The new European Labour Authority was inaugurated on 16 October, in Brussels. It is currently based within the premises of the European Commission, but will be moving to Bratislava (see press release, the Slovak capital, which has been selected to host its seat, as soon as the latter is ready. It will employ 140 people by 2024. It will have an estimated budget of 50 million euros. In a Questions and answers document, the Commission sets out the role of the authority, which already has its own website. Its remit will be to 1º facilitate access to information on rights and obligations in cases of cross-border mobility; 2º support coordination between Member States in cross-border enforcement of relevant EU law; 3º mediate between Member States in order to resolve cross-border disputes between them. On the other hand, contrary to the proposal made by the Commission, it will not be tasked with “facilitating solutions in the event of labour market disruptions”, notably in the case of restructuring of companies affecting several countries. As provided for in the Regulation of 20 June 2019 establishing it, cases cannot be referred to it directly by employees or employers in the event of a dispute regarding the application of EU law. This type of dispute remains at the level of national courts. Unlike other authorities, such as the European Banking Authority, it has no sanctioning powers. Nor will it be entitled to decide, of its volition, to undertake inspections in several Member States in order to combat fraud linked to the posting of workers. It can act only at the request of Member States. The social partners have four seats on its Management Board (out of 34 members, including 27 representatives of Member States) and ten seats (out of 11, including one representative of the Commission) in the “Stakeholder Group”, which has advisory functions.  They will therefore be able to exercise genuine influence and they clearly intend to make use of the new authority. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) have announced that they will be submitting “cases which are typical of the widespread abuse of posted workers” to the authority. (see ETUC press release).

• Protection for whistle-blowers : On 7 October, the Council formally adopted the directive on the protection of whistle-blowers (see IR Notes 116). It will be published shortly in the OJEU. Member States will have a period of two years to transpose the new rules (see Council press release).

Reinforcement of a social Europe : On 10 October, by a very large majority, the European Parliament passed a resolution “on employment and social policies of the euro area”. In this resolution, MEPs address some of the topics featuring in the European Commissioners’ remit, and also set out their expectations (see press release). The MEPs stress that “the Union’s social and economic goals should have equal priority and secured financial resources within the next budget”. To this end, the recommendations issued to countries by the Council “should be coherent with economic, social and environmental EU objectives and should reinforce rather than contradict each other”. MEPs are, among other things, calling on the Commission to propose: 1. a European unemployment benefit reinsurance scheme “to protect citizens and reduce the pressure on public finances during external shocks”; 2. an “anti-poverty strategy” with the implementation of a “European Child Guarantee”; 3. a policy to “address the social needs of those for whom the labour market is inaccessible”; 4. “a legal instrument to ensure that every worker in the Union has a fair minimum wage”; 5.  a directive on pay transparency “in order to quickly close the gender pay gap”; 6. the establishment of “a right to digitally disconnect”; 7. “a long-term planning strategy for the integration of ethnic minorities into the labour market, in order to mitigate the risk of exclusion”; 8. an initiative “to ensure that platform workers have access to social protection and are guaranteed all their social and labour rights, regardless of their employment status, and to extend collective agreement coverage to platform workers”. In other words, the Parliament is clearly positioning itself as the European institution that will remind Member States of the social dimension of European construction.

Sanctioning a failure to comply with formalities related to posting of workers : The Court of Justice has reminded Member States of their duty to ensure that they comply with the principle of free provision of services in their efforts to prevent abuse related to the posting of workers. When an urgent repair was required, an Austrian company subcontracted part of the work to two Croatian companies, one after the other. When an inspection was carried out, the authorities imposed several large fines, amounting to more than 2 million euros, on the two Croatian companies and their managers for shortcomings in the payroll documentation they produced. The Court held that the amount of the fines “does not seem commensurate with the severity of the offences”. The Court stated that compliance with the law could be ensured by means of “less restrictive measures such as imposing smaller fines or setting a ceiling for such fines, and without necessarily accompanying them with alternative custodial sentences” (CJEU, 12 September 2019, Joined Cases C‑64/18, C‑140/18, C‑146/18 and C‑148/18, Zoran Maksimovic).

Industrial policy : At a joint conference held on 9 October, European employers and trade unions called on the new European Commission and the European Parliament to draw up a more proactive and ambitious European industrial strategy (see press releases issued by ETUC and BusinessEurope). This topic was also on the agenda of the Tripartite Social Summit held on 16 October (see Joint declaration).

• Agri-foodstuffs: On 15 October, the social partners in the agri-foodstuffs sector (EFFAT and FoodDrinkEurope) presented the outcomes of their EU-funded social dialogue project which explores current changes in employment and the challenges posed by digital technology (see press release from EFFAT and report).


