As requested by the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the EU27 ministers for employment and social affairs and their representatives discussed, on Tuesday 8 July, ways of strengthening the competitiveness of European businesses, in particular through the contribution of employment legislation (see EUROPE 13675/22).
At the launch of this working session, the Danish Minister for Employment, Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, spoke of the various challenges currently facing the Member States, which are being called upon to invest more in defence spending. However, the minister believes that it is still possible to avoid having to choose between defence and social spending. Reducing unnecessary administrative burdens can “make a real difference”.
After defending the need to invest in skills, the minister also invited her counterparts to reflect on the way the EU legislates and stressed the importance of choosing the right tools after thorough impact assessments.
“Sometimes it’s a directive, sometimes it’s recommendations, or sometimes it just has to be left to the national level”, she stressed, pointing out that a great deal of progress had already been made under the previous Commission with the directives on platform work and asbestos.
Ms Halsboe-Jørgensen also welcomed the simplification work launched at EU level – which she acknowledged to be a “controversial” subject, particularly the work on the directive on corporate due diligence – and called on the Member States to identify any problematic legislation, whether European or national, and to consider other examples of simplification.
Working Time Directive. The minister gave the example of Denmark, which has had real difficulties applying the European provisions on working time, in particular the recording of working time that the country had to put in place following a ruling by the Court of Justice and which overburdens the social partners, who traditionally have a great deal of autonomy in this area.
In a brief interview with the press, Belgian Labour Minister David Clarinval cited the example of automatic wage indexation, which “impacts on the competitiveness of companies” in the country. “Without calling it into question, greater flexibility in the labour market” can therefore offset these effects, with flexi-jobs, overtime and flexible notice periods, he said. Another imperative is to reduce the administrative burden on businesses through digitalisation.
Social dumping. The ministers also spoke with Enrico Letta on Monday 7 July about the “dark side” of labour mobility, said the Dane after the meeting. One of the topics discussed was the European social identity card project, which is being tested in Denmark and which would help to combat posting fraud. This “card identifies who you are and who you work for, and can be consulted throughout the subcontracting chain. I also believe in it at European level”, said Ms Halsboe-Jørgensen.
A visit to Siemens Gamesa was also an opportunity to find out more about the Danish model. “These companies have shown us what social dialogue can look like; a company that has both good working conditions and fair wages, while being highly competitive, and which demonstrates that these two aspects can work together”.
The meeting also focused in part on labour from third countries, in particular on how to ensure that foreign workers are hired under good conditions and in compliance with the collective agreements in force. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)