EMPLOYMENT/SOCIAL AFFAIRS : POSTING OF WORKERS AT HEART OF PRIORITIES.

Copenhagen inherits a heavy social affairs agenda, with the economic crisis, the ageing of the population and the numerous legislative issues on the drawing board. As of 1 January 2012, the European Parliament and the Council will have around ten legislative proposals on the table and the Commission is set to continue to exercise its right of initiative, announcing a major employment package covering flexicurity, employment services and the European semester'.

Among these many subjects, the Danish Council Presidency has decided to give special attention to the future proposals on the posting of workers. These were initially announced for 20 December 2011, but were recently postponed until February 2012. The proposals - likely to take the form of a regulation clarifying the exercise of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services with social rights and an implementing directive - are meant to improve and reinforce transposition, application and compliance with Directive 96/71/EC, in the light of recent rulings by the EU Court of Justice (Laval, Ruffert and Luxembourg judgements). The first, referred to as the Monti II proposal, will aim to clarify the right of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services, while ensuring respect for fundamental social rights, in particular the right to strike. The second is meant to improve implementation of rules on the posting of workers by providing more detailed guidance on problem areas and by strengthening legal certainty.

OTHER ISSUES

The Danes will also oversee the Council's discussions on the following proposals: the maternity leave directive, the anti-discrimination directive, revision of regulations on the coordination of social security systems, the new programme for social change and innovation and the directive on electromagnetic fields. Progress can be expected on the proposals for revision of Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 on coordination of social security systems, following agreement on a general approach by the Employment and Social Affairs Council, on 1 December 2011. On the other hand, if the Danish Presidency hopes to secure advances on the directive setting minimum health and safety requirements related to the exposure of workers to potentially damaging physical agents (electromagnetic fields), it will have to reach agreement on how to define exposure limits and on exemptions to binding limits. The broad lines of the new programme for social change and...

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