Brussels, 05/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of their meeting of 4 October in Luxembourg, Employment and Social Policy Ministers of the enlarged EU held a policy debate on the directive on working conditions for temporary workers. Noting that opinions differed greatly on this issue, which has remained a dead letter since Greek Presidency, Council President Aart Jan De Geus felt a great deal of effort must still be made to present a compromise acceptable to all during the December Council. In his view, it will be necessary to show proof of creativity, above all taking into account the link established by the Parliament between this file and the recent Working Time proposal.
We recall that the main objective of the directive on temporary workers is to ensure temporary workers have equal rights and a salary equal to comparable workers in the user enterprise. This principle must apply as soon as the temporary worker has completed six weeks of work in the user company. The last ministerial debate on this issue dates back to the Council of 6 June 2003, when no political agreement had been reached because of divergence over the eligibility period, or the grace period (i.e. the amount of time the temporary workers must wait before being able to receive the same salary as counterparts from the user enterprise). A blocking minority appeared: the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland and Germany hoped for a 12-month grace period, contrary to other countries which preferred a shorter period. The Greek Presidency had proposed a compromise on an intermediary period between zero and six months, but this had been rejected (see EUROPE of 4 June 2003).
"We have sought to see whether the new composition of the EU had made any changes" between the different Member States' positions. "All in all, there were not so many", Aart Jan De Geus noted. The fronts have not moved very much. With fifteen members, there was quite large support to the directive and now several new Member States share the objections of some among the Fifteen to the proposal by the Greek Presidency of the time, Aart Jan De Geus answered in response to questions put by the press. In his view, this shows the need to move forward on this issue and on that regarding working time, as the European Parliament requests.
Other Council results
Ministers, moreover, held a first exchange of views on the recent Commission proposal with a view to reviewing the directive on working time (see EUROPE of 23 September, pp 7/8). They felt the Commission proposal was "good" and Council President Aart Jan De Geus trusts a political agreement will be reached at the Employment/Social Affairs Council in December. Ministers approved the opinion of the Committee on Social Protection on long-term healthcare and approved the renewal, with some amendments, of the statutes of the European Agencies in Bilbao and Dublin.