(L-R) Georges Mischo, Luxembourg's Minister of Labour; Hubertus Heil, Germany's Minister of Labour and Social Affairs;
Credit: MT
On Monday 11 March 2024, Luxembourg's Minister of Labour, Georges Mischo, attended the Employment and Social Policy Council held in Brussels, under the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
At this Council, EU employment and social affairs ministers confirmed the provisional agreement reached on 8 February 2024 between the Council Presidency and European Parliament negotiators on the Platform Work Directive. This EU legal act aims to improve working conditions on digital platforms and regulate their use of algorithms. It is also expected to help correctly determine the employment status of people working for platforms, allowing them to benefit from relevant labour law rights.
Luxembourg's Minister of Labour stressed that the directive should ensure balance between the protection of people who work on digital platforms and who find themselves in a vulnerable situation, and the development of new business models that take advantage of the possibilities offered by digitalisation.
The text of the agreement will now be finalised and formally adopted by the Parliament and the Council.
On Monday afternoon, the ministers also held an orientation debate on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights within the framework of the 2024 European Semester and the future social agenda ahead of the European elections.
Under other matters, as co-signatory of a letter addressed to Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, Minister Mischo underlined the desire for more ambition in the field of health and safety at work for the next institutional cycle.
On the sidelines of the Council of the EU meeting, Luxembourg's Minister of Labour had an informal meeting with his German counterpart, Hubertus Heil, and his Greek counterpart, Domna Maria Michailidou, with whom he had an exchange on European legislative files currently being negotiated.
