{"change_dates":[],"dossier":{"amendments":[],"changes":{"2014-11-10T02:57:56":[{"data":[{"body":"EC","commission":[{"Commissioner":"\u0160PIDLA Vladim\u00edr","DG":{"title":"Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion","url":"http://ec.europa.eu/social/"}}],"date":"2002-03-20T00:00:00","docs":[{"celexid":"CELEX:52002PC0149:EN","text":["
The Council held a policy debate on the draft directive. Discussion focused mainly on the outstanding issue of equal pay and conditions for temporary workers. It was recognised that further efforts would be needed to enable the Council to reach and acceptable compromise for all delegations. Accordingly, the Presidency undertook to pursue its reflections as a matter of urgency, taking especially into account the link which the European Parliament has established between this proposal and the recent Working Time proposal. The draft directive aims at striking a balance between flexibility and job security. It completes a package of measures aimed at regulating working conditions for so-called \"atypical\" workers. Temporary work is seen as a key factor in meeting the requirements of the reform strategy laid down by the Lisbon European council in March 2000, as it allows for both the growth of employment and increased competitiveness.
\nThe Council sought to reach\n political agreement on the draft Directive aimed at establishing working\n conditions for temporary agency workers.
Already, in July, the\n Presidency announced that it would consult with different Member States in\n order to evaluate the conditions for balanced solutions concerning the\n legislative files under discussion in the (EPSCO) Council.
After extensive bilateral\n consultations with different Member States and the Commission, the Presidency\n decided to present compromise proposals for the Directive “temporary agency\n workers” as well as the Directive on “working time” (see COD/2004/0209).\n Both draft directives had been discussed separately, but the Presidency\n considered they were linked since they deal with central aspects of the\n regulation of contemporary labour markets.
Given the difficulties in\n finding separate solutions for each of the files, the Presidency decided that\n there would be added value in working on a simultaneous and integrated\n solution, thus allowing Member States to find a balance between the two\n directives that would be acceptable from the political point of view.
This joint approach was widely\n accepted by a large majority of Member States, in the Council. The connection\n between the two directives, and more specifically the proposals presented by\n the Presidency, was considered a solid and viable basis for negotiation\n towards an agreement on both.
The Presidency explored\n different solutions, within the balanced framework underlying the proposals,\n to reach an enlarged consensus that would be politically desirable.
Bearing in mind the fact that\n this linked proposal was still very recent, as well as the sensitive nature\n of these directives for some Member States and the importance of exploring\n all attempts to reach as broad an agreement as possible before the final\n decision was taken, the Council agreed that the best option at this moment\n was to postpone a decision, in order to further pursue the dialogue.
Nevertheless, the Presidency\n noted that a vast majority of Member States had spoken in favour of an integrated\n solution for the directives, building an overall equilibrium between the\n two. Thus, and respecting the dominant orientation within the Council, the\n Presidency stressed that this openness to dialogue and consensus sought only\n to strengthen the conditions for a solution that reflected the position of a\n clear and strong majority. The proposals presented are a major step forward,\n because they now open up an appropriate way of reaching a solution on these\n files. There is a real margin for political decision in 2008, building\n on the solid basis for progress that the Council has just established. The\n forthcoming presidencies and the Commission might proceed with efforts to\n achieve a positive and final outcome on both directives, given the importance\n of the issues at stake and the specific needs of many Member States.
Progress on the “temporary\n agency workers” Directive: the draft Directive aims to establish, at\n European level, a common legal framework to regulate temporary agency work.\n It seeks to strike a balance between flexibility and job security, while\n completing a package of measures aimed at regulating working conditions for\n so-called \"atypical\" workers. It will, in its turn, be complemented\n by Directive 91/383/EEC of 25 June 1991, supplementing the measures to\n encourage improvements in safety and health at work.
The draft Directive would apply\n to workers who have an employment relationship with a temporary agency and\n who would perform temporary work under the supervision and direction of a\n user undertaking. It aims to ensure the protection of temporary agency workers\n and to improve the quality of agency work by ensuring, in particular, that\n the principle of equal treatment – in relation to workers recruited by the\n user undertaking to occupy the same job – is applied. Temporary agencies\n would be recognised as employers.
