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What is said in the sittings, update by update, the latest first. Each update opens the video at the second it was said.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Coordinators discuss procedural and organisational matters of the EMPL Committee, starting with the adoption and possible modification of their agenda.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Informal coordinators’ meeting of the EMPL Committee focused on organisational matters and the committee’s working agenda.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Debate in the EMPL Committee on a draft report concerning protection of workers from extreme temperatures and related climate risks.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Committee discussion on how extreme temperatures and other climate-related weather conditions affect workers’ health and safety and what policy responses are needed.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Chair underlines that all questions relate to low awareness of rights and remedies and asks who should drive change, and the Commission replies that national equality bodies must be strengthened and better linked with labour inspectorates, identifies insufficient EU‑level protection against sexual harassment at work and links this to the Job Quality Act consultation, before both sides stress inter‑committee cooperation, intersectionality and formally close the meeting.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
MEP Arvanitis (Left) presents Greek data on large employment gaps for persons with disabilities and high discrimination rates against LGBTI and Roma people, argues that governments themselves often violate EU equality law, and asks which concrete measures and timelines the Commission foresees for member states with inadequate sanctions or failure to transpose the Equality Bodies Directives.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
MEP Langensiepen (Greens) stresses low rights awareness, cites a German case of a worker in a sheltered workshop claiming minimum wage and full labour rights, criticises member states for breaching the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and asks how the Commission can better support individuals seeking to assert their rights.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
MEPs press the Commission on disability and sheltered workshops, inadequate sanctions, non‑compliance and delayed transposition of the Equality Bodies Directives, while the Commission and Chair discuss responsibilities for awareness‑raising, strengthening equality bodies and labour inspectorates, and possible EU action on workplace harassment. The segment closes with a call for cross‑committee, intersectional monitoring of discrimination and adjournment of the meeting.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Commission explains key case law clarifying that the Employment Equality Directive covers all forms of work and protects workers associated with protected groups, then addresses structural and algorithmic discrimination and the lack of collective redress, stressing the need for well‑resourced equality bodies and proper transposition of the new Equality Bodies Directives.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Commission presents its 5‑year application report on the Racial and Employment Equality Directives, highlighting that sanctions are often limited to very low fines without preventive measures, victims rarely obtain redress, and there is widespread lack of awareness of rights and complaint mechanisms, with virtually no use of provisions on harassment or instructions to discriminate.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the agenda item, frames the discussion around the Racial Equality and Employment Equality Directives, recalls Court of Justice developments, underlines implementation gaps (reporting, remedies, reasonable accommodation) and notes the new Equality Bodies Directive before giving the floor to the Commission.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
The Chair opens the agenda point on the Racial and Employment Equality Directives, recalling their scope and CJEU case law, and the Commission presents its 2024 application report, highlighting weak sanctions, low awareness, structural and algorithmic discrimination, and the role of equality bodies. This sets the framework for political scrutiny of enforcement gaps and the effectiveness of existing EU anti‑discrimination law.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
MEPs question experts on support for carers, long‑term care, continuity from paid leave to affordable childcare and benefit levels, with replies stressing well‑paid leave, integrated care services, use of EU funds and the need to change workplace culture. The Commission then reports on the state of implementation of the directive, sectoral gaps, low parental leave compensation and upcoming evaluation and thematic reports, before the Chair concludes the hearing and announces a follow‑up study.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
Professor de la Porte analyses the directive’s earmarked leave and compensation benchmarks and shows how national design choices affect fathers’ uptake, while Italian social workers and Polish academics add frontline and country‑specific perspectives on access to leave, integrated care services and Poland’s 2023 reform. Research findings on Polish fathers’ leave uptake and an EPP rapporteur’s call to reinforce the directive close the expert input phase.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
