Brussels, 17/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU employment and social policy ministers, meeting in Luxembourg under the chairmanship of Sándor Czomba, managed to reached general agreement on the “employment” strand of the country-specific recommendations, adopted by the Commission on 7 June. Belgium, Cyrus and Malta put down reservations on these recommendations and the United Kingdom a reservation pending scrutiny by parliament. EPSCO (Employment and Social Policy) Council chairman Czomba will present the said recommendations, along with an explanatory note, to the Ecofin and General Affairs Councils.
Ministers held an intense, fruitful and very useful debate on taking significant measures to put in place a new socio-economic coordination plan. The assessment of recommendations and national reform programmes and the aim of an ambitious and balanced 2020 strategy should be reflected in these measures. Ministers also discussed fundamentals, that is, employment and social inclusion, and addressing lack of job security and unemployment, especially among young people. They also stated the need to work on the long-term challenges of EU competitiveness and stabilisation of the labour market. The measures advocated may sometimes be painful, such as, for example, those on restructuring pension systems and of work. The call was made to remain cautious for the future, to take account of the role of the groups, such as older people, which will have to face insurmountable challenges on the labour market. In short, for ministers, balance has to be restored between competitiveness and good social protection.
“The country-specific recommendations package provides a sound base for determining the areas where swift measures will have to be taken to implement the EU 2020 strategy. The results will be very important for the summit at the end of June”, said Hungarian Employment Policy Minister Czomba. Adoption of the recommendations and their implementation will be crowned with success, the groundwork by the Commission will have solid foundations and better understanding will ease the dialogue between member states and experts on issues such as pension systems and indexation of wages, he added, expressing the keen hope that the Polish and Danish Presidencies will follow the same path.
During the debate, reserves were put down by a number of member states on retirement age and wage negotiations. All the ministers said it was right to call for a greater role for the EPSCO Council in economic governance. The chairman of the employment committee said that employment policy had an impact on economic balance in the euro area.
Belgium regretted that the Commission evaluation did not take sufficient account of the integrated guidelines and the EU 2020 strategy. The Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Joëlle Milquet said that there was something wrong that employment ministers could not make their views known on euro area issues. She argued that employment and Ecofin should be linked. She called, therefore, for the official outcome of the EPSCO Council to be sent, by means of a letter to the Presidency of the EU Council, to the General Affairs Council. Cyprus felt that measures taken with regard to pensions could not go on eternally and that there had to be discussion with the social partners. In addition, recommendations on training and wages are matters over which member states have sovereignty. Malta maintained its reservations on the recommendations with regard to retirement, on which it would brook no compromise, and wages, where there is a lack of understanding of the indexation mechanisms operating in that country. It says that discussion has to be based on technical points.
Given the refusal by these three countries to lift their reservation, President Czomba called on Belgium, Cyprus and Malta to meet in trialogue with the Commission to seek to resolve the problem. For now, it is Ecofin that will decide on employment issues, he added. Germany, following suit, considered it vital that the EPSCO Council should express its point of view so that it may be involved in Ecofin issues. The German minister said he hoped a three-country solution would be reached as it is a matter of making an important contribution to the European summit and an important signal for the labour market. France took the view that an agreement should be clearly reached on the Council's competence. Lessons must be drawn for the first half of 2012, there must be better scrutiny of projects by the Commission and member states, and member states must take policies fully on board without reducing their European dimension. It is important to involve social partners in this exercise (i.e. on pensions, on terms and conditions of wage regulations). To this backdrop, France considers the Commission should go into two things in greater detail - the fostering of alternance training for young people, and measures to counter unemployment. It must reflect on the transition between study and entry to the labour market, and on how to combat working poverty and low salary job traps. Italy has called for social cohesion to be safeguarded as that is the best way, it says, to address the crisis facing us today. The Italian minister noted that, given the procedural delays and the overfull timetable, it is difficult to examine recommendations tabled in depth.
One could share the recommendations but the Commission has refused a complementary programme for the integration of policies, and there is therefore a risk that the process will be boycotted to the detriment of ambitions, he warned. Austria called for an “offensive” growth strategy, “not defensive” as is the case at present. The same was true for Luxembourg which also called for an “offensive approach to growth, innovation, and employment investment”. The United Kingdom expressed concern regarding the timetable for follow-up action. Slovenia took the view that the different Council formations should have a role to play and have the possibility of setting out recommendations for the part concerning them, taking the view that “the Ecofin Council must not have the final word!” The incoming Polish presidency of the EU Council felt the Commission had made very reasonable proposals that sometimes go a long way, such as that on retirement systems whereby the retirement age is fixed. (G.B./transl.rt/jl)