
European Labour Authority on the home stretch
EU Parliament gives green light.
SW – 04/2019
At
their meeting on 16 April 2019, the majority of MEPs voted in favour of establishing
a European Labour Authority (ELA) and confirmed the agreement reached with the Council
in February.
Tasks of the Authority
The
Council and the European Parliament had agreed on a compromise text in the
interinstitutional negotiations. According to the compromise, the Authority
will assist the Member States and the Commission in the application and
enforcement of Union law on labour mobility and the coordination of social
security systems in the Union.
In
the future, the Authority will facilitate access to information on rights and
obligations relating to labour mobility and support cooperation between Member
States, including concerted, joint inspections and the fight against undeclared
work. It will mediate in cross-border disputes between Member States.
There
is no provision for the tasks and bodies of the Administrative Commission for
the Coordination of Social Security Systems to be transferred to the ELA, as
originally proposed by the Commission. The German Social Insurance was critical
of this proposal, because it feared a loss of expertise and an erosion of the
growing trust in and cooperation with the bodies of the Administrative
Commission (see article August 2018).
The
competence of the Administrative Commission for the coordination of social
security systems is not affected by the ELA. The ELA will take into account all
relevant decisions of the Administrative Commission in the mediation process. The
Administrative Commission may request the ELA to refer to it matters under
mediation which are related to the coordination of social security systems
under mediation.
In
terms of future cooperation between the Administrative Commission and the ELA,
a cooperation agreement should help to coordinate activities by mutual
agreement and avoid duplication.
Name, location and resources
Contrary
to the Council’s original position, the European legislative institutions have
agreed on the name ‘European Labour Authority’. The majority of the Member
States had originally supported ‘European Labour Agency’ in order to highlight
the supportive role of the ELA for the Member States.
The
ELA is to be staffed by some 144 people, of whom some 60 will be seconded
national experts. It is expected to be fully operational five years after its
establishment. An annual budget of €50 million is foreseen for the Authority.
The
application procedure to determine the future location of the Authority is
ongoing; Member States can still submit applications until 6 May. The Council
is expected to vote on this in June.