Brussels, 03/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, which met on Monday 3 October in Luxembourg, reached consensus on conclusions relating to the management of demographic challenges and voluntary activity. With regard to the first point, the Council calls for greater reconciliation between work and family life by setting measures in place to facilitate cooperation between member states, between the latter and the European Commission, and to call on the Committee on Employment (EMCO), the Social Protection Committee (SPC) and the Economic Policy Committee (EPC). Balancing professional and family life is considered the main challenge from among the demographic challenges facing Europe.
Therefore, stepping up measures to find a balance, using the potential of NGOs for this, and making use of the European Social Fund (ESF) are all premises promoted by the Council to forge a real action plan that should take a multi-dimensional approach. To this end, the Commission is invited to organise a seminar in 2012, the main objective of which would be to give an overview of all research programmes on the demographic challenge.
On the subject of voluntary activity in social policy, the Council was unanimous about the importance of developing programmes to promote such activity. Thus, the Commission is invited to consider the possibility of developing voluntary activity as part of EU cohesion policy, and through projects supported by European funding. Commissioner Lásló Andor said that voluntary activity is a vector for growth of the social economy and also allows social cohesion to be promoted. Such an approach should not be limited to the EU, the Council conclusions say, but should also apply to cooperation with third states, especially in the context of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). (JK/transl.jl)