Brussels, 07/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs of the EU, meeting in Brussels on 7 March, chaired by Juan Carlos Aparicio, discussed their contribution to the Barcelona Summit - "at a time when the confidence of European society itself is the best answer to economic uncertainty", Mr. Aparicio stressed. The outcome of these talks is that the conclusions of the Presidency, and not the Council, will be forwarded to the Barcelona Summit, as there is no unanimity within the Council on how to broach the social/employment chapter of the European Council of Barcelona.
Ministers agreed on three points, Mr. Aparicio told the press: 1) the European employment strategy, that has borne fruit since Lisbon, must be better co-ordinated with economic policies and simplified (reduce the number of guidelines while retaining the same goals, proceed with a review in 2006); 2) make it easier to retain elderly workers, by, for example, abolishing incentives to early-retirement; 3) improve participation of the social partners in the smooth running of the labour market. Presidency conclusions were reached, on the basis of the work of the informal ministerial meeting in Burgos and seminars in Lanzarote (on the prolongation of working life) and Madrid (on employment policy in Europe), he said. For Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, "Barcelona must send out a political message by which we are working in the same spirit as Lisbon, with a balance between jobs, the economy and social aspects". She then added: "There needs to be synchronisation between economic policies and the European employment strategy". "The Heads of State and Government agree on that".
Ministers also discussed the issue of the participation of the Ministers of Employment and Labour in Springtime European Councils, following the letter Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstad sent to the President of the European Council, Jose Maria Aznar (see below). Anna Diamantopoulou and the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Emilio Gabaglio, back this request. At his press conference of 6 March (see page 17), moreover, Mr. Gabaglio had asked for the "all powerful EcoFin Council not to be alone, that the Ministers of Social Affairs also be invited to the table at the Spring Council to discuss issues and retain a balance between the economy, employment and social aspects". The Belgian delegation affords great importance to this request, but others fear "administrative inflation". For the French Minister of Employment and Solidarity, Elisabeth Guigou, "the European Council works well as long as it is not plethoric". She then added: "If the General Affairs Council and EcoFin are there, why not add the Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs? As soon as the European Council is opened to other formations, it is not illegitimate to be present".
Guy Verhofstad raises problem of participation of Ministers of Employment
and Social Affairs in Spring Summits
In his short letter, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt told Jose Maria Aznar that he was "thankful" to him for the holding of a Social Summit on 14 March, on the eve of the European Council of Barcelona. However, recalling that the European Council of Laeken had decided to organise a social summit before each springtime European Council, he continued: "You have scheduled this Social Summit in the form of a Troika. I wonder, however, if the importance of this dialogue does not require a meeting in which the relevant ministers of all Member states are involved. It would then doubtless be useful to invite the Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs to participate in the work of the European Council, like the Finance Ministers".