The main outstanding issues may\n be summarised as follows:
– prohibitions and restrictions\n on temporary agency work, in particular, their review or removal;
– the principle of equal treatment, possible exceptions to\n that principle and the maximum length of assignments to which such exceptions\n can apply.
\nThe Council adopted,\n by qualified majority, a common position with a view to the adoption of an\n amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council\n on temporary agency work. The Belgian, Hungarian, Maltese and Portuguese\n abstained.
The common position\n includes a majority of the amendments (26 in total) resulting from Parliament's first reading of the Commission's proposal.
The general\n structure of the common position is in line with the general structure of the\n Commission's amended proposal. Specifically, the Council accepted an\n amendment to the title of the Directive, three amendments to the recitals as\n well as a number of amendments to the following articles: Article 1 on the\n scope, Article 2 on the aim of the Directive, Article 3 on definitions,\n Article 4 on the review of restrictions and prohibitions, Article 5 on the\n principle of equal treatment, Article 6 on access to employment, collective\n facilities and vocational training and Article 7 on the representation of\n temporary agency workers.
The main\n differences from the Commission's amended proposal are as follows:
Review of\n restrictions and prohibitions on the use of temporary workers (Article 4): while essentially following the spirit of the Parliament's\n amendment, the Council added a new paragraph concerning the review of\n agreements negotiated by the social partners. The Council considered that, in\n order to respect their autonomy, the social partners should themselves review\n whether the restrictions and prohibitions negotiated by them were justifiable\n on the grounds set out in the first paragraph of Article 4. The Council did\n not consider it necessary to retain an explicit reference to the\n discontinuation of unjustified restrictions and prohibitions.
Principle\n of equal treatment (Article 5): while generally\n following the Commission's amended proposal, the Council modified the text.\n The Council also considered that the principle of equal treatment from day\n one should be the general rule. Any treatment of temporary agency workers\n differing from that principle should be agreed by the social partners, either\n through collective bargaining or through social partner agreements concluded\n at national level. In the light of the modifications made to the text, a\n specific exemption for short-term contracts (six weeks or shorter), as\n envisaged in the Commission's amended proposal, was therefore no longer\n considered necessary or appropriate.
The common\n position reflects those of the Parliament's amendments which stress the\n importance of the role of social partners in negotiating arrangements\n on working and employment conditions. It also echoes the Parliament's\n concerns in relation to the prevention of misuse.
Penalties\n (Article 10): the common position includes a new\n paragraph concerning measures the Member States are expected to take in order\n to ensure compliance with the Directive by temporary work agencies and user\n undertakings.
Implementation\n (Article 11): the Council considered that the\n Member States would need three years to implement the Directive, while the\n Commission had proposed a two-year implementation period.
In addition, a\n number of recitals have been updated and modified, in order both to explain\n the modifications introduced by the Council to the Commission's amended\n proposal and to describe developments since the amended proposal was\n published in 2002. For example, references to the relaunch of the Lisbon\n Strategy, in 2005, and to the agreed common principles of flexicurity,\n endorsed by the European Council in December 2007, were included in the\n recitals.
Following the\n Commission's amended proposal, the Council did not accept the amendment which\n would have extended the possibility of not applying the Directive to\n employment contracts or relationships concluded under specific training\n programmes without any public support.
It also\n rejected an amendment calling for a comprehensive review of national\n legislations concerning temporary agency workers. The Council considered that\n this would be outside the scope of the Directive. Another two amendments to\n Article 5 were considered to be superfluous, one on non-discrimination and\n the other on safety and health at work and on safety training.
\nThe Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted a\n report drafted by Harlem DESIR (PES, FR) and approved the Council\n common position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of\n the Council on temporary agency work.
\nThe European\n Parliament adopted a legislative resolution approving the Council’s common\n position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the\n Council on temporary agency work. The recommendation for second reading\n (under the codecision procedure) had been tabled for consideration in plenary\n by Harlem DESIR (PES, FR) on behalf of the Committee on Employment and\n Social Affairs.
\nPURPOSE: to\n provide a minimum EU-wide level of protection to temporary agency workers.
LEGISLATIVE\n ACT: Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on\n temporary agency work.
