UK set for swift entry into social chapter talks

Date: 12/06/1997

By Simon Coss

SOCIAL affairs ministers have agreed to postpone the meeting they were due to hold this week to give the UK time to join crucial social chapter negotiations on the burden of proof in sex discrimination cases.

The meeting will not now take place until after next week's summit of Union leaders in Amsterdam.

The move comes after the EU's Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) agreed that the UK should be allowed to take an active part in talks on social chapter issues as quickly as possible.

It is understood that the Union leaders will make a formal statement at the Amsterdam summit giving their blessing to this political agreement.

Although London will not have the legal right to influence such talks until the revised Maastricht Treaty is ratified - a process which experts say could take up to two years - the move reflects the willingness of the 14 social chapter states to bring the UK on board as soon as possible.

But while on the surface national administrations are eager to trumpet the new found sense of harmony between the UK and its EU partners, it is far from clear what London will actually be able to do if it is unhappy with any social chapter deals currently being drawn up.

“This is more a sort of gesture than anything else,” said one social affairs expert, pointing out that the UK will not have the right to take part in any votes which may be taken on pending legislation until the new treaty comes into force.

It is understood that ministers have agreed that, wherever possible, they will try to avoid confrontational situations where issues have to be put to a vote. But just how long they can keep this up is far from clear, with cracks already starting to show in the carefully painted veneer of amicability.

The UK is expected to be represented by the new British Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett at the rescheduled Social Affairs Council, now set for 27 June.

At that meeting, one of the main items on the agenda will be proposed new burden of proof rules which would put a greater onus on employers to prove their innocence in cases of alleged sex discrimination.

Despite objections from most member states, the European Commission has refused to remove social security systems from the scope of its proposed directive. As a result, ministers will have to reach unanimous agreement on a text acceptable to them all, instead of taking a decision by qualified majority vote.

After much diplomatic wrangling, the 14 look set to strike a deal, but the UK is understood to have reservations over how burden of proof legislation could be transposed into national law.

It is also not clear what legal status the proposed Amsterdam agreement will have in the UK. Some experts are predicting a string of legal challenges from British employers if London agrees to be bound by social chapter laws before the new treaty is ratified.

“There is a problem over this. Would such a statement be legally binding or not?” said one national official.

In a related development, it now seems clear that London will not pursue a fast-track approach to becoming a full member of the social chapter.

The UK had proposed drawing up a single-issue intergovernmental agreement to be ratified ahead of the new treaty. But several member states have indicated that such a deal would take just as long to be scrutinised by national legislatures as the full treaty.