On Wednesday 14 February, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) criticised the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, Frank Vandenbroucke, following the failure of negotiations on the regulation on the coordination of social security schemes (883/2004).
They were particularly critical of the Belgian Presidency’s lack of commitment to this issue. The Commission was quick to inform the European Parliament that it was unable to move forward on this issue as there was no prospect of agreement within the Member States (see EUROPE 13328/1, 13329/23).
At this hearing on the priorities of the Belgian Presidency, rapporteur Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, German) said she was “very disappointed”. Referring to the close collaboration between the Belgian Presidency and the previous Spanish Presidency on social convergence, as well as on how to take account of social investments in the framework of European economic governance, she provided assurances that a European Parliament/EU Council agreement on the regulation would have been possible “if you had worked in the same spirit”.
“The European Parliament has come so far to reach an agreement”, insisted Ms Bischoff, pointing out that the two parties were very close to finalising the dossier, both under the Spanish Presidency and also at the end of 2021 under the Slovenian Presidency.
“Usually the Belgian Presidency is not afraid of complicated issues” and “compromises”, the German Social Democrat went on. “We are open” and “we are counting on you to continue”, she added.
The chairman of the EMPL committee, Dragoș Pîslar (Renew Europe, Romanian), shadow rapporteur on this dossier, also noted that “in five years, we have twice had the opportunity of an agreement. Saying that we’re stopping here is not a good solution for us”, he said, fearing that the issue would be sidelined for another 5 years.
“We at least expected the Belgian Presidency to look at what was in the file and work on these chapters before saying that nothing could be done”, criticised Mr Pîslaru.
Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, French), also shadow rapporteur, also made no secret of his “great disappointment at the inconsistency” of the Belgian Presidency. While Spain “was very close to an agreement, your Presidency has chosen to wipe the slate clean. The EU has an obligation to combat fraud and protect millions of mobile workers”.
For the French Green, this decision on the regulation just before the European elections will “contribute to increasing mistrust of the EU”.
Frank Vandenbroucke could only repeat his arguments, pointing out just how complex this issue is and that it has been going on for “twenty years”. “Spain has done a fantastic job, but we’re stuck on unemployment benefit, that’s the reality. We asked the European Parliament if it was possible to work in stages, to solidify an agreement on the four chapters [on which there is consensus] while continuing to work on the others”, he defended himself.
And if the European Parliament “says: ‘It’s all or nothing’, I can tell you that it will be nothing”, he said.
On other priorities and on more consensual notes, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed the Belgian Presidency’s intention to work towards a more ambitious mandate for the European Labour Authority (ELA), with the possibility of launching investigations into shortcomings in the application of laws on worker mobility.
“We also need to look at the willingness of Member States to cooperate with national inspectorates at European level”.
In January, the Belgian Presidency organised a conference on ELA and published its own assessment of its mandate.
Another priority highlighted by Belgium is the La Hulpe Declaration in mid-April, which will serve as a “compass” for the EU’s future Social Agenda.
Link to the ELA report: https://aeur.eu/f/aus (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)