25/06/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 22 June, Miroslavs Mitrofanovs (Greens/EFA, Latvia), the rapporteur on the guidelines for member states' employment policies, hailed the member states' inclusion of certain Parliament recommendations in the EU employment strategy. "This is the right basis for future cooperation between Parliament and Council on this and other important issues", Mitrofanovs stated, adding that the European Parliament only has a consultative role on this issue. The Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council has thus created a precedent and established "good practice" for the future, according to a press release. In April, Parliament adopted an own-initiative report, the main political message of which was democratisation of the decision-making process on employment policies (see EUROPE 12006). The Council has thus kept the Parliament's recommendations on adequate income pensions, active ageing, and closing the gender pay gap. (PH)