LUXEMBOURG (CN) — The European Union’s top court sided with the bloc's executive body over labor unions on Thursday in a dispute over protections for public-sector workers.
The European Court of Justice upheld a lower court ruling finding that the European Commission was not required to bring a labor agreement before the European Council, where it could become legally binding.
“It is for the Commission to decide whether or not to submit a proposal for a legislative act,” the Luxembourg-based court wrote.
The complaint was brought by the European Public Service Union, an umbrella organization of more than 200 unions representing the interests of public-sector workers across the EU.
In 2015, trade unions negotiated an agreement for civil servants employed by national governments to extend to those workers – nearly 10 million across the continent – the same protections granted by the EU to other employees. Specifically, public-sector workers lack the same right to be informed or consulted about contract or employment conditions.
In 2018, then-European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker refused to send the labor agreement to the European Council, made up of the heads of state of each EU country.
The EPSU challenged this decision and lost before the European General Court, the EU’s lower court, in 2018. In that ruling, the General Court found that the commission had no legal obligation to move forward on the agreement. The group appealed that decision, arguing the lower court interpreted too broadly the commission’s latitude to make such decisions.
The Court of Justice's 15-judge panel disagreed Thursday.
“The General Court did not expand the Commission’s role at the expense of the role of the social partners and of the Council in the procedure laid down in [Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union],” the ruling states.
In its arguments before the court, the EPSU conceded that the commission had the authority to choose what to move forward to the council. If the EPSU’s arguments were accepted, it would create “an obligation on the Commission, in all circumstances, to submit to the Council a proposal for a decision implementing at EU level the agreement concluded between management and labour,” the court found. The judges declined to establish such an obligation.
EPSU General Secretary Jan Willem Goudriaan blasted the ruling in a statement Thursday.
“This is a very damaging ruling. It is now for the Commission to undo the harm it has caused, restore trust and work with the social partners on a transparent processing of EU sectoral and intersectoral social partner agreements," he said.
Generally, the EU sets a standard floor regarding labor regulations and countries are free to set their standards higher if they choose. For example, the EU mandates that all employees be given at least four weeks of annual paid leave, though the minimum requirement in most countries is higher.
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