During the Employment and Social Policy Council on Thursday 15 March, ministers for social affairs will carry out an orientation debate on the future of post-2020 social Europe. Wage differences between men and women, as well as the strengthened social dimension in the European semester budget process will also be on the ministers' agenda.
The debate on the future of social Europe will be public and based on three questions posed by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. These three questions will in turn decide the priorities to set out after 2020 to guarantee an “upwards convergence”, better visibility of the Union’s social investments and whether these investments have been adapted to recent labour market developments. The Presidency will also attempt to define the European Social Fund future priorities. The Commission is evaluating the possibility of significantly redefining this fund (see EUROPE 11954, 11902).
A few days after the International Day of Women's Rights, the Council will be holding a second orientation debate on wage disparities between men and women based on the main principles of the European pillar of social rights (see EUROPE 11907,11906) and an action plan from the European Commission presented last November. In this connection, discussions will be signposted by the Bulgarian Presidency on the basis of two main questions: what are the most efficient measures for tackling "horizontal and vertical gender segregation" on the labour market? - how can pay transparency be strengthened at a European level?
Ministers are also expected to adopt conclusions on the annual examination of growth and the joint report on employment for 2018. They will adopt a recommendation on the European framework for efficient and quality learning and will support the key messages contained in the employment committee's report on "Investing in Youth Employment: Implementing the Youth Guarantee".
The Presidency and Commission will provide the Council with information with regard to the social tripartite summit due to take place on 21 March. The summit will focus on the European pillar of social rights. The European institutions and social partners will discuss the next multi-annual financial framework, new forms of work and economic and social convergence in Europe.
The European Commission will also present the member states with the social fairness package announced in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 March, particularly the setting up of the European Labour Authority (see EUROPE 11980).
The joint approach on the posted workers directive decided by co-legislators at the end of last month (see EUROPE 11972), is not expected to be discussed, although the Committee of Permanent Representative to the EU (COREPER) decided on its position the day before. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)