IR Notes

Representatives of the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament are, as part of a “trilogue” or tripartite negotiating group, involved in talks with a view to adopting the directive aimed at regulating the posting of workers before the European Parliament’s mandate expires. Two meetings have already taken place based on the compromise reached by the Member States in the Council on 9 December (press release), and the climate appears constructive, with a desire to reach a successful conclusion. Nevertheless, the negotiators have not addressed the main sticking points: 1/ Article 9 of the text, which puts forward a list of measures which the Member States may adopt to combat abuses relating to posted workers. The compromise reached by the Member States allows them to add measures to this list, provided that they are proportionate – which amounts to leaving this assessment to the European Court of Justice – and notified to the Commission. Two restrictions which the Parliament’s negotiators would like to remove. 2/ Article 12, which establishes joint and several liability between the contractor and the sub-contractor to guarantee, in particular, the payment of salaries and social security contributions. The compromise limits this arrangement to direct subcontractors and to the construction industry, whereas the European Parliament wanted it extended to include all sectors and both direct and indirect subcontractors. These two points were on the agenda of the meeting scheduled for 28 January.

• Ionising radiation: Adopted by the Council on 5 December 2013, directive No. 2013/59 concerning exposure to ionising radiation has been published in the official journal (OJ 17 January 2014, No. L 13, p. 1). It lays down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation and repeals five preceding directives. In particular, it focuses on the safety standards for protecting people who are subject to exposure at work against the risks that may result from radiation of this kind. The Member States now have four years to transpose the directive into their national legislation.

• Public procurement: the Parliament has adopted at first reading two proposals for directives, concerning public procurement and the award of concession contracts respectively. Besides the criterion of “the most economically advantageous tender” these texts allow for environmental and social considerations. Both documents must now be examined by the Council.


• Road transport: On 15 January the Parliament passed a resolution, at second reading, on the Council position with a view to adopting the Regulation on tachographs in road transport.

• European Parliament: The Parliament passed a number of resolutions at its last plenary session on the following matters:
  – “Effective labour inspections as a strategy to improve working conditions in Europe“. The resolution particularly focuses on measures to combat bogus self-employment and abusive practices connected with the posting of workers.
  – “Financial participation of employees in companies’ proceeds” in favour of a “gradual convergence of existing financial participation schemes” to “enable employers in future to offer schemes in the same or a similar form in all Member States”.
  – “Social protection for all, including self-employed workers“. The MEPs are demanding an improvement in social protection for self-employed workers and sanctions for employers who hire workers who are falsely classed as self-employed.
  In addition, amid the controversy about “social tourism”, the Parliament passed a resolution on “respect for the fundamental right of free movement in the EU” which opposes European leaders who are in favour of restricting the free movement of citizens and introducing a cap on the number of EU migrants being admitted.


• Industrial policy: The European Commission on 22 January adopted a communication entitled For a European industrial renaissance geared towards strengthening the industrial competitiveness of the EU. The aim is to raise the share of manufacturing in GDP from 15% at present to 20 % between now and 2020, a target set by the Commission in 2012. The director general of BusinessEurope, Markus J. Beyrer, said: “It is positive that the pack of measures published today acknowledges the challenge of high energy prices in the EU and addresses the risk of investment leakage better.” The trade union movement has criticised the fact that this document ignores the social dimension and does not mention the anticipation of restructuring (see CES– IndustriAll press release). By contrast, the trade unions welcomed (see press release) the resolution of the European Parliament in favour of reindustrialising the European Union.


• Working time: On 23 January, the European Commission requested that Spain (see Commission Memo) respect Civil Guards’ rights to minimum rest periods and a 48-hour limit on average weekly working time, as required by the Working Time Directive (Directive 2003/88).


• Troika: A debate took place at the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament on the role of the Troika (EU-IMF-ECB) in the Member States benefiting from a programme of financial support. The weakening of collective agreements, high levels of unemployment and the violation of fundamental social rights were highlighted (see press release).

• Live performance and audiovisual: union representatives from around Europe in Brussels on 20-21 January to discuss the issue of work-life balance (see UNI Europa press release). A joint document, which will consist of common principles and recommendations for the sector in order to promote work-life balance, will be drafted as a result of the seminar.


• Railway sector: social partners of the railway sector (CER and ETF) published the outcome of the first annual review of the development of women employment in European railway companies. The results show that the average share of women working in the rail sector remains constant at around 20%. Last October, they have published a guide to identifying and preventing psychosocial risks at work in the railway sector.

• Charter of Fundamental Rights: the Court of Justice gave an interesting judgement on calculating the staff numbers to be taken into account when determining the thresholds for setting up staff representative bodies. Notably, the Court judged that Article 27 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (workers’ rights to information and consultation within the undertaking) could not, as such, be invoked in a dispute in order to disapply a national provision that is not in conformity with a directive. Thus, the lack of precision of Article 27 prevents it from having the effect to supplant a national standard to the contrary.

• Training, social dialogue and labour inspectorate: At its meeting on 22 January, the Council of Ministers passed a bill on training, employment and social democracy (links to the press pack, abstract and draft law). The text incorporates the provisions of the agreement of 14 December 2013 on the reform of the vocational training system concluded by the social partners. However, it also contains important measures on representative employers’ and trade union organisations, the funding of social dialogue and “paritarism” (management of joint bodies by the social partners), and on strengthening the powers of the labour inspectorate.


