Brussels, 05/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - EU15 Employment and Social Affairs Ministers are to meet informally on 6 and 7 July in Liège, the first ministerial meeting under Belgian Presidency. The Council will be chaired by Belgian Federal Ministers Laurette Onkelinx (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities); Franck Vandenbroucke (Pensions and Social Affairs) and Johan Vande Lanotte (Social Economy). Anna Diamantopoulou will represent the European Commission.
Work will open on Friday afternoon with the restricted Troika (Belgian Presidency, Future Spanish and Danish Presidencies, Commission). Ministers will discuss social exclusion with the chairpersons for the Committee on Employment and the Committee on Social Protection, European social partners, the European Parliament (represented by Michel Rocard, Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs) and NGOs. On Saturday morning, Ministers will discuss the theme of pensions and social security and, between the Fifteen, social exclusions. Work that afternoon will be devoted to the quality of employment (see also EUROPE of 14 June, p.12).
Anna Diamantopoulou will present two important communications recently adopted by the Commission, one on the need to guarantee safe and sustainable pensions (see EUROPE of 4 July, p.6) and the other on the quality of employment (see EUROPE of 21 June, p.11). Ms Diamantopoulou will also report on progress made in the fight against social exclusion and poverty. These three processes - pensions, quality of employment and social inclusion - are vital for the EU to be able to implement its overall political aim of making the EU the most competitive and dynamic economy in the world by 2010.
We point out that, in order to animate the debate, Franck Vandenbroucke invited his colleagues to reply to several questions relating to the Commission communication on safe and sustainable pensions. His questions are: 1) Should we formulate integrated objectives for pension systems on the basis of the analysis provided by the Social Protection Committee and the Commission Communication of 3 July? 2) Do ministers have an initial reaction on the content and wording of the common objectives as formulated in the Commission Communication? 3) Will we organise open coordination on the basis of national strategic reports (containing a description and analysis of the policies undertaken, or envisaged, to meet the commonly agreed objectives)? 4) How should this process be integrated in the existing processes, notably the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines and the Spring Councils, and what should be the role of the Council for Employment and Social Policy in this endeavour? 5) Could we try to develop a first list of commonly defined and agreed indicators to measure trends and policy developments addressing the triple challenge identified by the Social Protection Committee report: adequate pensions, financially sustainable pensions and modernisation of pension systems)?