MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Urgent need to regulate teleworking and the right to disconnect in the European Union – E-001377/2025

Question for written answer  E-001377/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Elena Kountoura (The Left), Konstantinos Arvanitis (The Left)

In response to a previous question[1] on the establishment of the right to disconnect and the protection of remote workers at European level, the Commission recognised the challenges posed by the digitalisation of work and the need to address them effectively with the appropriate means. Nonetheless, the proportion of workers who continue to work remotely remains high and the fragmentation of the relevant legislation between Member States makes the need for direct legal protection of teleworkers at European level imperative.

Given that: (a) the risks to the health and safety of teleworkers and the right to disconnect have remained unregulated since the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) the European Parliament has already, since January 2021, called on the Commission to guarantee the right of workers to disconnect from their work without facing any consequences[2]; (c) the European Parliament has recently reiterated its call for a legislative proposal regulating teleworking and the right to disconnect[3]; and (d) the Commission has initiated the legislative process[4] by launching the first-stage consultation of social partners on 30 April 2024, after three years had already been lost to fruitless negotiations, does the Commission intend to speed up the process and promptly move forward with the legislative proposal on teleworking and the right to disconnect, in order to resolve the problem of teleworker exploitation in the Member States without delay?

Submitted: 3.4.2025

• [1] Answer given by Mr Schmit on behalf of the Commission (25.01.2024) (P9_RE(2023)003497_EN) https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/questions/reponses_qe/2023/003497/P9_RE(2023)003497_EN.pdf
• [2] Specifically with the European Parliament resolution of 21 January 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on the right to disconnect (2019/2181(INL)).
• [3] Specifically in paragraph 30 of the European Parliament resolution of 12 March 2025 on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2025.
• [4] Based on Article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.