As agreed, Member State experts resumed discussions on the reform of the European social security coordination regulation (883/2004) in the Working Party on Social Questions on Thursday 30 January. And according to some sources, new flexibilities have emerged, notably on the issue of prior authorisation for the posting of workers and the exemptions hitherto provided for the construction sector, on the period for which unemployment benefits for cross-border workers are exported, and on the part on the period of affiliation required to make the State of activity and not the State of residence of the unemployed person responsible for paying these benefits.
According to one source, the discussions gave renewed hope of a possible agreement under the Polish Presidency of the EU Council, provided the European Parliament also accepts new flexibilities.
During the Spanish Presidency, it had officially reiterated its commitment to prior notification for the construction sector, including for postings of less than three days, even though rumours suggested that these positions could change.
In any case, several sources confirmed at the end of this working party meeting that there was now a clear blocking minority on the option tested under the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, i.e. to split the reform and validate the chapters on which there was consensus, leaving aside those relating to applicable legislation (pluriactivity and prior notification of postings of workers) and the rule on liability for unemployment benefits.
This blocking minority included Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Romania, the Czech Republic and Croatia. The Commission is also said to have expressed its desire to relaunch discussions while a new team is in place, also at the European Parliament, thus closing the door to any option of withdrawing or revising its proposals, as some have again asked it to do in recent days.
Last week, the Netherlands, supported by others, asked the Commission to dust off its proposals, which were based on 2012 impact studies (see EUROPE 13565/13).
Although the option of splitting the reform was fairly clearly ruled out on Thursday, this does not mean that Member States have managed to reach direct agreement on everything else.
According to one source, however, a qualified majority could soon be reached on the issue of the requirement for prior notification for postings of less than three days in the construction sector.
The social partners have expressed concern about this in recent days, but there is now a clear trend towards no longer requiring such documents for very short postings in this sector, which is often presented as a high-risk area for fraud.
This change is clearly linked to the reversal of France’s position, which had previously been a red line and now considers that sufficient safeguards - in particular tools such as data exchange - exist for labour inspectorates to track down fraud.
This opening would be likely to bring on board countries from the east of the EU, anxious to preserve the advantage of posting workers and to relax the obligations of prior notification as much as possible.
The discussion is also said to have opened up the possibility of negotiations on the duration of export of unemployment benefits, set at 10 months according to the latest Spanish compromises based on the European Parliament’s position.
A number of groups have emerged, including those that do not wish to go below 10 months, those who are flexible (at least seven countries, including France, Spain and Greece) and a small group who have until now wanted a maximum export period of six months, but who are said to have indicated new flexibility.
With regard to the minimum period of affiliation, which would enable the State of employment - and not the State of residence - to be made responsible for paying benefits more quickly, the discussions are said to have focused on a period of 25 weeks, which Germany now defends as a red line, even though the German delegation had not responded to our requests by the time of going to press.
Another group of countries would like a period shorter than 25 weeks, including Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
Another group of countries wants to extend this period, and Cyprus has reportedly changed its mind, now calling for a period of affiliation of between nine and 12 months. Others are said to be in favour of eight months.
In any case, the range for discussion is said to be between 18 and 25 weeks, and several sources also believe that there is room for negotiation.
The Polish Presidency of the EU Council will be working on a new note and may refer the matter to Coreper in mid-February. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)