CONTENT: the\n aim of this Directive is to ensure the protection of temporary agency workers\n and to improve the quality of temporary agency work by ensuring that the\n principle of equal treatment, as set out in the text, is applied to temporary\n agency workers, and by recognising temporary work agencies as employers,\n while taking into account the need to establish a suitable framework for the\n use of temporary agency work with a view to contributing effectively to the\n creation of jobs and to the development of flexible forms of working.
Scope: the Directive applies to workers with a contract of employment or\n employment relationship with a temporary work agency who are assigned to user\n undertakings to work temporarily under their supervision and direction. It\n applies to public and private undertakings which are temporary-work agencies\n or user undertakings engaged in economic activities whether or not they are\n operating for gain. Member States may, after consulting the social partners,\n provide that this Directive does not apply to employment contracts or\n relationships concluded under a specific public or publicly supported\n vocational training, integration or retraining programme.
Review of\n restrictions or prohibitions: prohibitions or\n restrictions on the use of temporary agency work must be justified only on\n grounds of general interest relating in particular to the protection of\n temporary agency workers, the requirements of health and safety at work or\n the need to ensure that the labour market functions properly and abuses are\n prevented. By 5 December 2011, Member States shall, after consulting the\n social partners in accordance with national legislation, collective\n agreements and practices, review any restrictions or prohibitions on the use\n of temporary agency work in order to verify whether they are justified on the\n grounds mentioned in the text.
The\n principle of equal treatment: the basic working\n and employment conditions of temporary agency workers shall be, for the\n duration of their assignment at a user undertaking, at least those that would\n apply if they had been recruited directly by that undertaking to occupy the\n same job.
As regards\n pay, Member States may provide that an exemption be made to the principle of\n equal treatment where temporary agency workers who have a permanent contract\n of employment with a temporary-work agency continue to be paid in the time\n between assignments.
In addition,\n Member States must specify whether occupational social security schemes,\n including pension, sick pay or financial participation schemes are included\n in the basic working and employment conditions. Such arrangements shall also\n be without prejudice to agreements at national, regional, local or sectoral\n level that are no less favourable to workers.
The directive\n sets out provisions on access to employment, collective facilities and\n vocational training, as well as provisions on the representation of\n temporary agency workers.
Review by\n the Commission: by 05/12/2013, the Commission\n must review the application of the Directive with a view to proposing, where\n appropriate, the necessary amendments.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 05/12/2008.
IMPLEMENTATION: 05/12/2011.
\nThe Council held a policy debate on the draft directive. Discussion focused mainly on the outstanding issue of equal pay and conditions for temporary workers. It was recognised that further efforts would be needed to enable the Council to reach and acceptable compromise for all delegations. Accordingly, the Presidency undertook to pursue its reflections as a matter of urgency, taking especially into account the link which the European Parliament has established between this proposal and the recent Working Time proposal. The draft directive aims at striking a balance between flexibility and job security. It completes a package of measures aimed at regulating working conditions for so-called \"atypical\" workers. Temporary work is seen as a key factor in meeting the requirements of the reform strategy laid down by the Lisbon European council in March 2000, as it allows for both the growth of employment and increased competitiveness.
\nThe Council sought to reach\n political agreement on the draft Directive aimed at establishing working\n conditions for temporary agency workers.
Already, in July, the\n Presidency announced that it would consult with different Member States in\n order to evaluate the conditions for balanced solutions concerning the\n legislative files under discussion in the (EPSCO) Council.
After extensive bilateral\n consultations with different Member States and the Commission, the Presidency\n decided to present compromise proposals for the Directive “temporary agency\n workers” as well as the Directive on “working time” (see COD/2004/0209).\n Both draft directives had been discussed separately, but the Presidency\n considered they were linked since they deal with central aspects of the\n regulation of contemporary labour markets.
Given the difficulties in\n finding separate solutions for each of the files, the Presidency decided that\n there would be added value in working on a simultaneous and integrated\n solution, thus allowing Member States to find a balance between the two\n directives that would be acceptable from the political point of view.
This joint approach was widely\n accepted by a large majority of Member States, in the Council. The connection\n between the two directives, and more specifically the proposals presented by\n the Presidency, was considered a solid and viable basis for negotiation\n towards an agreement on both.
The Presidency explored\n different solutions, within the balanced framework underlying the proposals,\n to reach an enlarged consensus that would be politically desirable.
