IR Notes

This marks a sad end to the European Commission’s term. It was already well known that during its final year in office, the Commission struggles to make progress with important draft legislation, but this time, the laws due to be finalised before its term of office comes to an end are simply being torpedoed, one by one, by Member States. The CSRD directive requiring companies to publish sustainable development reports just about scraped through, following a few last-minute adaptations (see IR Notes 217). However, the proposal for a directive aimed at protecting platform workers will be denied this opportunity. Following the Council’s rejection, on 22 December last year, of the compromise reached with the European Parliament, a new text was proposed on 8 February. This version no longer permitted a presumption of salaried employment, harmonised at EU level, to be defined on the basis of criteria. Each Member State would then have had to establish, at domestic level, its own refutable legal presumption of employment. Despite its less prescriptive approach, this compromise was once again rejected by Member States, on 16 February, with Germany, Estonia and Greece abstaining, while France voted against. Even though 23 countries, representing more than 63% of the EU’s population, voted in favour, this law is going to be abandoned after more than two years of legislative proceedings, leaving the fate of millions of platform workers in the hands of national courts. It is they who will have to rule on whether or not these workers have employed status, when cases go to court. As a consequence, some workers will continue to be subjected to modern slavery in our magnificent “highly competitive social market economy, which aims at full employment and social progress” (EU Treaty, Article 3).
And this sorry spectacle continues with the proposal for a due diligence directive. Despite passing smoothly through the Council and Parliament, and a large majority of MEPs (including EPP members) voting for it, the Council’s vote on the compromise text (see IR Notes 221) has twice been postponed by the Belgian presidency of the EU, which feared that it would not be able to secure a majority. On the third occasion, on 16 February, it was adjourned without a date, giving the presidency more time to secure a majority, though this is looking increasingly uncertain. All of the national employers’ organisations are resolutely opposed to this text and one by one, they are publishing press releases calling for the mechanism to be reviewed. This however would be impracticable and dangerous for EU competitiveness.

European Works Council Directive : On 13 February, MEP Dennis Radtke (EPP) presented a report to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on the proposal for a directive recently put forward by the European Commission, on 24 January, with a view to strengthening some aspects of this by means of amendments (see IR Notes 222). The aim appears to be to ensure that the report, which sets out Parliament’s position, is adopted by the end of the European Parliament’s current term. The report introduces into the definition of transnationality, a scenario where the effects of a measure occur in a country other than that in which the decision has been taken; supplements the definition of consultation; emphasises that the expert commissioned by the EWC or SNB can be a representative of a European trade-union federation; reduces from three years to 18 months the length of the negotiation allowed for setting up a EWC; introduces the right to take legal action applying for the suspension of a decision; reintroduces Parliament’s initial proposal to bring the scale of the sanctions applicable to breaches of the right to be informed and consulted, into line with those provided for by the GDPR regulation; requires the company’s management to pay the legal costs incurred by the EWC; and stipulates that the directive’s new provisions shall apply to all existing opt-out agreements.

Violence against women : On 6 February, the Council and the European Parliament reached agreement on the proposal for a directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence. The compromise was adopted on 15 February by Parliamentary committees and has yet to be formally approved by both institutions (see press release). The European trade-union federation EPSU has expressed its regret that the text does not deal with violence against women in the workplace (see press release) and announced that it will enter into negotiations on 19 March this year, with a view to revising the multisectoral guidelines on third-party violence and harassment at work, which were adopted in 2010.

Sustainability : As expected, on 7 February, (see IR Notes 217), the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a proposal for a directive as regards the time limits for the adoption of sustainability reporting standards (ESRS) for certain sectors and for certain third-country undertakings, amending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) 2013/34/EU (see final compromise text, dated 14 February). The aim is to give companies more time to prepare for the new standards that will be adopted in June 2026, two years later than the originally scheduled date (see press release).

