But EU countries rejected the proposal in a meeting of diplomats on Friday, with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden banding together to block it from reaching the qualified majority needed for approval. Hungary, Malta and Poland abstained.
The battle over changing the rules on unemployment benefits had led to an unusual alliance between Eastern European countries and France, which is more typically aligned with the wealthier nations of Old Europe. France has a large number of workers who commute to work in neighboring countries like Germany. So a French worker receiving jobless benefits would get their payment from their employer's country — a change that France's unemployment benefits agency had estimated would save €550 million to €610 million. [...]
"The Romanian Presidency of the EU Council has been firmly committed to the complex and difficult discussions on the coordination of social security systems in the EU," the presidency said in a statement. "This was with the aim of achieving a balanced perspective on the implementation of progressive measures in the field of labour mobility in the EU and the Pillar of Social Rights. We regret that the provisional agreement reached by the Romanian Presidency and the European Parliament was not confirmed ... although a large majority of member states supported and appreciated it."
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