Brussels, 19/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Employment and social affairs ministers, meeting in the EPSCO Council in Luxembourg on Thursday 21 June, will have as their main task to provide an input to preparation of the European Council which is due to meet on 28-29 June. A policy debate will be held on the European semester, the new economic oversight procedure, with draft recommendations for each member state on national reform programmes (NRPs) for 2012 which have to be approved, specifically with regard to their employment and anti-poverty strands. Among other issues to be considered are the legislative package on posted workers, and progress reports on the electromagnetic fields directive and on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.
European semester. The Council is expected to approve draft country-specific recommendations for all but four countries: the three countries subject to bail-out programmes (Portugal, Ireland and Greece) and Romania, which is the subject of a balance of payments assistance programme, will be spared (see EUROPE 10561). Ministers are expected largely to go along with Commission recommendations, with only a few exceptions. The issue of automatic index-linking of wages will again find its way onto the table, leaving the way clear, perhaps, for Belgium to keep its system.
Posting of workers. Ministers will merely take note of a progress report on the legislative package proposed by the European Commission at the end of March on the posting of workers. Deep divisions became apparent at the previous EPSCO Council, meeting informally in Denmark at the end of April, in particular over the proposed Monti II regulation which tries to clarify the relationship between economic freedoms and social rights (see EUROPE 10603).
Electromagnetic fields. While a consensus seems to have been achieved on the new directive on minimum health and safety requirements with regard to the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields), Germany and Poland could block any progress at Thursday's Council meeting by issuing a number of reservations on some parts of the annex. A general approach is only likely to be agreed under the Cypriot Presidency. A European source has revealed, however, that some do not believe that the Cypriots possess sufficient expertise in this area to deal with German and Polish demands which relate to highly technical issues.
European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Agreement between the Commission and the Council would appear to be out of the question. The same blocking minority (Sweden, Germany, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands, Estonia and Latvia) opposes setting the EGF outside the EU budget in the financial perspectives for 2014-2020. (JK/transl.rt)