The ministers for employment and social affairs of the European Union Member States discussed, at an informal meeting in Prague on Thursday 13 October, the integration of Ukrainian refugees into the labour market and the EU’s response to the energy crisis and inflation.
They discussed best practices in terms of professional integration, “the best possible job offers” with good wages and how to avoid “exploitation” of these millions of refugees, summarised the Czech minister, Marian Jurečka.
Language barriers and the need to “provide language courses” for Ukrainians were also discussed, as well as the housing problems faced by these refugees, a situation that is beginning to cause problems in some Member States. The Czech Republic, which hosts a large number of refugees, is experiencing such tensions, as is Germany, which is reportedly now having problems housing all the Ukrainian refugees.
However, it is essential to continue to help Ukrainians who are fleeing their country, the Czech minister added.
The European response to soaring energy costs was discussed at lunch. And here too, the ministers exchanged views on the practices that have been put in place.
For the European Commissioner for Social Affairs, Nicolas Schmit, this discussion was very important to “show the continued unity” of Europeans in welcoming refugees and to share the similar difficulties faced by Member States.
The Commission will continue to do its utmost to help Member States to take care of these refugees and welcome them with “dignity”, the Commissioner added. This was the case with the ‘CARE’ legislative package, which made the deployment of structural funds more flexible and redirected part of them to this type of intervention.
However, Mr Schmit recognised an additional difficulty for the EU in that Europeans are also experiencing “a major energy and inflation crisis” at the same time. He expressed the Commission’s commitment to “finding the right solutions” and “managing the social consequences” of this crisis.
Nicolas Schmit advocates for a European financial instrument along the lines of ‘SURE’
In an interview with Luxembourg radio station 100komma.7, the Commissioner said he was open to the creation of a new European financial instrument along the lines of the ‘SURE’ initiative to support national short-time working schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The new instrument would this time be adapted to the specific problems caused by the energy crisis. Mr Schmit thus joined the call made by his counterparts Thierry Breton and Paolo Gentiloni (see EUROPE 13035/31).
However, the question of whether additional EU funding should be created was not discussed, said Marian Jurečka, as this is a matter for the EU finance ministers. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)