Yesterday, the Court of Justice of the European Union released its verdict on the case EPSU (the European Federation of Public Service Unions) brought against the European Commission (case C-928/19P). A very disappointing, destabilising and disturbing decision.
The case concerned the Commission’s unprecedented refusal to bring forward a social partner agreement to the Council for decision based on the interpretation of Article 155.2 TFEU.
The EFBWW shares the view of ETUC and is very worried that the process by which European unions and employers get their agreements recognised in EU law has been thrown into doubt. As EPSU puts it, this challenges the autonomy of social partners and leaves them in legal uncertainty regarding their future agreements.
The EFBWW general secretary, Tom Deleu: “The process is a very troubling sign about the importance given by the European Commission and by the European Court of Justice to the social dialogue and to European workers’ rights”. We urge the EC to ensure that the Social Partner Agreements will continue to be put forward in a predictable way and be adopted as EU Directives.
We will support all follow-up actions decided by ETUC and EPSU regarding this case.