By the end of the day on Thursday 11 April, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union had still not succeeded in convincing the Member States, and Sweden in particular, to adopt a new version of the ‘La Hulpe Declaration’ on the future of European social policies, after noting that the silence procedure had broken down.
The Presidency submitted a new compromise on 10 April, slightly modifying the language on public procurement and now calling for an evaluation of the public procurement directives and, if necessary, new measures, whereas the previous version mentioned a possible revision of these directives.
Article 10, included in the chapter on social dialogue and collective bargaining, had also been split in two to foreground more specifically the language on respect for the prerogatives and role of the national social partners, which is one of Sweden’s concerns.
The Belgian Presidency will submit a new version of the ‘Declaration’ to the Member States. Without a consensus, the only option available to it would be to issue a ‘La Hulpe Declaration’ in its own name or in the name of all the countries supporting the text.
Link to the latest text: https://aeur.eu/f/bpr (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)