MEPs from several groups question experts on late or weak transposition, cultural barriers to fathers’ leave, telework overtime, subsidiarity, SMEs’ constraints, demographic priorities, minimum payment levels and carers’ rights, with replies highlighting telework overtime data, company agreements, workplace norms, tax disincentives and Danish experience. This block surfaces political divides on EU versus national roles, the burden on small firms and the adequacy of compensation, concluding with the Chair moving to Panel 2.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The FEMM Chair highlights persistent gender stereotypes, unpaid care burdens and career penalties for women, and urges full transposition, enforcement and resourcing of the directive alongside EU care standards and possible reinforcement of leave rights, including non‑transferable, fully paid maternity and paternity leave.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
ETUC outlines practical shortcomings and calls for stronger minimum payments, paid carers’ leave, broader coverage and dismissal protection, while BusinessEurope supports the directive’s objectives but warns against revising the legislation, stressing childcare provision, implementation burdens and the need to focus the 2026 evaluation on correct transposition and real‑world effects.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
EIGE introduces its study on whether the directive promotes equal sharing of parental leave, demonstrating that well‑paid, individual non‑transferable leave boosts fathers’ uptake, but that eligibility gaps, non‑standard work and childcare shortages still limit equal access and push mothers to longer labour‑market interruptions.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Eurofound presents survey data on trends in work‑life balance and gender gaps, showing how telework and working time autonomy can improve outcomes but also create risks such as longer hours, blurred boundaries, unpaid overtime and stress, with many workers still seeking shorter hours.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
Eurofound and EIGE present evidence on work‑life balance trends, flexible work, long hours, mental health, and the gendered use of parental leave and childcare gaps, followed by ETUC and BusinessEurope setting out trade‑union and employer positions on pay levels, carers’ leave, SMEs and childcare targets. FEMM’s Chair then links these findings to broader gender norms, unpaid care, enforcement needs, EU funding and possible revision of the directive.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
The Chair and EP President frame the hearing within Gender Equality Week, recall persistent gender gaps, and set out the objective to assess the Work‑Life Balance Directive, its evaluation questions and the structure of the expert panels. This segment establishes the political and procedural context and hands over to the first expert provider, Eurofound.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Chair launches the Work‑Life Balance Directive impact hearing under Gender Equality Week, presents the institutional and political context, clarifies the focus on leave and flexible work provisions, explains the two‑panel and Q&A structure, and introduces the first expert from Eurofound.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
Members vote on amendments and final oral questions to the Commission and Council regarding the European Child Guarantee, using both show‑of‑hands and roll‑call votes with detailed tallies, and conclude the voting block with adoption of the committee’s opinion on the EU–UK Gibraltar agreement.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The EMPL Chair opens the meeting, confirms the agenda and replacements, and leads the full voting sequence on the European Social Fund regulation, including compromise and REGI amendments, rapporteurs’ political positioning and justification, and final adoption of the report and negotiation mandate.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
The European Commission presents the existing EU framework on pesticides and OSH and Member States’ enforcement role, after which the Chair summarises key points and outlines future EMPL committee work on protecting agricultural workers from pesticide risks.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
Three consecutive question rounds where MEPs interrogate EU‑OSHA, NGOs, trade unions and employers on Omnibus 10, pesticide authorisations, OSH enforcement, data gaps, disease recognition, CAP social conditionality, competitiveness and practical prevention tools.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
Launch of the public hearing on occupational exposure to pesticides and initial evidence from EU‑OSHA, PAN Europe, EFFAT and GEOPA‑COPA on health risks, regulatory gaps, enforcement challenges, employers’ concerns and transition pathways in agriculture.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting HEARING
Opening of the EMPL meeting with agenda and rapporteur designations, followed by detailed reporting on the fact‑finding mission to Amazon warehouses and its implications for forthcoming EU labour and social policy work.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Chair and Executive Vice‑President Mînzatu present the Fair Labour Mobility Package and its links to ESSPASS, ELA, skills portability, third‑country nationals and telework, followed by several Q&A rounds on enforcement powers, subcontracting liability, digital and non‑digital tools, migration and employment impacts, OSH (including heat) and EMPL’s red lines on EU Inc and cross‑border telework.
In this chapter
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the EMPL meeting and conducts a structured dialogue with Executive Vice‑President Séjourné on his competitiveness agenda, industrial policy and the planned overhaul of EU public procurement, including debates on social conditionality, EU preference, energy costs, subcontracting limits and safeguards for the social economy and the 28th regime.
In this chapter
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European Parliament broadcasts the sittings of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL). Polyfact shows each one live, keeps it as a replay with its transcript and links its key moments to the second they were said.
71 sittings on Polyfact since 9 April 2025
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