News
BackThe last session of the EU Parliament in this legislative period took place this week. The agenda was peppered with legislative acts, which still had to be voted on. Among these were three, which have a direct socio-political impact. MEPs voted on the Directive on the portability of supplementary pension rights, the Directive on the posting of workers from third countries and on the improved protection of posted EU citizens within Europe.
Supplementary pensions obtained in other European countries become safer
In future, EU employees moving to another country will be able to keep their supplementary pension claims. This is the wording of a bill, which was adopted by MEPs this week. The protection of legal pension claims (i.e. guaranteed by the state) when moving to another EU country is already secured by EU law. However, so far equal protection for supplementary pensions, such as occupational pensions, which are financed by the employer, or for private pensions does not yet exist. This means that persons moving between Member States, risk losing any supplementary pension claims, if the host country considers the contribution period as being too short. According to new provisions, the "vesting period", which refers to the time, when a supplementary pension claim was irrevocably obtained, may not be longer than three years. This does in fact represent an improvement for many employees. However, one must not forget that mobility within Europe for the purpose of working is not necessarily linked to a claim to occupational pensions, as this is not granted by every employer.
Intracorporate posting of third country members to Europe will be made easier
Also adopted by the EU Parliament was the Directive on intracorporate posting of employees from a third country. This proposal was very controversial as in terms of social rights it does not guarantee the equal treatment of third country members and EU citizens. However, this is an essential point in particular in respect of preventing social and wage dumping. Based on the adopted report, the EU Parliament has now supported the motion that executive and skilled personnel may only be posted to the EU for up to three years, whereas trainees will only be allowed to stay for maximum of one year. Especially large companies made increased use of such postings over the past years. However, many citizens ask themselves why the EU, especially in times of record unemployment, allows companies to bring in posted third country nationals instead of investing in local workers for them to take over the jobs.
New rules for posting EU citizens within Europe
The third and at the same last vote from a socio-political point of view concerned the new rules for posting employees within Europe. They are in principle aimed at improving the 1996 Posted Workers Directive. Hence, as an important component an open list of criteria was introduced, which makes it easier for Member States to establish whether a posting is genuine or whether it represents an attempt to bypass current provisions, for example by letterbox companies, which are set up in countries where labour-law and social protection is weaker. It was also decided in order to ensure the correct implementation of all provisions of this Directive that the agreement between Parliament and Council contains a minimum list of national control measures, which the host countries may add to. Member States will also be given the option to introduce a system of joint liability, where both the main contractor and the subcontractor are jointly liable for back wages or the violation of employees’ rights. For many MEPs, the new provisions and the compromise they entailed did not gar far enough. This is why it was requested that the new EU Commission should bring itself to present a new proposal for the Posting of Workers Directive, as there are not only problems with its implementation but already with its original contentual orientation.
In future, EU employees moving to another country will be able to keep their supplementary pension claims. This is the wording of a bill, which was adopted by MEPs this week. The protection of legal pension claims (i.e. guaranteed by the state) when moving to another EU country is already secured by EU law. However, so far equal protection for supplementary pensions, such as occupational pensions, which are financed by the employer, or for private pensions does not yet exist. This means that persons moving between Member States, risk losing any supplementary pension claims, if the host country considers the contribution period as being too short. According to new provisions, the "vesting period", which refers to the time, when a supplementary pension claim was irrevocably obtained, may not be longer than three years. This does in fact represent an improvement for many employees. However, one must not forget that mobility within Europe for the purpose of working is not necessarily linked to a claim to occupational pensions, as this is not granted by every employer.
Intracorporate posting of third country members to Europe will be made easier
Also adopted by the EU Parliament was the Directive on intracorporate posting of employees from a third country. This proposal was very controversial as in terms of social rights it does not guarantee the equal treatment of third country members and EU citizens. However, this is an essential point in particular in respect of preventing social and wage dumping. Based on the adopted report, the EU Parliament has now supported the motion that executive and skilled personnel may only be posted to the EU for up to three years, whereas trainees will only be allowed to stay for maximum of one year. Especially large companies made increased use of such postings over the past years. However, many citizens ask themselves why the EU, especially in times of record unemployment, allows companies to bring in posted third country nationals instead of investing in local workers for them to take over the jobs.
New rules for posting EU citizens within Europe
The third and at the same last vote from a socio-political point of view concerned the new rules for posting employees within Europe. They are in principle aimed at improving the 1996 Posted Workers Directive. Hence, as an important component an open list of criteria was introduced, which makes it easier for Member States to establish whether a posting is genuine or whether it represents an attempt to bypass current provisions, for example by letterbox companies, which are set up in countries where labour-law and social protection is weaker. It was also decided in order to ensure the correct implementation of all provisions of this Directive that the agreement between Parliament and Council contains a minimum list of national control measures, which the host countries may add to. Member States will also be given the option to introduce a system of joint liability, where both the main contractor and the subcontractor are jointly liable for back wages or the violation of employees’ rights. For many MEPs, the new provisions and the compromise they entailed did not gar far enough. This is why it was requested that the new EU Commission should bring itself to present a new proposal for the Posting of Workers Directive, as there are not only problems with its implementation but already with its original contentual orientation.