Conference on the Future of Europe calls for much more social legislation
The consultation exercise launched in March 2021, seeking the views of civil society and citizens on the future of the European Union, has resulted in a final report that does not disappoint, in terms of the social ambitions set out in it.
First of all, the conference wishes to extend qualified majority voting at EU Council level. This would mean abandoning the unanimity rule that still exists (Art. 153 of the TFEU) in the following areas of social affairs: social security and social protection of workers; protection of workers where their employment contract is terminated; and representation and collective defence of the interests of workers and employers, including co-determination and conditions of employment for third-country nationals legally residing in Union territory.
Another remarkable change is that of granting the European Parliament, which is usually the most progressive of the European institutions, the right to submit a proposal for a directive. These radical transformations will require revision of the Treaties. Most actors are hoping and praying for this development, which would involve convening a Convention composed of representatives of the European institutions and of national governments and parliaments.
In addition to these institutional changes, the Conference on the Future of Europe includes a growing number of calls for social Europe to be strengthened. For example, proposal 14 calls for “Reinforcing the competences of the EU in social policies and proposing legislation to promote social policies and ensure equality of rights, including health, harmonised for the entire EU (…)”. It also calls for the creation of “a common framework for minimum incomes to ensure that nobody is left behind.” Proposal 13 on inclusive labour markets calls for measures to “ensure that social rights are fully protected and safeguarded in case of conflict with economic freedoms including via the introduction of a social progress protocol in the Treaties”.
The conference report supports existing initiatives such as the introduction of “statutory minimum wages guarantee[ing] that each worker can earn a decent and similar quality of living across all Member States” and “effective and proportionate EU legislation to ensure that decent work standards are fully applied along the global value chains”. The conference also innovates by calling for a revision of the Working Time Directive to “ensure a healthy work-life balance”.
In terms of discrimination, it encourages the recruitment of “people that are usually most subject to discrimination (e.g. youth, elders, women, minorities), including through subsidies, and, as a second step, temporary quotas”. The report also wants the Union to ensure human oversight of decision-making processes involving artificial intelligence in the workplace and transparency of the algorithms used. It calls for “negative impacts of illimited digital surveillance in the workplace” to be taken into account and for steps to be taken to ensure that “new forms of work, such as platform work, respect worker rights and provide appropriate working conditions”.
In addition to the many calls for social partners to be integrated more effectively into EU governance, and for collective bargaining to be strengthened, the report points out that “democracy is embodied in the institutions and in society at large, including in the workplace through the role of social partners”, for example “informing and consulting workers prior to the introduction of digital technologies that impact working conditions”.
The European institutions will reveal in the autumn how they plan to meet these expectations (see European Parliament press release and European Parliament infographic on the Conference on the Future of Europe).
(Article published in IR Notes 186 – 18 May 2022)
