Today the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in the case brought by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) against the refusal of the European Commission to put forward their Social Partner Agreement for adoption as a European Directive (Judgment T-310/18, EPSU and Goudriaan v Commission).

The court judgement will be a blow to those 9.8 million government workers who would have benefited from much needed rights to information and consultation with their employer.

“The ruling is highly confusing and raises more questions of legal principle than it answers” said Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). “The likely consequence will be more uncertainty surrounding Social Partner Agreements instead of less.”

“It’s a wake-up call to the EU institutions to clarify the rules for turning union/employer agreements into EU law.”

ETUC will examine the case in detail with its affiliates and decide how to bring the necessary certainty and clarity to secure that Social Partner Agreements will continue to be put forward in a predictable way and be adopted as EU Directives.