a country presented as crucial to reach an agreement. Spain, Italy and Poland are also said to be on board, according to one source. The Swedish Presidency will reflect on the way forward and see “what could be acceptable to both the EU Council and the European Parliament”, a spokesperson said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)