IR Notes

Anyone who doubts the benefit of going out to vote in the European elections in May should, on hearing about the adoption of the directive to protect whistle-blowers, be convinced of the importance of the role played by the EU’s one and only democratic institution. In fact the current Parliament has been twisting the arms of Member States to persuade them to allow the Commission to prepare a directive to protect whistle-blowers, in return for scrutinising the Trade Secrets Directive, which was supported by governments. Parliament flexed its muscles further during the negotiations with the Council, which represents the interests of Member States, to ensure that they dropped a provision that would have removed the substance from the protection provided for whistle-blowers. Five countries, including Germany and France, wanted to force whistle-blowers, in the first instance, to initiate an internal reporting process within their organisation before being allowed to refer the matter to an external authority or to alert the public directly, if a solution could not be found internally. In other words, the aim was to protect companies’ trade secrets, by allowing them to wash their dirty linen in private. By mobilising support, MEPs, led by rapporteur Virginie Rozière (S&D), managed to introduce divisions within this group of five, and in the end the text was adopted, on 11 March, and formally approved by the Council on 15 March. It is due to come before Parliament in April, before being published in the OJEU, and subsequently adopted by States into their domestic law within two years (see press release issued by the Council, and by Parliament). In particular, the new directive provides for: 1° The introduction, by all private sector companies with at least 50 employees and public sector organisations, of internal channels and procedures for whistleblowing and monitoring any alerts raised. 2° Whistleblowers who enjoy protection against retaliation are those who firstly have reasonable grounds for believing that the information reported was true at the time the alert was raised and that this information comes within the directive’s scope of application. Secondly, protection is granted to whistleblowers who have raised an internal and/or external alert, or have reported their concerns externally or made a public disclosure directly, even though the directive enables States to encourage people to use the internal procedure. 3° Protection is granted to a wide range of workers, from civil servants through to shareholders, managers and trainees. These whistleblowers may be people who disclose information acquired within the framework of an employment relationship that has come to an end or has not yet begun, i.e. where the information on an offence was obtained during the recruitment process. 4° Protection is provided against a long list of potential forms of retaliation, ranging from dismissal through to negative performance assessments, via transfers or intimidation. The employers’ organisation BusinessEurope wanted internal reporting of concerns to be the first principal rule (see Position paper). The European Trade Union Confederation declared that it “gives a cautious welcome to” this directive (see press release). The text was welcomed by the European Public Service union (EPSU) (see press release).

A practical guide to European Works Councils : the European Commission has established a group of experts to help it draft a practical guide to how EWCs work. The aim is to foster the creation of new European Works Councils, boost the efficiency of existing councils and spread good practice. This guide is expected to be published in 2020, accompanied by a communication from the Commission and a 7 million euro credit line to finance actions intended to enhance the functioning of EWCs. The experts’ group is comprised of 20 members, 10 of whom are appointed by employers’ organisations (BusinessEurope, CEEP) and 10 by the European Trade Union Confederation. It is due to meet six times in 2019, with the first meeting being scheduled for 1 April. However, some European trade-union federations believe that this initiative is not tough enough, and will not stamp out bad practice. The problems of the ongoing existence of so-called “Article 13” exemption agreements, which are far removed from the directive’s requirements, and of the ineffectiveness of the sanctions applicable where the right to receive information and to consultation is breached, will not be resolved by a practical and non-binding guide, however innovative it is.

• Tripartite Summit and Employment & Social Affairs Council: On 15 March, Member States’ representatives held an Employment and Social Affairs Council meeting, which was devoted primarily to the European Semester (see Council press release and main results). It was preceded by a Tripartite Social Summit (see press releases issued by the Commission, the Council and the reactions of ETUC).

• Cross-border mobility of companies: On 13 March, Parliament and the Council concluded an agreement on new rules to make it easier for companies to merge, divide or move within the Single Market. This text includes “safeguards for employees (…)”, explains the Commission, “which ensure that these operations cannot be misused for fraudulent or abusive purposes” (see press release). The agreement has yet to be officially approved by Parliament and the Council.


