Brussels, 04/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The High Level Group on Social Protection gathered last Friday in Paris under the Presidency of Raoul Briet, on behalf of the Council Presidency. The European Commission was represented by Mrs Odile Quintin, Director General of the DG Employment. The central theme of the meeting was the preparation of the "Employment-Social policy" Council next 17 October in Luxembourg on the aims of the fight against poverty and social exclusion. A note from the Presidency acted as the basis to the talks and the document which was produced will be transmitted to the Council on 17 October in view of a final adoption at the Nice Summit. The Group also had an exchange of views on the opinion that it has to produce in its field of competence on the future European Social Agenda, whose the adoption by the Nice Summit is also a priority of the French Presidency. The Group also heard an information from the Presidency and the European Commission, covering in particular the long-term viability of pensions (Commission Communication on this issue will soon be published), and on the structural indicators aimed at measuring the progress achieved in terms of employment, innovation, economic reforms and social cohesion (see EUROPE of 28 September, p.8).
The note from Presidency concerning fight against poverty and social exclusion recalls the policy guidelines defined by the European Councils of Lisbon and Feira where is was notably agreed that the policies of fighting against social exclusion should be based on an open method of coordination, combining national action plans and an action programme from the Commission to encourage cooperation in this field. The note underlines:
1) the multidimensional approach of the fight against poverty and social exclusion, using a broad range of instruments: employment policies, social protection, housing, education, health, information and communication, mobility, security and justice, leisure and culture. It is necessary to integrate into various policies, at a national and Community level, the aim of the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The quality of jobs, social protection systems and possibilities offered by the new knowledge based society form an excellent protection against social exclusion;
2) The methods for implementation: the fight against social exclusion reveal above all the responsibility of Member States and the national, regional and local authorities in cooperation with all the social actors concerned, notably the social partners and the NGOs. The opened coordination method, in accordance with the principals defined in the conclusions of the Lisbon Summit, enable to couple coherence and national diversity;
3) the implementation of the conclusion from the European Council: 1) the Member States are invited to develop their priorities and to present their national action plans (NAP) by June 2001, as well as to define the indicators and methods to follow enabling to assess, for each of the objectives selected, the progress achieved, 2) the Commission must present, on the basis of the NAP provided by the Member States, a report summarising and identifying the good practices and innovative approaches that present a common interest.