Brussels, 02/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The final meeting of European ministers for employment and social affairs during the tenure of the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU is not expected to make huge progress in the majority of dossiers. Nonetheless, some progress is expected with the new draft directive on the work-related risks to exposure from electromagnetic fields. Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday 4 October are therefore expected to adopt a general orientation, despite certain misgivings from one member state.
Electromagnetic fields. At the end of the most recent EPSCO Council meeting at the end of June (see EUROPE 10639), Commissioner Laszlo Andor (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) said that he hoped that all the various difficulties would be settled by the end of the year with regard to the directive on minimum health and safety criteria relating to the exposure of workers to risks from physical agents (electromagnetic fields). This wish by Andor has almost been granted. Poland withdrew its opposition during the last COREPER I meeting on Tuesday 25 September. Germany is now the only country to harbour misgivings about certain technical aspects of the new directive. The lack of agreement concerns the method used to evaluate exposure levels. Germany would like to have greater flexibility and not restrict things to the use of a single method known as the “weighted peak” method. A general orientation, however, is expected to be adopted by a qualified majority. The Commission submitted this draft directive in June this year but the European Parliament has not yet examined the dossier.
Coordination of social security systems. The Council is expected to reach a political agreement on the EU's position on the partial coordination of social security systems with Albania, Montenegro, San Marino and Turkey, as part of the association agreements or bilateral agreements. This involves guaranteeing workers from these countries a level of social protection that is on a par with that of workers from the member state in which they have worked or where they are currently working. The Turkish question, however, is rather unusual because ministers might make a declaration stipulating that no agreement can be put in place with Ankara until the EU Court of Justice gives its verdict on two cases linked to agreements with third countries regarding the coordination of social security systems.
European semester. Ministers will hold a debate focusing on improving the follow-up process in the field of employment and social policies, in the context of the annual cycle of economic policy coordination, known as the European semester. The debate will revolve around three questions. The first directly relates to concerns expressed by certain delegations during the previous Council regarding the distribution of tasks with the ECOFIN Council. The Cypriot presidency would also like to gauge the opinion of ministers on the different means to improve cooperation with their counterpart responsible for the economy and finance, so they can then be questioned about implementation of specific recommendations for each country. Discussions will ultimately conclude with a general question on the harmonisation of the European Semester and the tight time and planning restraints they have to operate within.
Miscellaneous. The Council is expected to adopt conclusions on two points closely linked to the economic crisis, worsening prospects for growth and the situation on the labour markets. The first point involves the “employment package” the Commission presented last April. Ministers will pick up a few ideas with a view to encouraging all the different member states to improve the coordination of their employment policy. They will also be urged to adopt measures specifically devised to tackle youth unemployment. The second point involves child poverty. The Council will recommend maintaining programmes that are aimed to protect children from falling into poverty and social exclusion. Conclusions on this subject are expected to highlight the importance of an holistic approach to the problem, namely the necessity of combining different approaches and policies, while including a broad range of different actors in the programme. (JK/trans.fl)