MEPs on the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee have called on the European Commission to draft a new law aimed at protecting workers from work-related psychosocial risks and stress, the Parliament said in a press release.
What Parliament is doing
The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted a position asking the Commission to prepare legislation that would address psychosocial risks at work and occupational stress. The press release, published by the Parliament, states that the committee wants a legal framework to protect both workers’ mental and physical health in relation to work-related stressors.
The text published by the committee does not include the full legislative text or specify the legal instrument the committee expects the Commission to propose. It likewise does not set out concrete measures, definitions, or enforcement mechanisms; it records the committee’s call for action and its preference for a law on the subject.
Why it matters
By urging the Commission to draft a law, the Employment and Social Affairs Committee is signalling that MEPs view psychosocial risks and stress at work as matters warranting EU-level regulatory intervention. A legislative proposal from the Commission would be the necessary next step for the European Parliament and the Council to consider concrete legal measures.
What happens next
Following the committee’s call, the next procedural step would be for the European Commission to decide whether to prepare and table a legislative proposal on psychosocial risks and stress at work. If the Commission proposes legislation, it would then enter the ordinary EU decision-making process, involving examination by Parliament and the Council.
Source: European Parliament press release