Traineeships : At a time when the Commission is due to unveil a revision of the “European Quality Framework for Traineeships” adopted in 2014, the EU Court of Auditors has published a document analysing EU actions addressing traineeships for young people, which deplores the absence of available statistics on traineeships and inconsistencies in application of the European framework. It also calls for a single definition of what a traineeship actually entails (see press release).

Private security : On 20 February, European social partners in the private security industry signed a joint declaration entitled Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination in the European Private Security Services, and containing examples of strategies to be implemented within companies. The text emphasises that the workforce should reflect the society it is serving in different  aspects (gender, ethnicity, demographics).

Decline in trade-union membership halted : The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has published figures showing an increase in the number of employees belonging to a trade union. This number rose from 5,643,786 members in 2022 to 5,665,671 in 2023, i.e. by almost 22,000, though it is still a long way off the 6 million membership figure seen in 2016. Nevertheless, the fall in union membership appears to have been halted. There are several explanations for this: successful rounds of collective bargaining managing to protect purchasing power; labour shortages prompting employees not to be afraid of joining a trade union; and an influx of young people. The latter trend is also particularly apparent at the service industries trade union ver.di, where 50,500 of its 193,000 new members are aged under 28. Young people now account for 6.5% of its total membership (see press release). This trend may indicate that the federation is reaping the benefit of its cooperation over the past two years with Fridays for Future environmental activists.

Musculoskeletal disorders : On 12 January, meeting on the High Council for Prevention and Protection in the Workplace, the social partners delivered a favourable opinion regarding a draft royal decree on prevention of musculoskeletal disorders at work. Once it enters into force, this decree will require employers to undertake musculoskeletal risk analysis, based on a non-exhaustive list of 6 biomechanical risk factors: exerting excessive force when carrying out certain strenuous tasks; frequent repetitive movements; length of time spent on a task; working postures; particular work-related movements; and contact force. The employer is then due to adopt preventive measures, which will be evaluated at regular intervals. The CSC trade-union confederation points out that this “new law makes Belgium the first country in Europe to have specific legislation dealing with this major problem” (see press release).

Burn-out : The federal government has approved the proposal to extend the support mechanism provided for all hospital and banking sector employees facing burn-out, to all employees. The Federal Occupational Risk Agency (Fedris) has been granted a budget of 6 million euros to implement this measure. The mechanism is available to workers exhibiting the first signs of burn-out, and is viewed as a success (see evaluation report). These workers are able to follow a personalised (organisational and individual) support programme, which is designed to prevent their symptoms getting worse. Taking part in this programme is confidential and completely free (see Ministry press release).

Recording working hours : On 23 January, drawing the conclusions of the Deutsche Bank judgment handed down by the EU Court of Justice in 2019, on the obligation to record working hours (see IR Notes 120), Parliament passed a law amending the legislation on working hours. From 1 July onwards, employers must have an objective, reliable and accessible system for recording the daily number of hours worked by every employee, in order to guarantee compliance with the rules applicable to daily and weekly rest periods, and to the maximum length of the working week. The law also introduces an opt-out mechanism, as provided for by Directive 2003/88/EC of 4 November 2003 (the Working Time Directive), whereby an employee and their employer can enter into an individual agreement, if permitted by a branch-level agreement, allowing this employee to work more than 48 hours per week on average (see government press release).

Green collective bargaining : On 13 February, the Council of Ministers decided to present the draft law on sustainable mobility to Parliament for adoption as a matter of urgency (see press release and summary published by the Council of Ministers, photo). If the law is passed, “green collective bargaining” will be incorporated into the Spanish legal system for the first time. Within a period of 24 months after the law comes into force, companies, including those in the public sector, will be required to have sustainable mobility plans for workplaces with more than 500 employees (or 250 employees per shift). The draft stipulates that these plans are to be negotiated with workers’ representatives or, failing this, with a committee made up of the sector’s most representative trade unions. They would include specific sustainable mobility measures such as, for example, promoting active mobility, collective transport, zero emission mobility, shared and collaborative mobility solutions, or telework where possible.  Article 85.1 of the Workers’ Statute would be amended to include, in the mandatory content of collective labour agreements, an obligation to negotiate measures promoting the preparation of sustainable mobility plans (see Ministry of Employment press release).

