On Monday 1 December, the ministers for employment and social affairs of the EU and their representatives held a delicate debate on legislative simplification in the field of employment and social affairs and the competitiveness of the EU.
Invited by the Danish Presidency of the EU Council to give their views on potential future new legislative initiatives or on the possible simplification of certain existing rules, many delegations supported the soundness of the approach, while the Commission has promised to reduce the administrative burden on small and medium-sized enterprises by 25% and 35% by the end of its mandate in 2029.
However, a number of countries have also called for caution and urged “not to sacrifice workers’ rights”, as Commission Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu summed up. Slovenia and Spain particularly insisted on preserving the European social acquis and rejecting any disguised deregulation.
The Spanish minister, Yolanda Díaz, expressed her concern about this debate and the fact that “we are giving up on regulating decisive issues that affect us all. We must move forward, not backward”, she said, deeming it unthinkable “to perceive social rights as an administrative burden”.
In particular, the minister expressed concern at the EU’s reluctance to regulate algorithmic work management, while Finland also warned on Monday that legislation must “not be a brake on innovation”.
For the Danish Minister of Employment, Kaare Dybvad Bek, there is in any case an “urgent” need to simplify legislation in order to safeguard both jobs and the EU’s competitiveness. It is important to avoid “a European overload” and to identify “the problems”, he said, aware that this work is particularly sensitive in the area of Employment or social affairs legislation.
The minister was followed by a significant number of delegations who all agreed on calling for prior impact studies and an analysis of the added value of any future legislative initiative.
For the Czech Republic in particular, it is essential “not to burden” companies and “to look at everything we already have” before proposing new texts, stressed Martina Štěpánková.
With regard to any future initiative, Sweden also wants to “stick to minimum levels of detail, and not add administrative costs and new burdens through new legislation”, added Johan Britz. It is also important to respect the considerable room for manoeuvre of the social partners. For Belgium and Minister David Clarinval, an agreement between the social partners is often “preferable to legislation”.
The Netherlands is concerned as well about the EU’s competitiveness, but also wants to defend the social acquis. Any new European instrument will in any case have to be the subject of an impact study on all the players concerned and all the stakeholders, said Minister Mariëlle Paul. It will be necessary to assess the “practical feasibility” of any measures and find the right balance between reducing the administrative burden and safeguarding workers’ rights.
The minister also gave examples of legislation that was good in principle, but had proved complex to implement, such as the directives on “equal pay” or “asbestos”. With regard to the e-declaration for posting of workers, the minister said as well that she supported the initial objectives, but that they could only have a real impact if as many Member States as possible also participated in this tool.
The Vice-President, whose services published an initial exercise on the facilitation of certain legislation in October, detailed a number of forthcoming initiatives, such as the future ESSPASS, the European Social Security Pass, which will facilitate the mobility of workers and the exchange of information of a social nature.
The future package on fair mobility, expected in mid-2026, will also simplify certain arrangements, but the core of social rights “is not negotiable”, she also warned.
Link to the Commission’s report: https://aeur.eu/f/jrr (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)