Bearing in mind the fact that\n this linked proposal was still very recent, as well as the sensitive nature\n of these directives for some Member States and the importance of exploring\n all attempts to reach as broad an agreement as possible before the final\n decision was taken, the Council agreed that the best option at this moment\n was to postpone a decision, in order to further pursue the dialogue.
Nevertheless, the Presidency\n noted that a vast majority of Member States had spoken in favour of an integrated\n solution for the directives, building an overall equilibrium between the\n two. Thus, and respecting the dominant orientation within the Council, the\n Presidency stressed that this openness to dialogue and consensus sought only\n to strengthen the conditions for a solution that reflected the position of a\n clear and strong majority. The proposals presented are a major step forward,\n because they now open up an appropriate way of reaching a solution on these\n files. There is a real margin for political decision in 2008, building\n on the solid basis for progress that the Council has just established. The\n forthcoming presidencies and the Commission might proceed with efforts to\n achieve a positive and final outcome on both directives, given the importance\n of the issues at stake and the specific needs of many Member States.
Progress on the “temporary\n agency workers” Directive: the draft Directive aims to establish, at\n European level, a common legal framework to regulate temporary agency work.\n It seeks to strike a balance between flexibility and job security, while\n completing a package of measures aimed at regulating working conditions for\n so-called \"atypical\" workers. It will, in its turn, be complemented\n by Directive 91/383/EEC of 25 June 1991, supplementing the measures to\n encourage improvements in safety and health at work.
The draft Directive would apply\n to workers who have an employment relationship with a temporary agency and\n who would perform temporary work under the supervision and direction of a\n user undertaking. It aims to ensure the protection of temporary agency workers\n and to improve the quality of agency work by ensuring, in particular, that\n the principle of equal treatment – in relation to workers recruited by the\n user undertaking to occupy the same job – is applied. Temporary agencies\n would be recognised as employers.
The main outstanding issues may\n be summarised as follows:
– prohibitions and restrictions\n on temporary agency work, in particular, their review or removal;
– the principle of equal treatment, possible exceptions to\n that principle and the maximum length of assignments to which such exceptions\n can apply.
\nThe Council adopted,\n by qualified majority, a common position with a view to the adoption of an\n amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council\n on temporary agency work. The Belgian, Hungarian, Maltese and Portuguese\n abstained.
The common position\n includes a majority of the amendments (26 in total) resulting from Parliament's first reading of the Commission's proposal.
The general\n structure of the common position is in line with the general structure of the\n Commission's amended proposal. Specifically, the Council accepted an\n amendment to the title of the Directive, three amendments to the recitals as\n well as a number of amendments to the following articles: Article 1 on the\n scope, Article 2 on the aim of the Directive, Article 3 on definitions,\n Article 4 on the review of restrictions and prohibitions, Article 5 on the\n principle of equal treatment, Article 6 on access to employment, collective\n facilities and vocational training and Article 7 on the representation of\n temporary agency workers.
The main\n differences from the Commission's amended proposal are as follows:
Review of\n restrictions and prohibitions on the use of temporary workers (Article 4): while essentially following the spirit of the Parliament's\n amendment, the Council added a new paragraph concerning the review of\n agreements negotiated by the social partners. The Council considered that, in\n order to respect their autonomy, the social partners should themselves review\n whether the restrictions and prohibitions negotiated by them were justifiable\n on the grounds set out in the first paragraph of Article 4. The Council did\n not consider it necessary to retain an explicit reference to the\n discontinuation of unjustified restrictions and prohibitions.
Principle\n of equal treatment (Article 5): while generally\n following the Commission's amended proposal, the Council modified the text.\n The Council also considered that the principle of equal treatment from day\n one should be the general rule. Any treatment of temporary agency workers\n differing from that principle should be agreed by the social partners, either\n through collective bargaining or through social partner agreements concluded\n at national level. In the light of the modifications made to the text, a\n specific exemption for short-term contracts (six weeks or shorter), as\n envisaged in the Commission's amended proposal, was therefore no longer\n considered necessary or appropriate.
The common\n position reflects those of the Parliament's amendments which stress the\n importance of the role of social partners in negotiating arrangements\n on working and employment conditions. It also echoes the Parliament's\n concerns in relation to the prevention of misuse.
