Meeting of Directors General for Industrial Relations

Transcription

1 Summary Minutes Meeting of Directors General for Industrial Relations 25 November 2016 Hotel Meridien Valletta, MALTA 1. INTRODUCTION AND ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA. Mr Stefan OLSSON (Chair, Director for Employment, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) opened the meeting and welcomed all participants. The Draft Agenda was adopted without any changes. 2. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DIRECTORS GENERAL HELD ON 20 MAY 2016 IN BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA. No comments were made regarding the draft summary minutes of the last meeting held on 20 May 2016 in Bratislava. The summary minutes were therefore adopted. 3. PRESENTATION OF THE MALTESE PRESIDENCY'S PRIORITIES IN THE SOCIAL AFFAIRS FIELD. Ms Alexandra GATT (Director for Industrial and Employment Relations at Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties) gave an overview of the four broad priorities of the forthcoming Maltese presidency in the field of employment and social affairs: Making Work Pay; Protection of workers; Promotion of Equal Treatment and Equal Opportunities; and Labour Mobility. Ms GATT proceeded to announce the important events and dates of the Presidency, in particular the EPSCO Council Informal Meeting on 3-4 April 2017 with the established theme of "Making Work Pay", and informal EMCO meeting on April

2 4. PRESENTATION BY THE COMMISSION ON THE EUROPEAN PILLAR OF SOCIAL RIGHTS AND A FOLLOW UP DISCUSSION Mr OLSSON presented the emerging messages concerning the acquis on the European Commission's initiative "European Pillar of Social Rights". The most important is the fact that the acquis is generally considered as relevant and well-developed. There are some gaps though to be addressed, especially an adaptation to new forms of work and to technological changes, and a better implementation and enforcement of existing rights, which would bring significant gains. A holistic view of the social policy is to be pursued. Following this general presentation, several delegations (NL, DE, AT, IT, PL) expressed their positions, such as underlining the need for a comprehensive approach linking labour law with social security, importance of the occupational health and safety aspects and work-life balance, while keeping the principle of proportionality and subsidiarity. DE invited Delegations to read and comment on their White paper on work 4.0 to be finalised soon. 5. PRESENTATION BY THE COMMISSION ON THE NEXT STEPS IN 2017 REGARDING THE "WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE" AND A FOLLOW UP DISCUSSION Ms Marie LAGARRIGUE (Deputy Head of Unit for Working Conditions, DG EMPL) and Ms Marie-Aude TANNOU (legal officer, Unit for Working Conditions, DG EMPL) presented this initiative in the context of the Commission Work Programme 2017 and the related initiative of European Pillar of Social Rights. The review process was relaunched in 2013, based on the public consultation, studies, and case law and infringement proceedings. Outcome of the review was presented, in particular that the Working Time Directive remains a relevant instrument in today's world of work. The objective of the new initiative should therefore be increasing legal certainty and clarity through comprehensive legal guidance on the Directive, to be reinforced in practice by a more effective implementation of the Directive through stepped-up assistance to Member States and Social Partners in particular. The Presentation as well as a Discussion paper on the review of the Working Time Directive were discussed, in particular the opinions of the Delegations concerning the last part of the Discussion paper "Main questions for discussion" were shared (DK, PL, MT, BG, DE, AT, IT, SE, NO). Most participants welcomed the Commission's approach on this file and underlined the importance of clarifying the definitions, the scope of application as well as the rights and derogations available in the Directive in order to ensure a correct and uniform application of the Directive. The role of social partners in the process was also highlighted. Mr OLSSON invited the Delegations to be flexible, and to send by not only the official positions of their MS, but also their personal positions or questions concerning specific issues to the Commission. 6. PRESENTATION BY THE COMMISSION ON THE 207 INITIATIVE ON THE "WRITTEN STATEMENT DIRECTIVE" Mr Adam POKORNY (Head of Unit for Working Conditions, DG EMPL) presented this Initiative also in the context of the Commission Work Programme 2017 and the related initiative of European Pillar of Social Rights. He explained that the Commission has 2

