Brussels 24 October 2019) Today the EU General Court released ruling in the EPSU Vs European Commission case regarding information and consultation rights of workers in governments. The Court concludes that the Commission’s right of initiative means it can decide on whether or not to make social partner agreements legally binding on all EU member states.

EPSU General Secretary, Jan Willem Goudriaan says: “The ruling is a blow to 9.8 million government workers who are denied the same EU legal protection for information and consultation rights as private sector workers on restructuring.

“This is a major issue for the future of social dialogue at EU level. What is at stake is the real weight social partners have in the development of EU minimum social standards. The right of autonomy of social partners is put into question. The ruling leaves huge uncertainty over future EU social partner agreements. ” concludes Mr Goudriaan.

EPSU will now study the judgment carefully before taking a decision with its Executive Committee on the next steps, including whether to appeal to the European Court of Justice.

EPSU has just over two months to make an appeal against the Court’s verdict.