Penalties\n (Article 10): the common position includes a new\n paragraph concerning measures the Member States are expected to take in order\n to ensure compliance with the Directive by temporary work agencies and user\n undertakings.
Implementation\n (Article 11): the Council considered that the\n Member States would need three years to implement the Directive, while the\n Commission had proposed a two-year implementation period.
In addition, a\n number of recitals have been updated and modified, in order both to explain\n the modifications introduced by the Council to the Commission's amended\n proposal and to describe developments since the amended proposal was\n published in 2002. For example, references to the relaunch of the Lisbon\n Strategy, in 2005, and to the agreed common principles of flexicurity,\n endorsed by the European Council in December 2007, were included in the\n recitals.
Following the\n Commission's amended proposal, the Council did not accept the amendment which\n would have extended the possibility of not applying the Directive to\n employment contracts or relationships concluded under specific training\n programmes without any public support.
It also\n rejected an amendment calling for a comprehensive review of national\n legislations concerning temporary agency workers. The Council considered that\n this would be outside the scope of the Directive. Another two amendments to\n Article 5 were considered to be superfluous, one on non-discrimination and\n the other on safety and health at work and on safety training.
\nThe Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted a\n report drafted by Harlem DESIR (PES, FR) and approved the Council\n common position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of\n the Council on temporary agency work.
\nThe European\n Parliament adopted a legislative resolution approving the Council’s common\n position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the\n Council on temporary agency work. The recommendation for second reading\n (under the codecision procedure) had been tabled for consideration in plenary\n by Harlem DESIR (PES, FR) on behalf of the Committee on Employment and\n Social Affairs.
\nPURPOSE: to\n provide a minimum EU-wide level of protection to temporary agency workers.
LEGISLATIVE\n ACT: Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on\n temporary agency work.
CONTENT: the\n aim of this Directive is to ensure the protection of temporary agency workers\n and to improve the quality of temporary agency work by ensuring that the\n principle of equal treatment, as set out in the text, is applied to temporary\n agency workers, and by recognising temporary work agencies as employers,\n while taking into account the need to establish a suitable framework for the\n use of temporary agency work with a view to contributing effectively to the\n creation of jobs and to the development of flexible forms of working.
Scope: the Directive applies to workers with a contract of employment or\n employment relationship with a temporary work agency who are assigned to user\n undertakings to work temporarily under their supervision and direction. It\n applies to public and private undertakings which are temporary-work agencies\n or user undertakings engaged in economic activities whether or not they are\n operating for gain. Member States may, after consulting the social partners,\n provide that this Directive does not apply to employment contracts or\n relationships concluded under a specific public or publicly supported\n vocational training, integration or retraining programme.
Review of\n restrictions or prohibitions: prohibitions or\n restrictions on the use of temporary agency work must be justified only on\n grounds of general interest relating in particular to the protection of\n temporary agency workers, the requirements of health and safety at work or\n the need to ensure that the labour market functions properly and abuses are\n prevented. By 5 December 2011, Member States shall, after consulting the\n social partners in accordance with national legislation, collective\n agreements and practices, review any restrictions or prohibitions on the use\n of temporary agency work in order to verify whether they are justified on the\n grounds mentioned in the text.
The\n principle of equal treatment: the basic working\n and employment conditions of temporary agency workers shall be, for the\n duration of their assignment at a user undertaking, at least those that would\n apply if they had been recruited directly by that undertaking to occupy the\n same job.
As regards\n pay, Member States may provide that an exemption be made to the principle of\n equal treatment where temporary agency workers who have a permanent contract\n of employment with a temporary-work agency continue to be paid in the time\n between assignments.
In addition,\n Member States must specify whether occupational social security schemes,\n including pension, sick pay or financial participation schemes are included\n in the basic working and employment conditions. Such arrangements shall also\n be without prejudice to agreements at national, regional, local or sectoral\n level that are no less favourable to workers.
The directive\n sets out provisions on access to employment, collective facilities and\n vocational training, as well as provisions on the representation of\n temporary agency workers.
Review by\n the Commission: by 05/12/2013, the Commission\n must review the application of the Directive with a view to proposing, where\n appropriate, the necessary amendments.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 05/12/2008.
IMPLEMENTATION: 05/12/2011.
\n