On Monday 1 December, the Ministers and Representatives of the Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs of the Member States approved two draft general approaches, on the sixth revision of the Directive on carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances at work (see EUROPE 13755/40) and on the new arrangements for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).
But the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU has not managed to convince Budapest to change its position on the conclusions of the Council of the EU on the future European plan for affordable housing.
According to the Danish Minister for Housing, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, “many regions in Europe are experiencing a housing crisis, and our citizens are demanding concrete measures”. And “even if it was not possible to adopt them as EU Council conclusions, this is an important step”.
“A European plan for affordable housing must support the Member States and respect the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity, as well as the different models of affordable housing. The conclusions are very clear on this subject”.
While Budapest reiterated that the EU has no business formulating a message on this strictly national matter, the other countries had no difficulty in supporting the Presidency’s text, which calls on the Commission to tackle the problems of over-tourism, facilitate authorisation procedures for building and renovation permits, promote social inclusion and revise the rules on State aid to boost investment.
However, some of the countries supporting the text, such as France, have expressed concerns about the revision of State aid rules and the possible negative impact on social housing operators and the way they are financed (see EUROPE 13758/15). Paris believes that urban planning procedures should remain a local and national responsibility.
The European Commission will present its plan on 16 December.
Link to the Danish text: https://aeur.eu/f/js1
EGF. The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU succeeded in obtaining broader support on the revision of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) after providing a few additional safeguards, notably to Germany, which had questions about Article 8 and wanted to insist on limiting the financial risks for member countries.
Its latest text sets out the definition of eligible workers and the procedures for applying for aid, as well as the procedures for preparing, submitting and assessing applications falling within the extended scope.
The proposed revision aims to extend EGF support to workers threatened with unemployment, whereas this type of support is currently reserved for people who have already been made redundant.
The approved text provides for earlier access to support. The EU Council’s position also guarantees “sufficient safeguards, such as the possibility for Member States to carry out ex-ante checks in relation to companies’ financial and administrative capacities. The Commission would then be required to take these checks into account when making a decision”, states a communication. Member States would also be able to allocate pre-financing to companies in instalments.
The EU Council has updated the Commission’s legislative proposal to set a ceiling of €4 million per year per company to reduce the risk of a single company exhausting the Fund’s resources.
Porto Social Forum. The Ministers also returned to the results of the Porto Social Forum, which was the subject of conclusions by the Portuguese government (see EUROPE 13713/10). 20 Member States were able to support the messages conveyed by Porto (Greece, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). But Spain did not follow them, as it did not consider the message to be sufficiently ambitious for a social Europe. Slovenia also regretted that the last Forum did not result in a formal Declaration.
The European industrial policy “must champion quality jobs across all sectors and regions and strengthen the global competitiveness of EU industry. Addressing poverty and inequalities is crucial for strengthening competitiveness and social cohesion”, the text stresses.
“Jobs need to provide fair pay, safe and healthy working conditions, including in relation to mental health, workplace wellbeing and work-life balance, equal opportunities, effective social protection with access to life-long training, and access to collective bargaining in line with national practices”.
The text also mentions the need to strengthen skills, as well as the fight against poverty and social exclusion and the fight against the “structural drivers of the housing unaffordability crisis”.
Link to the EGF agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/jrv
Link to the agreement on the CMRD Directive: https://aeur.eu/f/jrw
Link to Porto’s conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/jrt (Original view in French by Solenn Paulic)