“I believe we have found a balanced compromise,” said Estonia’s minister Jevgeni Ossinovski, who chaired the 11 hours of talks as his country currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Opposing the agreement among the 28 labor ministers were Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania, while Britain, Ireland and Croatia abstained. At the outset of the talks in March 2016, the European Commission, the EU executive, had proposed a 24-month cap. Paris also yielded on the road transport sector as central and eastern countries Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as Spain and Portugal voiced fears the reforms would hurt their truck drivers. But there has been staunch resistance in eastern and central Europe, where most of the less expensive workers come from.

Source: Manila Times October 24, 2017 02:37 UTC