The priority given to quality jobs in the Commission's 2026 Work Programme is an important recognition of the problems working people face, but the ETUC warns that commitments must now be turned into concrete action. After a year of corporate buzzwords in 2025, 2026 will be a major test of whether the European Commission is ready to deliver for working people.
The proposed Quality Jobs Act offers a long-overdue opportunity to tackle precarious work, strengthen collective bargaining, and ensure that digital and green transitions deliver for working people. The ETUC urges these challenges to be met with directives to:
- Ensure just transition and anticipation and management of change
- Regulate AI in the workplace on the basis of the "human-in-control" principle
- Prevent psychosocial risks and tackle the epidemic of stress at work
- Tackle abuses in subcontracting and labour intermediation
Given the absence of the proposal for a Directive on the right to disconnect and telework from the Commission Work Programme for 2026, it is essential that this promised proposal be delivered before the end of 2025.
The Commission’s commitment to revise public procurement rules is also vital and this must result in rules that ensure public money promotes quality jobs and collective bargaining. The Work Programme furthermore includes an important recognition of the urgent need to address the housing crisis facing workers across Europe.
However, the ETUC warns that these positive initiatives risk being undermined by the 28th Company Regime in the Work Programme. It is crucial to avoid giving a free pass for corporations to circumvent national labour laws and collective agreements through the 28th Company Regime. The Commission must now publicly commit to taking labour law off the table in its proposals for the 28th Company Regime.
Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, said:
“This Work Programme opens the door for serious work that can make a positive difference to millions of working people’s lives.
“The big test will be exactly that: does it deliver real change: secure contracts, fair pay, and dignity at work? Trade unions will be proactive in our support to the Commission in reaching those objectives.
“Here in Europe, countries with the highest productivity and innovation are those with high collective bargaining coverage and strong social dialogue. The Commission’s proposal to fix public procurement must result in support to collective bargaining and quality jobs.
“Too many working people struggle to afford a roof over their head. Making affordable housing is a social and economic priority is also crucial to delivering for working people.
“It is a shame that the only rights explicitly mentioned in the Commission Work Programme are shareholder rights. It shows the need to reprioritise action to lift the many who work for a living and not just the few who make their money from their assets.
“The ‘28th Company Regime’ is a trojan horse that risks undermining labour law and collective agreements. This would set the EU on a major collision course with the trade union movement. The Commission must nip that risk in the bud now by publicly guaranteeing that labour law will not be impacted by this initiative.”
