Yolanda Díaz calls on Brussels for a European directive to regulate the right to disconnect

The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, attends the media at the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO)

The Second Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, has called on her EU counterparts in Brussels to take a step forwards in terms of labour rights by promoting a directive that regulates the right of workers to disconnect.

Right to disconnect

At the formal meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO), the vice-president was forceful in her defence of this measure, saying that a culture of hyper-availability erodes the boundaries between work and life. "It's not just about occupational health or work-life balance. It is about something more profound: ensuring that technological development is at the service of human progress," the minister explained.

Díaz, whose department already regulated this right in a pioneering way in 2021, has argued that the overwhelming digital invasion has turned disconnection into a privilege for working people and, if it is not regulated, it risks becoming not only detrimental to metal health, but a tool that serves extractive business logic.

In current European legislation, working time is regulated by Directive 2003/88/EC, which barely takes into account the new digital reality.

This is why she advocates a specific directive and going beyond symbolic declarations or mere recommendations. "A binding rule is needed to ensure that no worker can be penalised for exercising their right to their own time. Disconnecting is not a concession. It is a right," said the vice-president, who pointed out the risk that an unlimited working day poses to mental health. Díaz stressed the need to "guarantee humane working conditions, where rest is a real right and not a privilege for a few."

It has also shied away from the dilemma of pitting economic progress against social protection. "There is no competitiveness without rights", the vice-president categorically stated, believing that the workforce is more productive when it has rights, health and stability. "A Europe that cares for its people is a stronger Europe," Díaz insisted.

The Social Convergence Framework is consolidated

The European Social Convergence Framework, the initiative launched by Spain and Belgium two years ago to monitor the employment and social situation in the EU Member States, is being strengthened, which implies the introduction of social imbalance indicators in the European Semester.

Last year this mechanism was introduced on a pilot basis.

The vice-president stressed to her colleagues the importance of social objectives not being subordinated to economic goals. "The Social Convergence Framework is a key instrument to ensure that the European Semester is an effective tool for monitoring and driving forward social convergence in the EU," she reiterated.

Faced with an international situation that generates uncertainty, Díaz recalled the importance of strengthening the protection of workers. "In a Europe built on the recognition of rights, we will not allow simplification and purely economic objectives to overwhelm the social protection that we have worked so hard to establish, and which is the hallmark of European societies," she insisted.

The vice-president also pointed out that the European Semester report approved today highlights the regulatory changes introduced by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy in the reform undertaken on unemployment benefits and the positive impact that it is having, as well as the regulation of domestic work, a measure that improves the social protection of those who work in households, the vast majority of whom are women.

Non official translation