Brussels, 21/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Several of the employment and social affairs ministers meeting in the EPSCO Council in Luxembourg on Thursday 21 June delivered sometimes bitter criticism of the Danish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers on the way the issues covered with the Ecofin Council, which is due to meet on Friday, had been shared out. A group of countries, led by Germany and Luxembourg, protested that subjects such as the rules on dismissals and wage negotiations and the reform of retirement systems should be dealt with, as part of the European semester 2012 country specific recommendations, solely by economy and finance ministers.
Recommendations adopted, but with reservations. Despite an allocation of tasks which, it was felt, was to the detriment of the EPSCO Council, the employment and social affairs ministers ultimately adopted a general approach on the country-by-country recommendations on the points that affect jobs and social inclusion. These recommendations, which will be included in the national policies, had been prepared by the European Commission and presented on 30 May. Several states issued reservations, nonetheless, thereby marking their disagreement with some of the Commission's proposals. Poland, Bulgaria, Malta and the United Kingdom issued a number of reservations relating mainly to women in the labour market, access to education for disadvantaged groups and extension of the probationary period in work contracts.
Evaluation of European semester. The main task for the EPSCO Council was its part in the preparation of the European Council of 28-29 June. Is the European semester an instrument that is useful to member states? Which elements of the Commission's employment package should be prioritised? These were the two questions to which the Danish Presidency called on member states to respond in Luxembourg. While all ministers agreed that the European semester was useful and provided numerous examples of priority objectives (youth unemployment, employment of women and older people, investment in sectors of the future - green economy and high tech), many were critical of certain aspects of the procedure of the European semester, which is still only in its second year of testing. The reservations issued by some states, therefore, related to some procedural problems. Apart from the allocation of tasks between the EPSCO and Ecofin Councils, Slovakia reproached the Commission over the little time available to evaluate and assess the recommendations arguing, just like some others, that an assessment of the effectiveness of the measures proposed and of their consequences had not been sufficiently analysed. Criticism from ministers was sometimes contradictory: Belgium found the recommendations too “interventionist” and Malta said they were too prescriptive, but, for the Netherlands, they were not definite enough and, for Estonia, not precise enough. The issue of whether to set retirement age (at least over 65 for the Commission) on the basis of the specific situation in each country (such as life expectancy) or according to economic performance criteria also divided ministers.
Electromagnetic fields. Negotiations on the new directive on protecting workers against electromagnetic fields will have to be conducted by the Cypriot Presidency. Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner Laszlo Andor said after the Council that he hoped all the difficulties would be resolved by the end of the year, allowing a general approach to be adopted. While there is wide agreement on the directive as a whole, Poland and Germany would like further discussion of a number of technical issues which are to be found in the annexes.
Monti II Regulation. This draft regulation which establishes the principle of equivalence between economic freedoms (freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment) and social rights (such as the right to strike) still gives cause for as many reservations. Andor told ministers the matter had been “put on hold”, to allow the Commission time to evaluate the reasons for 12 national parliaments' using the so-called yellow card” procedure, which requires it to review its position. The Monti II proposal will be either retained, or re-evaluated or withdrawn, he said during the debate.
Programme for social change and innovation. The Council adopted a partial general approach on the EU programme on social change and innovation which will be built into the next multiannual financial framework. This programme incorporates three existing schemes: Progress, Eures and the European progress microfinance facility. Among the proposed changes, the coverage of the Progress scheme will be further extended to social innovation. For the programme's budget, the Commission proposal provides for 60% for the Progress axis, 15% for the EURES axis, 20 % for the microfinance and social entrepreneurship axis, with the remaining 5% to be apportioned among the axes on an annual basis in line with national policy priorities. (JK/transl.rt)