• Insurance and banking: On 7 October, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) published representativeness studies for the insurance and banking sectors, enabling it, at the European Commission’s request, to assess the representativeness of the social partner organisations in these sectors.


• Rail industry: On 16 October, the European social partners in the rail industry (CER and ETF) started negotiations on a European agreement to promote the employment of women in the sector (see press releases issued by ETF and CER).

Regulation of road transport : a committee has been tasked by the government with compiling a report on the introduction of a minimum wage for road cabotage workers to guarantee that they receive pay commensurate with the wage levels set by Danish collective agreements. The report is due out in December but the legislation covering foreign bus and coach drivers involved in cabotage work in Denmark will come into force on 1 November. This initiative has been welcomed by the ETF European trade-union federation (see press release).

• Abolition of joint and several liability of the client: The notion, introduced by the passing of a law in 2018, that the client could be declared jointly and severally liable for payment of any wages, social security contributions and severance pay accruing to employees of the contractor, was abolished by Article 117 of Law 4623/7.8.2019. Thus the notion of joint responsibility for subcontracting no longer applies.

> For further information on legal developments in Member States, see Flash reports on Labour Law dated July and August 2019.

Failure to comply with consultation procedure : In a decision issued on 9 October by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), the UK body responsible for ruling on disputes relating to European Works Councils, delivered a clear ruling against the American company Verizon for its failure to comply with the terms of its European Works Council agreement. In the context of a proposed reorganisation leading to the termination of employment of 216 employees across eight European countries, Verizon management informed only the Select Committee of the European Works Council before making the official announcement. However, in such a case, the agreement provides not only for a meeting to be held for information purposes but also for the purpose of consulting a broader Select Committee that includes the European Works Council representatives from the countries affected. As the company had not acted on the requests submitted by the Chair of the European Works Council to convene a larger Select Committee meeting, the CAC found its management guilty of failing to comply with the procedure and ordered it to pay the fees of the lawyers hired by the European Works Council to defend its interests. Jean-Philippe Charpentier, Secretary of the European Works Council, explains: “The European Works Council has started new proceedings in a different British court that will now have to decide whether the company should be ordered to pay a fine, which could be as high as 100,000 euros. The aim is to show the group’s employees that the CAC’s judgment is not merely symbolic.” The CAC’s decision is important because the problem of funding court action for a workers’ representation body that does not have its own budget arises regularly in the event of a dispute.

Revision of an agreement : The management of Nexans (27,000 employees) and the members of its European Works Council have revised their agreement of 16 July 2003, by means of an amendment dated 12 February 2019. The text, which boosts the resources available to the European Works Council, describes how it operates in conjunction with national bodies. “To ensure that the initiative is effective”, procedures for informing and consulting with representative bodies of Member States involved in a project requiring consultation with the European Works Council, “cannot be initiated before the procedure is underway at European Works Council level.” Thus the institutions concerned “cannot be convened” before the European Works Council “has itself been convened, nor can they hold their first meeting before the European Works Council holds its first meeting.”

• Brexit: On 26 June, the management of the Veolia group and the members of its European Works Council signed an amendment adding a provision to the founding agreement that will keep the United Kingdom within the scope of application of the agreement, if the country leaves the EU. British representatives on the European Works Council enjoy the same rights, privileges and protection as other Council members. On 19 December 2018, an amendment with the same purpose, but not relating specifically to the United Kingdom, was signed between the management of Suez and its European Works Council.


• Disputed closure: On 9 October, the select committee of the Michelin European Works Council, in an extraordinary meeting called to discuss the announcement of the closure of the Bamberg plant (Germany) which employs 860 people, condemned the decision in a declaration.

Fundamental rights: : On 17 October, the Belgian multinational Umicore (10,700 employees), which specialises in materials, and the IndustriAll Global Union federation renewed, for the third time, their global framework agreement on sustainable development. It includes new provisions covering violence and harassment at work, safe and healthy working conditions and environmental issues, as well as provisions covering due diligence in the supply chain and digital transformation (see press releases issued by IndustriAll and Umicore (in Dutch).
> See also: On 3 October, the Spanish textile group Inditex (174,000 employees) and the UNI Europa international trade-union federation celebrated the tenth anniversary of their global framework agreement (see Uni Global Union press release).

• Sexual harassment: On 7 October, the management of the Danish dairy cooperative Arla (19,190 employees) and the international trade-union federation IUF signed an agreement to fight sexual harassment. (see IUF press release).

World Union Counci : 40 delegates from 20 countries attended the World Union Council of the Swedish group SKF (47,000 employees), held between 30 September and 3 October. The participants exchanged views on the issues of digitalisation and health and safety. They also spent a full day in dialogue with the group’s top management about the company’s development, strategy and activities (see IndustriAll Global Union press release).