Negotiations between the EU institutions can begin.

On 8 September, the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) of the European Parliament adopted, in a joint meeting, the mandate for negotiations with the Council on a regulation establishing a digital interface for posting declarations (eDeclaration). The Council of the European Union (EU) had already adopted its position on 22 May. Interinstitutional negotiations are therefore expected to begin in the coming weeks.

Commission proposal for a Regulation

On 13 November 2024, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation (2024/0301(COD)) to establish a public interface (eDeclaration) connected to the Internal Market Information System (IMI) for the posting of workers. The focus is on creating a uniform, digital and multilingual notification procedure for the posting of workers within the EU, the use of which is, however, to remain voluntary. With this proposal, the European Commission followed up on its commitment in the Communication of 20 March 2024 on “Labour and skills shortages in the European Union: an action plan.”

Background of the proposal

There are currently around five million posted workers in the EU, and the number is rising. The posting of workers within the EU is governed by a complex set of regulations and EU directives, such as the Posting of Workers Directive and its Enforcement Directive. This poses major challenges for companies and can be an obstacle to postings. With its proposal, the Commission aims to simplify the rules in order to reduce administrative burdens and bureaucratic hurdles. Simplification of the procedure is also expected to reduce infringements of posting rules and improve the fight against illegal work.

How does the eDeclaration work?

The eDeclaration is a digital portal that, according to the Commission’s proposal, would be made available to Member States on a voluntary basis. A single digital posting form is intended to reduce the workload for companies and national authorities. One advantage is that the eDeclaration would be available in all EU languages. Posting declarations could therefore be created and processed in the relevant language. The digital posting form would cover standardized, streamlined information requirements, such as details about the service provider, the posted worker, the posting assignment, the local contact person, and the service recipient in the host country.

The digital posting form is intended to contain standardised, concise information obligations, such as details about the service provider, the posted employee, the posting assignment, the local contact person, and the recipient of the service in the host country.

Starting positions for the negotiations

The Commission’s draft Regulation includes specific requirements regarding the information to be included in the eDeclaration. Member States would not be permitted to require any additional information beyond the data specified in the Regulation (“closed list”). Both the Council and the European Parliament support this proposal as well as the voluntary nature of the eDeclaration. The European Parliament additionally calls for limiting the amount of information requested in the standard form and granting Member States some flexibility in adapting the forms.

One unresolved issue concerns the retention period for data stored in the eDeclaration. While the Commission proposes a period of 36 months after the end of the posting, the European Parliament calls for an extension to ten years.

The Commission further proposes that information from the eDeclaration should be made available to the social partners without granting them direct access to the public interface. Both the Council and the European Parliament support this proposal. However, the Parliament additionally demands that local, regional, and national authorities be included as important stakeholders.

Outlook

The upcoming trilogue will determine the practical significance of the eDeclaration – not least in view of its proposed voluntary nature. The Commission’s proposal foresees an evaluation five years after the Regulation enters into force. According to the Council’s general approach, this evaluation should also examine a possible technical alignment between the posting declaration and the portable document A1, with a view to bringing labour law and social security posting forms closer together in the future.