• Coordination of social security systems: On 19 March, the Council, Parliament and the Commission reached agreement on revision of the regulations governing coordination of social security systems (see press release issued by the Commission and by Parliament). The changes made include provisions intended to prevent fraud linked to the posting of workers (only employees who have been insured for at least three months in their country of origin are eligible to be posted to another Member State) and more flexible rules for job seekers. For example, the job seeker’s allowance can be now paid for six months to people seeking a job in another Member State, instead of three as at present. The agreement has yet to be officially approved by Parliament and the Council.

• Towards a referendum on retirement : The country’s three main trade unions are gathering signatures with a view to launching an initiative to secure a referendum on pension reforms. To achieve their goal, they will have to gather the signatures of 10% of the electorate, i.e. almost 370,000 people. The aim is to dispute the reforms adopted in December, which will raise the retirement age from 65 to 67, and reduce the value of early retirement pensions. The initiative, which is supported by the trade unions, proposes that a person paying social security contributions should be entitled to receive a pension once they reach the age of 65 and have contributed for 15 years. It would also be possible to retire at the age of 60 after paying into the system for 35 years. The penalty applicable for early retirement would also be reduced and the equalisation of retirement ages for men and women would be postponed.

• Whistle-blowers : The law protecting whistle-blowers, which was adopted in 2017, came into force on 1 January.  This law, which is the first one in this field, makes it easier to expose corrupt practices in the workplace. Since the start of the year, 14 alerts have been raised and five people have been granted whistle-blower status. The law has been criticised by international sources for providing for the possibility of paying whistle-blowers for information.

Complaint to the Commission concerning the posting of workers : On 1 February, the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) filed a complaint with the European Commission against Slovenia for granting illegal State aid to its companies when they post workers abroad. This is the first time that a European trade-union federation has cited illegal State aid (which was used by the Commission in the field of taxation to force Apple to reimburse the “aid” granted by Ireland) as grounds for denouncing States that either close their eyes to or encourage abusive posting practices. This initiative is likely to be emulated by others, according to Susanne Wixforth, of the Europe and International department of the German trade union confederation DGB. According to the FETBB, Slovenian companies engaged in posting workers are benefiting from substantial reductions in social security contributions, thus enabling them to offer their services abroad at more advantageous prices than they can in their own country. It is claimed that this benefit amounts to approximately 500 euros per worker per month, depending on the destination country concerned.
> For further details: Briefing note prepared by the FETBB.

Brexit : By means of an amendment dated 15 March to its European Works Council agreement, the management of the Belgian chemicals group Solvay and its EWC agreed to maintain the two seats held by British employee representatives on the council, with the same rights as other members. Furthermore, if the United Kingdom leaves the EU, this country will continue to be covered by the agreement, and the EWC will remain competent to deal with all transnational questions linked to the UK.

• Train drivers: With the agreement of management, the European Works Council of the French railway group SNCF has set up a working party on train drivers, to examine their working conditions in Europe, their initial training, the skills required and their career structure.


• European elections: On 7 March, the European Works Council of the German car parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen (146,000 employees) passed a resolution inviting all employees to take part in the elections to the European Parliament in May 2019, and to vote for candidates who are committed to upholding a social, just and democratic Europe.

> To find out more: We have posted on the IR Share website, the Agreement on the future of work signed on 6 March at Unilever (see IR Notes 115, Lead story) and Honda’s European Works Council Agreement (in its latest version, revised in 2017).

In this section, our aim is not to influence your vote in the forthcoming European elections, but to inform you of initiatives seeking to open up a debate on the future of the European Union or to put forward proposals here and now.

> In this edition, we are highlighting the initiatives taken by the European social partners. At cross-industry level, in a joint declaration, they (ETUC, Businesseurope, and CEEP) have urged citizens to go out and vote in the European elections in May, in order to have a say “on the future and to defend democracy, sustainable economic growth and social justice”. In February, the European Trade Union Confederation presented, in all EU languages, its programme for the 2019 European elections setting out “the basis of a new social contract”. This step is also being taken by European trade-union federations, such as IndustriAll Europe, which published its manifesto for the European elections, and by employers’ organisations, such as the European Construction Industry Federation (Fiec), which has published a manifesto for the forthcoming electoral term.