Member States were divided on Monday 9 March over the need for a new EU initiative to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, at a debate convened by the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU on how AI can help improve job quality and workers’ rights.
The EU27 ministers for social affairs and employment and their representatives were invited to provide their thoughts on the modalities of the ‘European Semester’ fiscal process and how it can better support reforms “that reduce frictions on the labour market and improve the match between supply and demand, in the context of transformations brought about by AI”.
While the Cyprus Presidency insists that AI can only be a tool for employers to improve employee well-being and thus boost productivity, it commissioned a study from a researcher to back up its claim.
Unsurprisingly, Christopher Pissarides’ study confirmed that the element of personal satisfaction is important in defining the quality of work. It is also important to involve employees and workers in all discussions on the use of AI and to provide training.
These are lessons that European Commission Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu has taken on board at a time when AI is resembling a “tsunami” on the labour market, also causing cognitive fatigue, but also reinforcing the feeling of enhanced surveillance among workers.
The vice-president, who will present legislation on quality jobs by the end of 2026, has promised to find the “right balance” in any future initiative, by supporting algorithmic management of work while strengthening confidence in the tool.
While a number of ministers have endorsed this direction, such as Austria’s Korinna Schumann, who welcomed the forthcoming European framework, and the representative of the Netherlands, who also praised the country’s advanced practice of social dialogue to manage AI issues in the workplace, Belgium, Sweden and Estonia have clearly come out against any new initiative that is not solidly justified and runs counter to regulatory simplification exercises.
The Belgian minister, David Clarinval, expressed his preference for the current international framework of the ILO (International Labour Organization) “rather than a proliferation of European legislation”.
For Sweden, there needs to be more focus on the existing rules. “Any new legislation will have to have a very clear added value” and be subject to an impact assessment. A new initiative will also need to be sufficiently flexible to suit different national systems.
For Estonia, the Commission should first analyse the Platform Work Directive and its effect before proposing anything new.
Germany’s Secretary of State, Michael Schäfer, pointed out that the current regulation on AI has already established frameworks, notably with clauses on employment.
On Monday, he also recalled the initiative launched a few days ago with Rome to set up a network to analyse the impact of AI on the labour market, already mentioned by France in 2025 at a major international summit on AI.
Representatives of the Italian government, the Commission, the French and German governments, as well as the European Parliament, met on 3 March “to discuss the transformations brought about by artificial intelligence in the workplace and the governance tools needed to guarantee the development, protection and inclusion of individuals”.
On Monday 9 March, the ministers also emphasised the useful role of AI in helping to find jobs and match them with skills searches, as well as in redirecting workers towards retraining.
Spain’s minister, Yolanda Diaz, for example, highlighted the great asset that AI represents for employment services and for helping “workers to have fewer repetitive tasks”, which will increase productivity while working less, as well as well-being.
AI should strengthen jobs. “Europe must ensure that artificial intelligence strengthens jobs, productivity, and public services rather than undermining workers and the European social model”, also declared the representatives of the European trade unions on 9 March, at the macroeconomic dialogue convened on the same day by the Cyprus Presidency.
The European Trade Union Confederation also wants “legislation, as part of the Quality Jobs Act that ensures AI is introduced in workplaces in a way that respects workers’ rights and is based on the human in control principle”.
Also on 9 March, the ministers adopted a recommendation on strengthening human capital.
Link to the ‘Pissarides’ review: https://aeur.eu/f/l3g
Link to the recommendation on human capital: https://aeur.eu/f/l2x (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)