EU Quality Jobs Act: Why Laws Can’t Solve Every Problem

The background

The European Trade Union Confederation has been lobbying for EU legislation on “quality jobs” for some years… however, it has avoided offering a clear definition of the term. For many, the term is a synonym for collective bargaining. So, any job covered by an agreement counts as a “quality” job, while any job not covered is not. Under that banner, unions have called for new laws on:

• AI governance at work, to include: employee representatives de facto codetermination (via information and consultation rights) and union agreement a requirement for the introduction of AI systems.

• A remote work framework, including a right to disconnect.

• A hard cap on subcontracting chains, limited to two levels from the principal company.

• An end to “precarious employment,” with all employees moving into permanent contracts.

In September 2025 Ursula von der Leyen committed unwisely to a Quality Jobs Act at the start of her second term as EU commission president, saying it would “ensure that modern employment keeps pace with the modern economy.” She never specified any provisions, however.

EU Commission officials have been struggling since then to craft something that delivers her commitment. This presents an obvious dilemma: how can you design measures to produce “quality jobs” when nobody has defined what a quality job is?

In December 2025, the Commission released its Quality Jobs Roadmap. It frames “quality jobs” as compatible with competitiveness, not opposed to it. That echoes the 2024 Draghi Report and the Commission’s broader competitiveness work, both of which say Europe’s future depends on closing the innovation gap, cutting red tape, and improving skills.

But here is the Catch-22: while Brussels acts as if stronger labor standards and competitiveness are not mutually exclusive, the political risk is that the Quality Jobs Act that emerges becomes another layer of regulations and compliance rules unless it is designed to help firms invest, scale, and adapt.

Where It Stands Now

Article 154 of the EU Treaty requires a two-round consultation with the European social partners, employers and unions, before any labor law moves forward. The Commission does not have to produce new legislation at the end of that process. It can issue Recommendations or a Code of Practice instead.

On 20 July, the Commission opened the second-round consultation on the Quality Jobs Act, running until the end of September. It has asked social partners to weigh in on five areas:

1. Algorithmic management and AI at work—transparency in automated decisions, protection from excessive monitoring.

2. Health and safety—Updated rules for work outside traditional offices, extreme heat, psychosocial hazards including sexual harassment.

3. Subcontracting chains—transparency, liability, and enforcement against labour exploitation.

4. Fair digital and green transitions—skills and social dialogue as companies adapt.

5. Enforcement—labour inspections, sanctions, and the role of social partners.

What This Tells Us

The second-round paper makes the Commission’s direction clear: it is reluctant to deliver the suite of new laws ETUC wants, but leans instead toward using existing laws, backed by Recommendations and Codes of Practice, to manage these issues as they emerge. That is a welcome approach.

What CHRO Member Companies Should Do Now

Read the consultation documentation and make your views known. You can route your concerns in three different ways:

1. Through the three cross industry EU level employer groups and/or the 19 sectoral employer organisations recognized as social partners by the EU commission (see list resource list below).

2. Via member-state employer organisations, who feed into the European-level employer response (above).

3. Directly to member state national governments and MEPs in the centre and centre right political blocs.

Broadly speaking, 13 of the 27-member state governments are aligned with the centre-right EPP bloc, with several others being centrist or even a little more to the right. Influence works best while legislation is still being drafted, not after a text exists.

Resource List of Employer Organizations

This list of 22 organisations comes from the list of employer side EU-level social partners who made written responses to the first-round consultation, as published by the EU Commission.

Geopa has no standalone website; the link above is to the official page on the Copa-Cogeca site, where it sits as the employers’ group. For the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the current site is ccre-cemr.org

Cross-industry level organizations:

1. BusinessEurope

2. Services of General Interest Europe (SGI Europe)

3. SMEunited

Organisations that represent employers within specific industries and services:

4. European Builders Confederation (EBC)

5. European Federation for Print and Digital Communication (Intergraf)

6. European Union of the Natural Gas Industry (Eurogas)

7. Performing Arts Employers’ Associations League Europe (PEARLE*)

8. European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC)

9. European Chemical Employers Group (ECEG)

10. European Confederation of Woodworking Industries (CEI–Bois)

11. Retail, Wholesale and International Trade Representation to the EU (EuroCommerce)

12. Federation of European Social Employers

13. European Ships and Maritime Equipment Association (SEA Europe)

14. Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)

15. Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS)

16. European Cleaning and Facility Services Industry (EFCI)

17. International Road Transport Union (IRU)

18. World Employment Confederation Europe (WEC Europe)

19. Council of European Employers of the Metal, Engineering and Technology-Based Industries (CEEMET)

20. European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE)

21. Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés in Europe (HOTREC)

22. European Employers’ Group of Professional Agricultural Organizations (Geopa)