On Wednesday 27 November, Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) were unable to approve the draft political agreement (general approach) of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council on the proposal for a directive on the working conditions of trainees, owing to the emergence of a blocking minority of Member States.
While the Presidency still intends, on 2 December, to ask employment and social affairs ministers (EPSCO Council) to adopt a position on this draft general approach, on Wednesday, the European Commission also expressed its strong disagreement with the text on the table and announced a statement on the subject to be included in the minutes of this meeting.
The Presidency had made a number of amendments to its latest compromise draft, dated 22 November (see EUROPE 13531/17). In particular, it had responded to the concerns of certain Member States about respecting their traineeship models, by specifying that this directive in no way obliged them to create a new specific employment relationship for trainees.
Since July, the Hungarian authorities have also amended the text in response to the concerns of the Nordic countries, establishing possible exceptions for the treatment of trainees under collective agreements and reiterating the principle of the autonomy of the social partners.
While the Presidency was able to count on the support of the northern countries of the EU, France and Luxembourg, which were able to accept the latest text proposed, Spain, Slovenia and Portugal opposed it.
Germany also intends to abstain on Monday 2 December, according to one source, as it cannot support the text on the table either.
Spain, Portugal and Slovenia had already expressed their disagreement with the direction taken by the text, deeming it not ambitious enough.
For the Hungarian Presidency of the Council, however, not all delegations expressed their views on 27 November, and the ministerial meeting on 2 December will provide an opportunity to sound out the Member States once again.
Commission statement. The Commission, which will be represented from December by its Vice-President, Roxana Mînzatu, said, on 27 November, that it was “deeply concerned about the effect of the amendments envisaged by the Council on the scope, coherence and added value of the Commission’s proposal”, according to the statement it asked to be included in the minutes of the Coreper meeting.
In its view, the Council’s amendments are not in line with the dual objective of the proposal, which is to improve and enforce working conditions for trainees and to combat regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships.
The Commission cited, among other things, the envisaged limitation of the scope of application, the dilution of the principle of equal treatment, the reorientation of Chapter III towards the assessment of the professional situation of trainees and the weakening of the implementing provisions.
It also asked the Hungarian Presidency not to submit its text as it stands for agreement at the EPSCO Council on 2 December. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)