Brussels, 15/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - Bringing the European semester to an end in Luxembourg on Friday 17 June, the ministers for employment and social affairs of the EU27 are set to reach political agreement on the “employment” plank of the recommendations for each country adopted by the Commission on 7 June of this year. Maternity leave, equality of treatment for people irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, future of the open method of coordination for social matters, coordinating the social security systems, family policy, youth employment, people living with a disability, child poverty and demographic change are also subjects on which the EU27 will assess the state of progress of the work. Sandor Czomba, the Hungarian minister of state for employment policy, and Miklos Réthelyi, the minister for national resources, will chair the work this Friday 17 June. The Commission will be represented by Lázsló Andor.
On the “maternity leave” directive, the Council will focus mainly on the amendments presented by the European Parliament under the Hungarian Presidency, on the following elements: - provisions regarding the return to work; - health, safety and conditions of work for pregnant workers; - reconciling family life and professional life; - issues to do with equal treatment and non-discrimination in general; - special leave and different forms of leave. The discussions on these amendments will continue and the work at the Council will therefore also continue in 2011. As for the directive on “equality of treatment”, the ministers will be updated on the progress of work on this directive, which has been under examination at the Council for nearly 3 years. During the term of the Hungarian Presidency, discussions have focused mainly on provisions concerning the notion of “reasonable accommodation” for people living with a disability.
The Presidency will report back to the Council on the useful negotiations it has held with the EP to dub 2012 “European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity”, and work carried out on the social aspects and employment-related aspects of the “seasonal employment” and “intra-group secondment” directives. The Commission will present its proposed change to Directive 2004/40/EC on minimum health and safety requirements for the exposure of workers to risks caused by physical agents (electromagnetic fields). The Polish delegation will present the Council with the working programme of the Polish Presidency. (G.B./transl.fl)