On Thursday 22 May, the EU27 Ministers responsible for competitiveness reached a political agreement (‘general approach’) on the creation of a voluntary electronic declaration for the posting of workers, which should simplify the formalities for companies posting workers, while preserving the monitoring capabilities of labour inspectorates.
This Regulation, proposed for 2024, should lighten the administrative burden on businesses - by making the submission of posting declarations entirely digital - and on the national authorities - by making it easier to monitor compliance with the Posting of Workers Directive.
Although the Member States had recently rejected the compromise proposals put forward by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, even though they believed that an agreement was still possible (see EUROPE 13640/21), the latest additions from the Polish authorities have been convincing.
The procedures for this electronic declaration introduced on a public interface, which requires five types of standard information, have been further simplified. These include the data to be entered on the common posting form, such as references to the legal representatives of posted workers, a description of the service provided and the work carried out, working conditions, the existence of collective accommodation for groups of posted workers, and references to legal representatives for double postings, in order to identify attempts to circumvent the rules on posting, explained Michal Baranowski, Polish Under-Secretary of State for Economic Development and Technology.
“The proposal now confirms that the standard form shall replace any preexisting posting declaration required under national law in the Member States that decide to use the public interface for the submission of the posting declaration”, explains the latest compromise text, dated Monday 19 May.
“However, the procedures related to other parts of the posting process, such as the controls at the workplace, remain outside the scope of the proposal. Therefore, all Member States, will continue to be allowed to request additional information or documents during such controls”.
On Thursday, a number of countries stressed the need to reduce barriers to cross-border services while preserving the ability to combat fraud.
Countries such as France and Italy were able to give their green light after final guarantees, but presented a joint declaration expressing their “vigilance”, as the French Minister for Industry, Marc Ferracci, put it.
“EU Member States can find themselves in very different situations when it comes to posting (...). In this context, the level of requirements for companies set up at national level may differ within the EU. This is why, in the context of Directive 2014/67/EU (Directive implementing the Posting of Workers Directive), it is up to the Member States to decide on the administrative requirements and control measures to be implemented at national level to ensure effective monitoring of compliance with the obligations”, say the authors of the statement.
“Particularly vigilant about the quality of postings and the working conditions of posted workers, we are keeping a close eye on the next stages of the negotiations to ensure that the responsibility of Member States in implementing the EU acquis is not compromised in any way”.
Belgium joined in, but abstained on the tool. Its Minister, David Clarinval, regretted the lack of guarantees that “essential data such as working hours will be included”, as well as the limitation of this electronic declaration to salaried workers only, and not to self-employed workers or workers from third countries.
The Netherlands was able to approve the compromise, although it would like to see the text extended to self-employed workers.
Luxembourg, for its part, deplored the voluntary aspect, which will not help to reduce the fragmentation of the internal market.
Concerns. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has “raised the alarm over European Commission plans to limit what information Member States can request from employers about cross-border workers”, arguing that such a situation “risks making it easier for employers to exploit workers”.
“The introduction of this system is being used as a smokescreen to simply reduce the amount of information employers will be required to provide. The Commission’s own figures show that the initiative will produce paltry savings for businesses, but workers could pay a heavy price”, commented Isabelle Schömann, Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC.
Link to the EU Council’s ‘general approach’: https://aeur.eu/f/gyt (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)