Emmanuel Macron, the French president, Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s prime minister, and Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, during a summit in Luxembourg on 30 August 2017 during which the EU directive on posted work was discussed Anthony Dehez

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s prime minister, and Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, during a summit in Luxembourg on 30 August 2017 during which the EU directive on posted work was discussed Anthony Dehez

Posted workers are those who are legally employed in one member state, while working in another. 

Luxembourg has sided with France in this debate, while tensions with eastern European member states persist. 

Already in 2016, eastern European members rejected a draft reform of the 1996 labour directive, proposed by the European Commission in March. The planned reform advocated equal pay for posted workers as for locals, transparency in remuneration composition, and a limited duration of 24 months. 

For the past year, discussions had been ongoing until the French president revisited the text in June 2017. Macron’s criticism addressed unfair competition, fraud and the neglect of workers’ rights. 

Luxembourg on the labour directive 

In 2016, 81,330 posted workers were recorded in the grand duchy, out of which half were employed in the construction sector.  

Luxembourg already tightened its posted work laws on national ground earlier this year. On 27 March 2017, the Chambre des Métiers (Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts) released an overview of the new posted work laws that went into force on 20 May.

Financial penalties focused employer obligations to register posted staff with ILM, the labour inspection agency. A mandatory registration of each posted worker on an electronic platform was installed, which operates through a so-called “social badge” that all such employees need to carry with them at work. The social badge aims to keep a record of the posted worker’s status, working hours as well as pay statements.

During a conference of European ministers of social affairs in Luxembourg on 15 June 2017, the revision of the posted workers directive was on the schedule. According to LeMonde, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria agreed with France on the proposed labour directive. However, in the first round of discussions, Luxembourg was even keener on tightening the rules, envisioning a limitation of 6 months, the French newspaper said. To protect continental unity, the grand duchy acquiesced to a compromise of 12 months, as proposed by Paris.

During his pan-European tour in August, Macron reached an agreement with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which, according to the New York Times, could be a symbolic victory over Eurosceptics.

During his visit in the grand duchy at the end of August, Macron and the Luxembourg prime minister, Xavier Bettel, stumped for reforming the current laws on posted work: “I welcome the propositions of the French president, Mr Macron, to reinforce the directive on posted workers”, Bettel said, according to Paperjam. 

So far, not all of the EU members have been convinced, Poland being the strongest opponent. Talks are still in progress and the matter has been pushed forward to the EU leaders meeting on 23 October in Luxembourg.