Brussels, 06/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European ministers for employment, meeting in Brussels on Monday 9 March, will have their first ever opportunity to express their views on the 'employment' and 'social policy' planks of the 2015 budgetary process of the European Semester.
Their opinions are invited on the European Commission's new approach, which consists of focusing on three pillars: investment, structural reform and budgetary responsibility.
The meeting of the Council will start with a guideline debate on the European Semester, during which the ministers will be asked to take position on the new approach selected by the Commission, the measures to be implemented in order to create a better fit between professional careers and new requirements (technological, ageing population) in terms of employment and sharing best practice in this area. At the same time, the Commission will present the country-by-country reports and guidelines for the employment policies of the member states.
Following this debate, the ministers are expected to adopt conclusions on the annual growth review for 2015 and on the joint employment report, and they will also approve the key messages of the report of the Social Protection Committee on the social situation of the EU. They will also take note of the report on the financing regimes and the effective and efficient allocation of resources for the social protection systems. As is often the case, the report calls for national reforms in order to ensure the long-term viability of the systems.
This viability goes hand in hand with the increased involvement of the employment market, two issues which come under the heading of the notion of “inclusive employment markets”. On this subject, the ministers will also adopt conclusions, which they will also do on the strategic framework for health and safety in the workplace for the period from 2014 to 2020, which is based on the Commission's communication of June 2014 (see EUROPE 11096).
The Council's decisions on the functioning of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee have not been revised since 2000 and 2004 respectively, despite the Treaty of Lisbon. It is now therefore time for the Council to reach a general orientation on this subject. The role of these committees needs to be stepped up in order to improve their integration in the European Semester process. Another aim is to ensure a better coordination of their work with the competent committees on economic issues. The presidents of these two committees will also present their working programmes for 2015.
Lastly, the Latvian Presidency of the Council will report back to the ministers on preparations for the tripartite social Summit, which traditionally takes place just before the spring European Council. For its part, the Commission will inform the ministers of the results of the high-level conference on “a new start for social dialogue” (see EUROPE 11268), and on its proposal to increase the pre-funding of the youth employment initiative by 30% (see EUROPE 11246). Over lunch, the ministers will hold an exchange of views on the Juncker investment plan. (Jan Kordys)