EU Ministers reached a compromise on amendment of Posted Workers Directive

A compromised was reached with respect to the main lines of the amendment of the legislation relating to posted workers at the Monday meeting of EU Ministers responsible for employment and social affairs held in Luxembourg. According to Minister of State Szabolcs Takács, the Hungarian delegation managed to protect the interests of the haulage sector.

At the end of the talks which carried on well into the night, the attendees adopted with a qualified majority a so-called general approach regarding the Posted Workers Directive, based on which the Council comprised of the Governments of the Member States may commence consultations with the European Parliament.

Mr Takács said: on behalf of the Visegrád countries the Hungarian Government made a number of “constructive” proposals which were joined by several Member States, but these were only partially accepted, and in consequence, Hungary together with six other countries did not vote for the Council decision in the end.

The European Commission submitted its proposed amendments last March, pursuant to which the same regulations would apply to posted workers as regards wages and working conditions as to locals. According to critics, this would detrimentally affect several late-joining Member States.

According to the compromise now reached, the labour law terms of the recipient country would apply after 12 months, and this time limit could be extended by a further six months on one occasion. The Commission’s original proposal stipulated 24 months, but according to press reports, France lobbied intensively for the reduction of this time limit.

One of the most important points of the compromise is that the provisions of this amendment will not affect the haulage sector as separate rules will be adopted to regulate that industry.

The Ministers also agreed that after the conclusion of the compromise, Member States will have three years to transpose the new regulations into their respective national laws, and these regulations will enter into force one year thereafter.

Mr Takács said after the council meeting that, according to their argument, hauliers are not posted, but mobile workers, and logic dictates that different rules should apply to them. As he said, this was accepted by all the Member States, and in consequence, hauliers will be allowed to continue their activities under unchanged conditions.