Brussels, 21/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday 21, EU employment and social affairs ministers highlighted the need for the Employment/Social Affairs Council and Employment (EMCO) and Social Protection (SPC) Committees to be given a greater role on the European stage, while supporting governance of the European jobs strategy within the context of the EU 2020 strategy and the European semester (a mechanism which allows member states to monitor one another's economic and budgetary policies).
How can employment policies and the EPSCO Council form part of the macro-economic and thematic supervision of structural reform? That was how Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and chairwoman of the meeting Joëlle Milquet opened discussions.
For ministers, the debate must continue. Links have to be made between the Employment, Social Protection and Economic and Monetary (ECON) committees, but without any hierarchy arrangement among them, said Portuguese minister and former Secretary General of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Maria Helena André.
The EPSCO Council conclusions will form part of the European Council conclusions. It is also necessary to ensure that ownership is taken of the EU 2020 strategy “which must serve everyone”, that communication is improved, that the European objectives of the said strategy are made reality, that the open method of communication (OMC) is strengthened and that debate is resumed in the EPSCO Council on the quality and speed of its work method.
Ministers say that the main obstacles to growth and employment on national labour markets are increased unemployment and poverty levels, current low qualification levels and the ageing of the population, along with its consequences, such as extending working times and increasing the retirement age to 66 by 2020.
For France, the EPSCO Council must “play its full role” in the new European economic governance, improve its working methods, building on the Employment, Social Protection and ECON Committees. Progress to be made consists of improving synergies between macroeconomic coordination and the European strategy for jobs. The political message is that priority must be given to differences in how the labour market works for the two ends of the scale, the young and the old. Hungary, which will take over the Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in January 2011, called for improvements in education and training, with the latter having to serve the economy. Hungary said it wanted to develop the institutional role of training. The United Kingdom announced the launch of a full review of the social security system, for better jobs and a fairer society, and a plan for reducing poverty and tackling the lack of jobs, the idea being, inter alia, to encourage the private sector and improve social justice. By 2020, retirement age must also be raised to 66. The Netherlands is to launch an appeal to older people to stay in the labour market, with their work being made more attractive. For Italy, too much red tape must be avoided. All Council formations must be aware of the need to devise a general framework as quickly as possible. Better qualifications, implementing a convincing flexicurity model, decentralisation and subsidiarity are all key reforms Italy would like to see undertaken.
Following the debate, Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner László Andor stressed the following points: 1) it is clear that labour market policies must be connected and must work closely with education and training policies; 2) on employment, thought must be given to supply and demand; 3) on working method, strategies must be targeted and exact; 4) member states are all in the same boat and must work together to encourage the labour market. Local and regional authorities are at the heart of these efforts.
In the conclusions adopted, the EPSCO Council will contribute to the discussions of the European Council at three key times: - before each European semester, it will take stock of progress made on the main objectives of the EU 2020 strategy and national employment targets, will collect thematic areas for action common to several member states which are worthy of closer attention and will assess the impact of measures taken in employment on the macro-economic situation; - with a view to the contribution to the spring European Council, it will, in the joint employment report, list the main employment perspectives requiring strategic guidelines from the European Council; - at the end of the European semester, it will examine and adopt recommendations for each member state individually under Article 148§4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. Further, the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee are asked to bring forward a report clearly and concisely setting out results in employment, before December 2010. (G.B./transl.rt)