On Wednesday 6 December, the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU proposed a new compromise to the Member States on the reform of the Regulation on the coordination of social security schemes.
On Friday 8 December, the Presidency will attempt to obtain the approval of the Member States for a compromise package already presented on 4 December (see EUROPE 13307/15). It has submitted a new amendment to the chapter on prior notification of the posting of workers (A1 form) and has reinstated the possibility for the institution of the competent State to notify the country of activity where the work is carried out up to three days after the start of the assignment.
The Presidency had deleted this provision from its text of 4 December. “The Presidency proposes to continue working on the basis of compulsory prior notification, combined with the possibility of notifying the competent institution no later than three days after the start of the activity in the event of an emergency situation”, says a short note seen by EUROPE.
The latest text does not change the exemptions granted to the construction sector from the prior notification requirements in two cases (business trips and activities lasting a maximum of three consecutive days in any period of 30 consecutive days).
However, at the start of the week, the European construction industry had not yet considered these protective measures to be sufficient.
In any case, this last-minute addition has come as a surprise to some observers, who wonder whether the European Parliament would accept this return to late notifications insofar as they contradict the very principle of compulsory prior notification, presented as essential by Parliament and which the institution wants to make more easily applicable thanks to the digitalisation of procedures.
Some also deplore the fact that the emergency situations justifying these late notifications are not precisely defined, which could open up new areas for fraud.
The Presidency plans to meet Parliament again on Monday 11 October in Strasbourg to move towards an agreement. On Thursday 7 December, not all the delegations had decided on their position for the discussion at Coreper.
However, Member States that are more vigilant on unemployment issues, in terms of the transfer of jurisdiction to the State of activity or the duration of the export of unemployment benefits (up to 10 months after an uninterrupted period of work and contributions of 24 months), could also continue to oppose the Spanish proposals, which have not made changes in these areas.
In the note of 4 December, the Presidency continued to present a criterion of 25 weeks of uninterrupted work in a country of employment for that country to become responsible for unemployment benefits and suggested, for the duration of export, that Member States could go beyond the 10-month period if they so wished.
The 25-week period, considered excessively long by some Member States and too short by others, is another example of the differences between them. In all cases, the person receiving compensation and returning to another State of residence must make him/herself available to the job search services of the State that is compensating him/her. According to one source, however, there was still a blocking minority on this text on the evening of Thursday 7 December, even though the Spanish Presidency had not officially spoken in recent days of seeking a formal negotiating mandate at Coreper on Friday. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)