EU Insight, 5 June 2020

SECOND CONSULTATION ON MINIMUM WAGES LAUNCHED

The European Commission launched the second-stage consultation of European trade unions and employers’ organisations on how to ensure fair minimum wages for all workers in the EU. Based on the replies received to the first-stage consultation, which ran earlier this year, the Commission has concluded there is need for further EU action. Questions put forward seek to determine what sort of instrument would be most appropriate; the Commission is considering both legislative and non-legislative instruments (i.e. a Directive in the area of working conditions, and a Council Recommendation). The consultation will remain open until 4 September.

COMMISSION PROPOSES TO MAKE €11.5BN AVAILABLE FOR RECOVERY IN 2020

The Commission proposed modifications to its budget for 2020 to make €11.5 billion immediately available for crisis repair and recovery. The proposal is a technical follow-up to the recovery plan that the Commission put forward last week, consisting of a new recovery instrument, Next Generation EU and a revised Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027. Specifically, the proposal aims to free up a total of €11.5 billion for REACT-EU, the Solvency Support Instrument and European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) ahead of the next MFF, which will start on 1 January 2021.

CONSULTATION SEEK VIEWS ON DIGITAL SERVICES ACT PACKAGE

The Commission published a consultation on the Digital Services Act (DSA) package, seeking to gather feedback from stakeholders to help shape the future rulebook for digital services. The consultation focuses on the two workstreams of the DSA: i) the review of the e-Commerce Directive – ‘deepening internal market rules and clarifying responsibilities for digital platforms’; and ii) the issue of the level playing field in European digital markets – ‘ex ante regulatory instrument of very large online platforms acting as gatekeepers’. The consultation will remain open until 8 September and the Commission plans to adopt the DSA legislation in Q4 of this year.

€300 MILLION TO THE VACCINE ALLIANCE GAVI

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will receive €300 million from the Commission to help immunise 300 million children around the world, and to finance stockpiles as a measure to increase preparedness of healthcare systems against outbreaks of infectious diseases. The pledge is part of the Commission’s Coronavirus Global Response, in which it will support the Vaccine Alliance for the period of 2021 to 2025. The Commission expects the financial support to deliver over 3.2 billion doses of life-saving vaccines to 55 countries and will facilitate 1.4 billion contacts between families and health services through vaccination.

COMMISSION SEEKS INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS ON A POSSIBLE NEW COMPETITION TOOL

An inception impact assessment and an open public consultation was launched by the Commission to explore the need for a new competition tool to address structural competition problems (e.g. tipping market) in a timely and effective way. The discussion on the potential tool is part of a broader antitrust policy debate on the need for changes to the current competition law framework to enable enforcement agencies to continue preserving the competitiveness of markets. Following the stakeholder consultation period, the Commission is expected to present a legislative proposal on the tool by end of 2020.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

• 8 June: Video conference of agriculture ministers. On the agenda: Farm to fork strategy, Biodiversity strategy.
• 8 June: Video conference of foreign affairs ministers (development). On the agenda: implementation of the Team Europe package.
• 9 June: Informal video conference of employment and social affairs ministers. On the agenda: flexible working arrangements, upskilling/reskilling, gender equality.
• 9 June: Video conference of economics and finance ministers. On the agenda: MFF and recovery plan, country specific recommendations.
• 9 June: Video conference of foreign affairs ministers (trade). On the agenda: WTO, implications of COVID-19 for trade policy.
• 11 June: Video conference of the Eurogroup. On the agenda: Banking Union, EU recovery plan.
• 12 June: Video conference of ministers of health.
• 12 June: Video conference of ministers responsible for internal market and industry.

 Karl Isaksson, Managing Partner Brussels, Kreab