Conditions of employment : On 6 February, the government passed a draft law transposing Directive EU 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions (s. Transparent and predictable working conditions). The text requires the employer to obtain the employee’s consent for any change from full-time to part-time working and vice versa, and for an increase or reduction in hours in the case of part-time working. The company will not be allowed to impose any changes unilaterally. Employees can now also work for several employers: companies will not be entitled to prevent their employees from providing services to other companies, or limit their right to do so, or apply any unfavourable treatment to them, other than in very specific circumstances (confidentiality, health and safety, preventing conflicts of interest) (see Council of Ministers press release, photo: Yolanda Diaz).

A new EWC : The French group Sulo, which is specialised in waste recycling and sorting solutions (2,200 employees, €550 million turnover), has established a EWC, by means of an agreement signed on 7 December 2023. Almost one half of the group’s workforce is in France (1,027 employees and 5 EWC representatives) but it also has establishments in Germany (272 employees, 2 representatives), Sweden (202 employees, 1 representative), Spain (196 employees, 1 representative) and Belgium (158 employees, 1 representative). Five other countries are also represented on the council, which will hold one plenary meeting a year. It is consulted where exceptional circumstances arise (affecting at least two countries and at least 30% of the workforce in each of them), in the event of the business being sold off or undergoing a demerger, a merger by acquisition, etc. It will also be consulted once every three years on the group’s strategic orientations and on the group’s strategic plan if this changes; and once a year on its CSR policy.

Health and Safety : On 14 February, the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) took part in a health and safety audit at the Holcim plant at Carboneras (Spain). The federation points out that several years ago, the company’s European Works Council set up a health and safety committee, which undertakes 4 site visits per year. EFBWW Secretary General Tom Deleu says: “this is a good example of how EWCs can have a direct impact on workers and improve the health and safety situation within a multinational company. We need more occupational health and safety committees on all of the EWCs we cover. This is a priority for the EFBWW”.

Restructuring : On 19 February, the management of the car parts manufacturer Forvia announced a reorganisation plan “that is intended to be rolled out over the next five years to reinforce the competitiveness and agility of [the group’s] operations in Europe” and will lead to the loss of 10,000 jobs (from a total workforce of 75,500 at the end of 2023). The group informed its European Works Council bureau of this plan the very same day. It explains that it needs to adapt its production and R&D activities in response to the new European environment by developing generative AI, which should enable it to achieve “up to 50% efficiency gains on R&D and core teams” (see press release).

Steelmaking : On 8 February, the IndustriAll Europe trade-union federation held crisis talks with the European Commission’s Vice-President Margrethe Vestager on the steelmaking group GFG Alliance/Liberty Steel (see press release). Its current alarming financial situation puts thousands of jobs at risk and jeopardises the EU’s steelmaking capacity (see joint statement issued by IndustriAll Europe and IndustriAll Global Union). The Commission promised to organise a high-level crisis meeting on the future of European steel production, under pressure from IndustriAll Europe, which is calling for a “real Steel Action Plan to keep sustainable steel production with quality jobs in Europe” (see press release).

Cancer risks : The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has undertaken a vast Workers’ Exposure Survey (WES) on cancer risk factors in Europe involving more than 24,000 workers in six EU Member States: Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Hungary and Finland. In total, just over 47% of these workers were exposed, during their previous working week, to at least one risk factor from among the 24 listed in the survey (which does not include night-time working).  25.8% of workers are exposed to several factors. The main risks are exposure to: UV solar radiation (20.8%); diesel engine exhaust emissions (19%); benzene (13%); respirable crystalline silica (8.4%) and formaldehyde (6.4%). These results are important in the context of the future amendment proposals to the carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances at work directive (s. Carcinogens directive revision).