The ministers and representatives of the ministers for social affairs and employment met informally in Nicosia on Friday 13 February to discuss the fight against poverty, the situation in the long-term care sector and ways of remedying, among other things, the shortage of staff (see EUROPE 13804/12) and quality jobs with a view to the future legislative Act scheduled for December.
But the informal meeting was also an opportunity to hold bilateral talks on the revision of the social security coordination rules, Regulation 883/2004, explained the Cypriot Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Marinos Moushouttas, after the meeting.
“Five bilateral talks” took place in Nicosia, said the minister, who sees the chances of an agreement progressing and envisages a “trilogue in April”. Among others, he met the French Minister for Employment, Jean-Pierre Farandou. Bilateral talks have also been held with Slovenia and Ireland.
Informal contacts have recently taken place with the Member States and the European Parliament on this issue, which has been on the table since 2016 and which will improve the rights of mobile workers in the EU.
The Cyprus Presidency is “keen to achieve this objective”.
For the rest, the meeting showed strong political support for maintaining the EU’s social acquis and for saying that ‘simplification’ should not be equated with ‘deregulation’, reported the Minister and Commission Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu.
For the Cypriot minister, the debate on the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace also served to emphasise the fact that AI must “serve workers, not replace them”.
On long-term care, the Vice-President pointed out that a ‘European care deal’ will be presented in 2026 to tackle the problems of staff shortages and working conditions.
Marinos Moushouttas pointed out at the opening session that “Cyprus actively promotes social justice at global level, notably through its participation as a partner in the Global Coalition for Social Justice, an initiative of the International Labour Organization”.
Against this backdrop, “we have designed and are starting to implement a training programme for political decision-makers. This action aims to strengthen understanding of the concept and the importance of integrating social justice into political decision-making. The teaching material will be presented to the social partners for the first time in April, and will then be made available to any interested organisation”.
On arriving at the meeting, Spain’s Minister for Labour and the Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, called on the EU, which she described as “regressing socially and economically”, to “move forward. We need this Council and the coming months to implement concrete measures on social issues (...). It’s clear that we need labour regulations in Europe. 93 million people live in poverty in Europe and need a solution”.
“Europe continues to be plagued by job insecurity, housing problems and unemployment. Europe must continue to defend the social economy”, she said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)