The informal meeting of employment and social affairs ministers in Madrid on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 July reiterated the importance of social dialogue in tackling the various imminent transitions in the world of work, both digital and energy-related, and the new jobs required.
It also highlighted the need to be able to measure the effects of social investments and to preserve the room for manoeuvre for social investments in the budgetary policies of the Member States, a subject which will be addressed by the ministers in November at the formal Employment and Social Affairs Council.
These were some of the conclusions drawn on Friday 14 July by the Spanish ministers for labour and social inclusion, Yolanda Díaz Pérez and José Luis Escrivá Belmonte, and the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Nicolas Schmit, at the end of the meeting which also addressed the ongoing discussions between the European social partners on remote working and the right to disconnect.
These discussions could lead to an agreement in September, although a breakthrough was expected before the summer.
“There was complete consensus” on the need to take social policy elements into account in the ‘European Semester’ budgetary exercise, said José Luis Escrivá. “There is increasing clarity on the fact that social policies reinforce economic efficiency and prosperity, rather than weakening them”, he added.
A joint meeting of the ministers for the economy, finance, employment and social affairs at the end of the year will also address this issue, which is the subject of a joint roadmap with the other forthcoming EU Council presidencies.
The ministers also addressed the issue of minimum incomes, with the Spanish minister also promising a review of the quality of minimum incomes in Europe and “social pathways” for returning to work. There was also talk of strengthening social protection for the self-employed, on which topic there are still “major discrepancies”, added the minister, with conclusions due to be presented in November.
At the end of the meeting, the Commissioner stressed the need to create good employment conditions, particularly for carers, and to ensure “high-quality care”.
Lifelong learning and training and the involvement of the social partners in meeting all these challenges also illustrate “the economic and social governance we want”, said the Commissioner.
He also called on the Member States not to focus solely on budgetary issues, but to maintain a balance and see which social investments can contribute to societal cohesion.
Madrid wants to remain a social ‘laboratory’
At a time when the two ministers are campaigning for the general elections on 23 July, they emphasised the knock-on effect that Spain’s social policies can have on the rest of the EU, with Madrid aiming to remain a driving force for the whole of the EU and to become an exemplary model for remote working, self-employment and the rights of digital platform workers.
Alongside the ministers, Commissioner Schmit confirmed the positive nature of the recent Spanish labour market reform, which allows workers to change jobs and develop in a socially secure environment, enabling them to make these transitions. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)