Luxembourg, 09/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 9 June under the chairmanship of Slovenian Minister for Labour Marjeta Cotman, EU ministers for employment and social affairs adopted conclusions relating to improvements in administrative cooperation in the context of the posting of workers in the context of service provision. They above all called on: (1) member states to: - assess the various possibilities of technical support appropriate for the exchange of information, including an electronic information exchange system, while taking into account the cost-effectiveness ratio, reduction targets or obligations on personal data protection; - take adequate measures to improve the practical accessibility and transparency of information concerning employment conditions that should be applied both for foreign service providers and for posted workers; and (2) the Commission to institutionalise the informal group on posted workers by creating an expert committee responsible among other things for supporting and helping member states to identify and exchange best practice and to share their experience as well as to promote the exchange of information and good practice.
We recall that the directive on posted workers was adopted in 1996 in the context of free service provision and took effect in December 1999 (Directive 96/71/EC). It calls for application of certain minimum conditions of work and employment in force in a member state for workers temporarily posted by their employer in the State in question. It is the result of the search for a balance between the economic freedoms embodied in the EC Treaty and workers' rights during the period of posting. The directive applies to companies that post a worker carrying out temporary work in a member state other than the State were the law governs labour relations. We recall yet again that the European Parliament had criticised the Commission, in a resolution adopted last July, regarding the difficulties of implementing provisions concerning posted workers (EUROPE 9467). (G.B./transl. jl)