3 conducted a REFIT evaluation of the Directive and the Commission Staff Working Document is to be adopted in the 1st half of The preliminary results of the Evaluation are that the Directive is still seen as relevant by stakeholders, and written statements are considered to be non-costly tools. The possible areas for review are the effectiveness issues. After the adoption of the Staff Working Document, the Commission will consult Social Partners (1st stage) on the opportunity to engage in this process. Again, several Delegations reacted (IE, PL), outlining the state of discussions in their respective MS. 7. PRESENTATION AND INFORMATION BY DELEGATIONS ON THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING LABOUR LAW AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN THE MEMBER STATES Ms Eglė Radišauskienė (Director of Labour Department from the Ministry of Social Security and Labour) presented recent and ongoing proposed changes in the labour law legislation in particular the Labour Code in Lithuania. Changes in the area of types of employment contracts, dismissal, working time, paid leave, wage regulation, collective relations, new obligations for employers, and exceptions for small companies were described in detail. Mr Petr Hůrka (Director of Labour law legislation department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) discussed the topic of the labour law reforms in the Czech Republic, also in particular as concerns the conceptual amendment of the Labour Code. He presented the main points of this amendment, including managing executives, agreement on change in the Type of Work (job title), agreement on change in the place of work, agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship, a new concept of calculation of leave, homeworking teleworking, and transfer or termination of Rights and obligations arising from labour relations. Ms Alexandra Gatt presented the developments in Malta in the area of child care and adoption leave, including the free child care as a universal right. 8. EU INFORMATION ON THE CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELDS OF LABOUR LAW AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE 8.1. Social dialogue at EU level (inter-professional and sectoral) Mr David Pascal DION (Head of Unit for Social Dialogue, DG EMPL) updated the Group on relevant developments in the area. He recalled why the social dialogue is important in making impact on the improvement of economic and social fields in the MS. President Juncker recognised its importance and in July 2014 intervened in front of the European Parliament declaring he wanted to become a President of Social Dialogue. In this connection, the "New Start for Social Dialogue" was launched in 2015 with two main goals: capacity building for social dialogue and involvement of social partners in economic governance, and involvement of social partners in policy and law-making. While social partners are the prime responsible for their own capacity building, the conducive and appropriate institutional/legal framework for social dialogue to take place is the responsibility of public authorities. Decentralisation of the collective bargaining is a sensitive issue, and the Commission's recommendation is that it should still ensure a 3

4 certain degree of coordination. As concerns Tri-partite dialogue, the situation is different. In a number of countries, the tripartite dialogue does not function very well. Mr DION recalled the joint statement on a 'new start for social dialogue', which was cosigned on 27 June 2016 by the European cross-industry social partners (ETUC, BusinessEurope, UEAPME, CEEP), the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission.. It underlines the fundamental role of the European social dialogue as a significant component of EU employment and social policy making. It identifies actions to be undertaken by the signatories with the aim of further strengthening social dialogue at EU and national level. This in particular concerns the need for a more substantial involvement of the social partners in the European Semester, a stronger emphasis on capacity building of national social partners, a strengthened involvement of social partners in EU policy and law-making, and finally a clearer relation between social partners' agreements and the better regulation agenda. He also updated on the state of play as concerns the Hairdressers agreement and the Agreement for maritime transport, where social partners expect its signature for 5 December Labour Law and Working Conditions (including recent rulings of the Court) In the field of the recent rulings of the Court of Justice, Ms TANNOU introduced rulings within the framework of the following three Directives: - Fixed-Term Work (1999/70/EC): Case C-596/14 de Diego Porras, Case C-16/15 Pérez López, Cases C-184/15, and C-197/15, Martínez Andrés and Castrejana López - Temporary Agency Work (2008/104/EC): Case C-216/15, Betriebsrat der Ruhrlandklinik, 17/11/ Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC): Case C-341/15, Maschek, 20/07/2016, and Case C-178/15, Sobczyszyn, 30/06/2016 ES provided update concerning the situation and the activities undertaken in their MS in this regard. Regarding reports, evaluations and studies that are being developed, Mr POKORNY referred to (i) the report on the evaluation of the Fixed-term Work and Part-time Work Directives to be finalised in 2017, (ii) the Implementation Report on the Working Time Directive which should be prepared every 5 years, (iii) the evaluation of the European Works Councils Directive and the Staff Working Document under preparation, and (iv) the evaluation of the Written Statement Directive and the Staff Working Document to be preliminary finalised in March Mr POKORNY proceeded to present the 2016 Call for proposals on information, consultation and participation of representatives of undertakings with a total budget of 7.3 MEUR. The evaluation was finalised, and letters to 27 successful applicants were sent out in October. The process of signing the Grant agreements is ongoing. As concerns the legislative initiatives, he started with the (i) Adoption of the Council Directive implementing the Social Partners Agreement on the implementation of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 of the ILO, COM(2016)235 of 29/4/2016. The 4

5 Political agreement was reached in EPSCO in October 2016, and SK Presidency aims for a formal Decision of the Council to be taken in December It shall enter into force on 16 November 2017 with a date of transposition on 16 November As concerns the state of play in the transposition of (ii) the Council Directive implementing the Social Partners Agreement concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time in inland waterway transport, its transposition period is until 31 December 2016, therefore MS should notify EC by the end of the year on the transposition. As concerns (iii) the Directive to include "seafarers" in several labour law Directives, it was adopted with the transposition period until 10 October Concerning (iv) the consultation of social partners on a possible consolidation of the 3 directives on Information and Consultation, based on the social partners' request of 1 February 2016 for implementing Agreement via a Council Decision, the Commission is now proceeding with a proportionate impact assessment in line with Better Regulation Agenda, examining in particular legality, representativeness, subsidiarity and proportionality. 9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Ms Egle Käärats from the Estonian delegation invited the members of the DGIR Group to the next DGIR meeting which shall take place on 19 May 2017 in the vicinity of the capital Tallinn. 5