National leaders have given the go ahead to two Commission deregulation policies which risk undermining their own national labour law, putting them on a collision course with trade unions at national and European level.
The conclusions of the European Council being held in Brussels say that heads of government 'welcome' the Commission’s Single Market Strategy and its Start-up Strategy.
That is despite the fact that both strategies include a proposal to introduce a ‘28th regime’, which would allow some companies to opt out of national labour law and instead operate under lower EU-wide standards. Including labour law in this proposal risks a race to the bottom, undermining rights across Europe and collective agreements.
Esther Lynch, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said:
“National leaders are storing up big trouble for themselves at home by waving through Commission plans which would fundamentally undermine their own country’s labour law.
“Including labour law in any 28th regime would allow rich tech-bros to completely ignore the rights to fair pay and decent conditions which workers have won at national level over the last century.
“For workers, that would mean lower pay, fewer rest days, and less job security. For Europe, it would represent a surrender to a US-style system of low rights and high inequality.
“Instead, European leaders should live up to their responsibilities to working people, stop following Trump into a race to the bottom that Europe could never win, and stand-up for our social model that makes Europe the best place to live and work in the world.
“The most successful economies in Europe show that the way to a competitive economy is high investment, a highly skilled workforce and a reputation for high-standards.”
