"Some of the countries are calling for a review of the directive, which right now is not receiving sufficient support among the members, and some are against, while Croatia is among the countries that are neutral," Coric said after a meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council.
The ministers discussed proposed amendments which the Commission put forward last year. The aim of the amendments is to prevent social dumping, unfair competition in wages for workers from different member states. Under EU legislation, a posted worker is an employee who is sent by his employer to provide a service in another EU member state on a temporary basis.
Under the Commission's proposal, a posted worker should have the same pay and the same work conditions as workers in the host country, while under present rules, such workers are most often paid according to the standards of their country of origin. This could lead to companies from poorer member states losing a competitive advantage as they would not be able to win contracts in richer member states, which would also adversely affect employment.
Currently, there are over 28,000 Croatian workers who have been posted to other member states, and the amendments proposed by the Commission and backed by some of the member states could cause problems to the companies concerned because they would face higher costs and be less competitive.
Asked why then Croatia was neutral on this issue, Coric said that the problem should be examined from several perspectives. "Both sides ignore certain aspects, good and bad repercussions of the amended directive. We absolutely welcome the equal-pay-for-equal-work principle," the minister said, adding that Croatia also has understanding for the other side, "which is why Croatia's position on this issue is not so simple."
The ministers also discussed a proposal to improve the coordination of the member states' social security systems and the exchange of data on social security benefits paid out.