EU: the December 5 Employment Ministers’ Council could lead to three political agreements on “social” directives

The Social Affairs Ministers will meet on December 5 under the leadership of a Portuguese presidency firmly decided to achieve drafts directive on temporary work and working time. By linking these two texts, the presidency, which finishes its term at the end of this month, is hoping to help a majority of delegations get what they want and reach a political agreement on both of them. In addition, another political agreement is considered for the draft directive on supplementary pensions. (Ref. 070991)
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Smart Portuguese presidency which, by linking these two directive bills – temporary work and working time – understood quite well that the compromises reached for one can be used as a bargaining chip for the other. In its mind, it has a concrete form : amend as little as possible the possibility to avoid the maximum of 48-hours-a-week limit (opt-out) on the occasion of the revision of the directive on working time, in exchange for the acknowledgement of temporary workers’ equal treatment, and m

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