Brussels, 06/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - When presenting the priorities of the Danish Presidency of the EU Council - which fall within the four adjectives describing Europe (responsible, dynamic, greener and safe) - the government under Social Democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt did not highlight employment and social policy. Although the financial and sovereign debt crises have forced the Danes to focus on matters of economic governance, “at a time when the EU faces its greatest challenge in its history” according to the expression used in presenting the four priorities of the new Presidency, progress is nonetheless sought not only on technical dossiers but also on other kinds of challenges that, although different, are just as urgent, for example in relation to demographic changes or unemployment.
Employment and social policy will be tackled under the new Presidency at two Councils to meet on 17 February and 21-22 June. One of the main issues covered - on the agenda of both Councils - will be strengthening application of the directive on posted workers. This is to ensure optimal protection is afforded to posted workers, i.e. workers sent by their employer to work for a limited time in another member state, and ensure that protection is guaranteed everywhere in order to prevent social dumping, among other things. European ministers will also discuss the EUROPE 2020 strategy at the two Councils, focusing on employment policies to be adopted to face up to the problems incurred by very low economic growth and the risk of increased youth and long term unemployment. A report on the social consequences of the crisis will be presented by the committee on social protection.
Items tackled during the second Council include the European programme for social change and social innovation. This new instrument, proposed by the European Commission within the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework, aims to establish three programmes in order to ensure greater coherency compared to the objectives of the EUROPE 2020 strategy. The three programmes in question are: Progress (coordination programme for employment and social solidarity), EURES (European Employment Service), and the micro-finance instrument, Progress (micro-loans for the creation of businesses by the unemployed).
When the Danish president describes the approach that it hopes to adopt on employment and social policy, it does so in relation to the specific socio-economic model that it helped to create - “flexicurity”. After the fashion of the “third way” developed in the United Kingdom under Tony Blair's Labour government, Denmark has contributed to the development of a similar but not identical approach for employment and unemployment. It is an approach that seeks to reconcile high social protection in conjunction with dismissal facility, and at the same time incentive measures such as training and promotion of mobility (two examples promoted also by the Commission in its flagship programme on New Skills for New Jobs), so that the unemployed may return to the labour market. Whether in debates on the White Paper on pensions or the Danish initiatives in the context of the European Year on active ageing and the intergenerational year 2012, the government under Thorning-Schmidt will seek, in one way or another, to impregnate Community policy with a neutral vision, rallying social justice and economic effectiveness. (JK/transl.jl)