Czech Business Today

At the beginning of March 2016, after long months of political hesitations, the European Commission published its proposal of Posting of Workers Directive (96/71/EC) that will once again and for a long time divide Europe, increase costs and legal uncertainty of posting companies, especially from Central and Eastern Europe, distort the internal market, limit provision of cross-border services and distort healthy competition.

Main points of the revision include limiting the period of posting to 24 months, supplementing the minimum wage provision of remuneration needed for an adequate social protection, setting new rules for sub-supply chain and temporary work agencies. The revision of the directive should be complementary to so-called implementing directive 2014/67/EU which is to be transposed only until 18th June 2016. The Commission also ruins the proved, well-established, balanced and still well- performing set of rules enabling to provide cross-border services without unnecessary and unjustified barriers while at the same time ensuring adequate protection of posted workers temporarily residing in the host country and engage with local labour market only in a limited manner.

In its virtuous effort, the Commission probably forgot its new programme called New start for Europe, which is built on a premise that the Commission will only focus on big things, the main principle of the legislative process will be better and more efficient legislation and will support only consensual and quickly passable proposals.

Therefore, the question is, Cui bono?

Vladimíra Drbalová,
Member of the EESC, Vice-chair of the Group I -Employers