The situation regarding the posting of workers is finally becoming clearer after several acrimonious negotiating sessions. On February 27, 2014, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional compromise, which was endorsed by the Council one week later.

On March 5, 2014, the provisional agreement on the directive for enforcement of directive 96/71  concerning the posting of workers, the fruit of tripartite negotiations among the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the European Commission, was approved by an overwhelming majority of national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper), working within the Council.

With regard to the most important points, the Council’s initial position was left unchanged in the final agreement. “Thanks to Parliament, bogus ‘self-employment’ [art. 3] is clearly defined and thus will be better tackled. Member States will have more flexibility when carrying out checks, because although they will have to communicate [rather than notify] new inspection measures [measures not included on the indicative list]to the European Commission but will not have to seek its prior authorization for them [art. 9]. Social partners will also be more extensively involved,” said Employment and Social Affairs Committee Chair Pervenche Berès (S&D, FR).

As for the delicate question of article 12 concerning liability in the subcontracting chain, European institutions opted for “obligatory, direct, joint and several liability […] in the construction sector together with the possibility to apply alternative solutions, such as sanctions against the contractor” (D. Jazlowiecka, EPP Group press release, February 28).

The most sensitive hurdles seem to have been overcome, but before being definitively adopted by the Council, this provisional agreement must still win the approval of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs at its March 18 meeting, and then be voted on during the Parliament’s plenary session in April. A two-year transition period will then begin, giving Member States time to transpose the new provisions into their national law.