Most of the EU's 28 members backed a compromise that would cap posting workers abroad at 18 months and introduce a four-year transition between reaching a final agreement on the reform and its taking effect, reports Reuters. French President Macron has put reforming the posting of workers directive high on the EU’s agenda. Macron claims that current rules harm French workers by allowing companies to pay posted workers more than they would get at home, but less than locals. Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland stated they could not back the proposal adding that the reforms amount to protectionism. 

The current posted workers directive allows citizens from countries such as Hungary and Poland to work elsewhere in the bloc for salaries higher than they would get at home but still lower than the local labour force. The 18-month agreement, which was proposed as a 12-month cap with a possible 6-month extension, bridged most differences over the maximum period allowed for sending workers abroad under posting rules before they fall under the host country’s labour laws.