The European Parliament is ready to negotiate with the Member States on the posted workers directive.
The European Parliament has decided to start negotiations with member state governments on the posted workers directive, after on Monday the EU labour ministers reached an agreement on revising this piece of legislation. Talks may start in November, but the process is not likely to be easy. "Things are moving in the right direction, but the devil is in the details," noted Elisabeth Morin-Chartier and Agnes Jongerius, the two EU Parliament's rapporteurs on the file.
A posted worker is an employee temporarily tasked by their employer to provide services in another EU member state. In 2015 there were nearly 2 million seconded workers, particularly in sectors like constructions, education, healthcare, social services and business services. Under the 1996 Directive, companies could send their employees to work abroad for a specific period, and pay the same social contribution amounts as they did in their home countries. The eastward enlargement of the Union has enabled companies in the region to take massive advantage of these rules.
The reform of posting regulations is aimed at better protecting workers from salary and social dumping. To this end, the member states agreed on Monday, postings should be limited to 12 months, with 6-month extensions permitted in exceptional cases only. The road transport sector is the only one exempt from the new provisions until a new law is endorsed specifically for this sector.
The labour ministers of Poland and Hungary have voted against the deal, and so have Latvia and Lithuania, while Britain, Ireland and Croatia abstained. Romania, which has a lot of workers posted abroad, has voted in favour of the proposed reform. According to many commentators, it was just a matter of time until the strong western economies moved against what they see as a trick helping some employers to exploit the workforce from the former communist bloc. More specifically, some companies hire workers from the eastern EU member countries, pay them the minimum wages valid in their home country, throw in something extra to cover the expenses abroad, and post them.
Other commentators, however, see the recent decision of the EU labour ministers as a battle that Romania stands to lose from. They claim Romania's position on the matter is in fact a compromise with France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, is the one who insisted that current rules should be changed. In fact, many French and other western workers often complain that easterners take their jobs away, and several West-European leaders want posted workers to be paid the same salaries as the local employees.
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