• Single database: A decree dated 27 December defines how the “single database” containing information of an economic and social nature introduced by the Employment Safeguarding Act (loi sur la sécurisation de l’emploi) of 14 June 2013 will work. The database comprises all the data due to be sent recurrently to the works council, as well as the information necessary for the works council’s annual consultation on the establishment’s strategic direction and its consequences. It will be set up progressively, by 14 June 2014 at the latest for establishments with 300 or more employees; and by 14 June 2015 at the latest for businesses having fewer than 300 employees.


• Sunday working: Following publication of the decree authorising Sunday working in DIY stores, the social partners have concluded a framework agreement which makes participation voluntary, gives a right of refusal, imposes double pay for those who work on Sundays and provides for the right to 12 Sundays off per year.

• Minimum wage in abattoirs: The social partners in the abattoir sector on 13 January signed a collective agreement establishing a minimum hourly rate of 7.75 euros for the around 80,000 workers employed in this industry, with effect from 1 July of this year. The minimum wage will subsequently be increased in three stages and has been fixed at the same level nationwide (see press releases of the NGG trade union and the ANG employers’ organisation).


• Union membership: According to the latest figures from the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), the combined membership level of its affiliated trade unions declined by 0.1% in 2012. Compared to previous years this meant that the overall consolidation continued, said an article published by Eurofound.

• Undeclared work: On 19 December 2013 the government passed a law to combat the grey economy and undeclared work (see press release of the Ministry of Labour).

• Air France KLM: The management of the Air France-KLM airline group and its European works council (EWC) on 9 December 2013 signed a framework agreement on the restructuring of its European cargo operations. This is the fourth time that the management and EWC have concluded a framework agreement on the joint rules for managing and anticipating restructuring measures. It follows on from texts adopted in March 2010 for airport ticket offices in Europe and in November 2011 concerning outstations in Europe, as well as the framework agreement of 12 June 2013 on outstations and commercial organisations in Europe.


• Coface: The management of the Coface group and its European works council on 11 June 2013 signed a new European works council agreement. Under the agreement, all countries having a small workforce (fewer than 50 employees) will be represented by two members who will be elected from among the nominated candidates of the establishments concerned. The select committee shall have the discretion to decide, should exceptional circumstances arise, “whether it should be the forum for dialogue as regards receiving information and/or being consulted and expressing an opinion”, or whether it should meet in extended form together with the members affected by the measures, or whether an extraordinary plenary session should be convened.


• Decathlon: The services federation of the CFDT (French Democratic Confederation of Labour) has sent a letter to HR management at Decathlon requesting that it set up a European works council within six months, according to a federation press release.


• Hewlett-Packard (HP): Following the failure of the negotiations to establish a new European works council and the refusal of management to continue talks for a further month, the EWC ceased to exist on 24 January, the date on which the termination by the employee representatives of the agreement creating the EWC took effect. In a letter, the CEO of HP indicated that the European management was to work on setting up a special negotiating body (SNB) from 24 January.

• Pernod Ricard: The Pernod Ricard group (19,000 employees) and the Effat trade union federation on 7 January signed a European agreement on corporate social responsibility which is to apply to all the group’s subsidiaries within the EU (more than half the global workforce). The agreement is one of the most comprehensive signed in recent years, in terms both of the topics it covers and the detail of its commitments. The company’s management states that it intends “to extend the agreement gradually to all its subsidiaries throughout the world”.

• Volkswagen: The car manufacturer has submitted a proposal to its workers at the Bratislava site in Slovakia to reduce their working hours and accept a decrease in salary of 4% , according to a report in the Hospodárske Noviny daily newspaper quoted by the Slovak Spectator (21 January). The reason is to allow production to be modernised.

• Labour relations in central and eastern Europe: The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has published its annual reviews conducted as part of a regional project entitled “Labour relations and social dialogue in central eastern Europe“. The reviews cover Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the three Baltic states.


• EU social audit: The European Commission on 21 January presented its report on employment and social developments in Europe 2013 which highlighted a significant rise in poverty among those of working age. The Commission states that “even if unemployment is gradually reduced, this may not be enough to reverse the trend”.


• Strike statistics: The European Trade Union Institute (Etui) has produced an interactive map (infographic) of statistics relating to strikes in the countries of the European Union.


• Law applicable to social security: The European Commission has published a practical guide to the “habitual residence test” to help Member States apply correctly the EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens who have moved to another Member State.

As in a large number of countries, social dialogue exists at a European level in a significant number of business sectors and is formally incorporated in European social dialogue committees. There are currently 43 such committees, covering sectors as widely varied as the chemical and metal-working industries, agriculture, professional football, ports and the graphics industry. In each of these sectors, European trade union federations hold discussions with employers’ organisations to arrive at various forms of instrument, ranging from the most flexible (joint declarations, good practice guides, joint seminars, etc.) to the most stringent, such as European collective agreements. The documents adopted are available on a European Commission database. For further details, please refer to the European Industrial Relations Dictionary.