Brussels, 19/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European ministers for employment will arrive in Luxembourg, this Thursday 20 June, with a more than packed agenda. First of all, the Irish Presidency of the Council of Ministers wants to play double or quits by putting a proposal on the table for an initial agreement on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), in spite of repeated failures. If negotiations on this point are already expected to be long and tough, there is plenty more on the agenda besides, such as youth unemployment, preparations for the European Council and the European semester.
In Brussels, sources have declined to speculate on the chances of an agreement on a general approach at the Council on the EGF. The Presidency has presented a compromise which includes the criterion of the economic crisis and a link between support for workers and youth unemployment in the scope of application of the fund. This derogation for the crisis, which has already been applied and then suspended again, would remain in force until 2016. It is by no means certain that a compromise of this kind will be able to satisfy all its opponents, some of which are contesting the very existence of the EGF: Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Latvia. A single co-funding rate of 55% has been laid down in the proposal.
The ministers may also agree on a general approach on the directive regarding the safeguarding of additional pension rights for salaried and non-salaried workers moving within the EU. In order to reach a comfortable majority, the Presidency of the Council has scaled back the scope of application of the directive, bringing in a de facto limitation on cross-border mobility, with member states free to choose their own provisions on internal mobility.
The directive on posted workers is being shelved for the time being. The Council will go no further than to make a point on the report on the state of progress of the work, as no room for manoeuvre is currently allowed on the issue of control measures (open list versus closed list) and regarding the principle of joint and several liability.
It is a similar story for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). A progress report will be presented, signifying the Presidency's failure to move the dossier forward. A voluntary approach versus an obligatory approach, the dispute between the member states has the merit of highlighting differences of opinion which appear irreconcilable. The European Parliament has just taken position in favour of an obligation to participate in the EGF, thereby positioning itself against Germany, the UK, Sweden, Slovakia, Denmark and the Czech Republic. Spain and Italy are undecided. Two further reports on the progress of the work will be discussed briefly: on gender balance among non-executive board members of companies quoted on the stock exchange and on equal treatment.
Under non-legislative activities, the ministers will hold a policy debate on the European semester 2013. During this debate, they are expected to approve the social aspects of the recommendations for each country, ahead of the European Council of 26 and 27 June. Whilst the point was discussed at length at previous ministerial meetings regarding the division of responsibilities with the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), the calm has returned, as “the exercise is well established today” and there is less “trial and error” in preparations for the recommendations with the European Council, according to one European source.
This is not the first time, and it will certainly not be the last, that the ministers will put youth unemployment on the top of their list of priorities, but the meeting in Luxembourg has a specific objective this time: how to accelerate the process of putting the various solutions proposed into place, such as the one for creating guarantee mechanisms for youth? They will discuss the various proposals currently making the rounds, such as using some of the €6 billion earmarked for the guarantee as of 2013, or focusing this money on the first two years starting from 1 January 2014. (JK/transl/fl)