Apply existing labour laws before suggesting new ones, Commission says

450 respondents, ranging from EU institutions and national governments to individual citiznes, have replied to the Commission’s consultation on labour law in Europe. Based on their responses, the Commission suggests that existing law should first be fully applied before new provisions can be discussed.

From the responses, the Commission concluded that many stakeholders have a key interest in the consequent application of existing labour and the conclusion of EU discussions on matters such as working time and temporary agency workers. 

Based on the outcome of the consultation, the Commission sets out a number of matters where it thinks that more discussion, cooperation and clarity, as well as better information and analysis are needed: 

• The prevention and combating of undeclared work, especially in cross-border situations;
• the promotion, development and implementation of training and life-long learning to ensure greater employment security over the life cycle;
• the interaction between labour law and social protection rules in support of effective employment transitions and sustainable social protection systems;
• the clarification of the nature of the employment relationship to promote greater understanding and facilitate cooperation across the EU, and;
• the clarification of the rights and obligations of the parties involved in sub-contracting chains, to avoid depriving workers of their ability to make effective use of their rights. 

The Commission paper lacks any mention of new labour legislation, a fact for which UK Conservatives praised themselves. MEP Philip Bushill-Matthews told the plenary of the European Parliament: “The Commission response today confirms not just that the Parliament is listening to the Conservatives, but that our reform policies are directly influencing Commission President Barroso.”

However, any reference to new labour legislation was already deleted in the process of drafting the Green Paper for the consultation last autumn (see EURACTIV, 22 November 2006), mainly due to pressure from Eurobusiness, the EU-level employers’ federation. Consequently, Commission services warn in the communication: “The public debate on the modernisation of labour law was not expected to pave the way to an easy consensus or to provide the basis for a blueprint for legislative action.” 

When he presented the paper in Brussels on 24 October, Employment Commissioner Vladimír Špidla added: “The consultation has shown that many stakeholders want to see current chapters of reform successfully completed before moving on to new areas.”

On 12 – 13 December 2007, EU employment ministers will adopt a set of common principles on flexicurity, which will be inspired by the Commission communication carrying the same title and which are closely linked to the question of labour law in Europe. 

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