The European Parliament is ready to negotiate with the Council of the EU on 19 May on the reform of the rules for coordinating social security systems (883/2004) and is hoping for a successful outcome, after 18 trilogues and two last-minute failures in the Council of the EU in nine years (see EUROPE 13620/20).
After another meeting with the shadow rapporteurs on Wednesday 7 May in Strasbourg, the lead rapporteur, Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, German), was able to express renewed “optimism” to Agence Europe, saying that the Council of the EU now really wants to finalise this dossier, and in particular the three problematic issues of prior authorisation for certain types of posting, the duration of unemployment benefit exports for mobile workers and the minimum period of affiliation to the social security system of the country of employment, which would become responsible for unemployment benefits.
“We will be preparing for an intensive trilogue on 19 May. Both sides are ready and we are trying to finalise this long story”, said the German MEP, who has had several contacts with the Polish Presidency of the EU Council in recent days.
“I am talking to many Member States who are expressing their openness to finalising the dossier and finding solutions to these three outstanding issues with more flexibility than before”. “We cannot fail a third time”, adds Gabriele Bischoff.
Parliament has a very different position from the recent revised mandate of the Council of the EU on certain aspects. It therefore continues to advocate differentiated treatment of the construction sector in terms of prior notification of posting. Parliament also wants export periods for unemployment benefits to be adapted to longer or shorter periods of contribution in a country of employment.
Parliament also wants the Council of the EU to be clearer on the necessary affiliation period, currently set at between 18 and 22 weeks.
The MEP did not wish to tell us whether guarantees have been given on these two aspects; she is now awaiting the Polish Presidency’s proposals for the trilogue on 19 May.
Last week, Rudi Kennes, Belgian shadow rapporteur for The Left, told Agence Europe of the Parliament’s frustration, saying that the Council of the EU had not taken the institution’s demands into account in its mandate of 11 April, and wished that the Council of the EU would show more “will” and attention. In any case, Parliament also considered it essential to finalise this reform, which has been on the table since 2016, and to defend “workers’ rights and combat abuses”.
However, the MEP did not defend the empty chair policy at the trilogue on 19 May. And according to Gabriele Bischoff, the mood around this issue has changed and is now more positive. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)