Brussels, 04/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on Thursday in Brussels under the chairmanship of Mary Coughlan, the Employment and Social Affairs Ministers of the enlarged Europe approved the key messages for the European Council end March, relating to employment, social inclusion and protection, and gender equality (see EUROPE of 3 March, p.8-9). These messages - the creation of more and better quality jobs, and strengthened social cohesion - should have maximum visibility for the Summit, Mary Coughlan noted. The preparation of the tripartite social summit, which is to be held on 25 March (before the European Spring Council as such) on the theme "Partnership for Change" was the subject of an exchange of views on the question of knowing how Europe can strengthen the Lisbon strategy by using partnerships that already exist. Ministers also insisted on extending the open method of coordination to all initiatives in the field of health care and some delegations (Poland, Slovenia, Hungary and Lithuania) expressed fears about the free movement of workers.
Margot Wallström, who is temporarily officiating for employment and social affairs at the Commission (Anna Diamantopoulou being in Greece for the electoral campaign) stressed the political importance of continuing discussions on the Lisbon agenda and on adding the social aspect, the essential thing being that the three chapters - economic, social and environmental - must be clearly represented in this Lisbon strategy. Ms Wallström noted that, if one wants to achieve the Lisbon goals in 2010, then the EU15 must create 15 million jobs and the 25-member EU must create 22 million. The Commissioner felt it was indispensable to focus on the organisation of work, to insist on job security, attract and keep older people and women on the labour market, invest in human resources and ensure better implementation of reforms through better governance - hence the importance of partnership between players concerned. Nonetheless, Ms Wallström considers the key message to be delivered by the Spring Summit should be on retirement. The social protection systems must be simplified and amended to face up to the problem of population ageing, she added.
The document intended for the European Council, which was unanimously approved by the Council and drafted at the presidency initiative by the Committees on Employment and Social Protection, constitutes for the first time a joint proposal of the two committees and covers the whole employment and social policy area. It will be forwarded to the tripartite spring social summit at the end of the month. The Chair of the Employment Committee, Mats Wadman, stressed in relation to the employment chapter that there was a link between this text and the joint Commission/Council report on employment 2003/2004, as well as with the recommendations of the Kok Task Force. The employment committee insists in particular on the promotion of equality between men and women in every field of activity and on the strengthening of a true approach for incorporating the gender dimension in all EU policies. Theo Langjaan, Chair of the Committee on Social Protection, placed emphasis on the aspect of making work financially attractive. The social protection systems must enhance incentive and the aid that they provide to persons who go from being assisted to employed, without questioning their role which consists in providing sufficient social contributions. Mr Langjaan stresses how important it is to ensure that the pension regimes favour longer active life, examining among other things the political measures intended to discourage early retirement and to make active life attractive financially.
Debate: employment, equal opportunities, partnership for change, free movement of workers
The United Kingdom feels that emphasis must be placed on the creation of new jobs and on making people work, by maintaining the development rate of our economies. Elderly and older persons or persons with disabilities have much to offer "if they are given a flexible job", continued the British delegation, which concluded: "The Wim Kok report identified the road to follow and now we must ensure it is followed. The message is that we need a strong committee and political determination". The Netherlands believes that, at present, it is necessary to prove that the European social model will always be viable and that Europe has chosen the process of social inclusion rather than social exclusion. The Dutch and French delegations presented a joint paper - welcomed by Luxembourg - which insists on the role of the social partners as mediators for making European citizens understand the importance of reform for achieving the Lisbon goals. Germany recalled that the margin of manoeuvre of Member States is considerable and must be safeguarded in the open coordination method.
Sweden said that the Spring Summit's attention should be drawn to three points: the capacity to attract workers and employers to the employment market, life-long learning and social cohesion. The Swedish delegation called for "immigrants to be better integrated into our economies". Belgium, like Slovakia, warned against tax fraud and underground economies, "which are becoming international, and must be tackled at European level". The Belgian delegation called for these to be priorities of the Summit. On the tripartite social summit, Belgium stressed the importance of the role of the social partners, and called for a "social platform for discussions and which the European Council could take part in". "Partnership for change is an excellent idea", concluded Belgium. Denmark feels that the key messages for the Spring Summit should be the modernisation and protection of employment, the reconciliation of work and family life, assurances of a stable work force and a high level of employment, and "remaining on the work market for a long time, with a resulting higher pension" and equal opportunities. This latter point was also an object of interest with Finland. Portugal called for the social partners to be increasingly involved in the process of reforms, and strongly supported the tripartite social summit, as did Austria. Together with Spain, Austria stressed the need for pension reform to ensure financial continuity. Italy stressed accessibility and the sustainability of healthcare for the elderly, and the need for flexible employment and working hours. Slovenia's objective is to have "balanced socio-economic development via employment, a good level of living conditions and good social partnership". The Slovenian delegation believes that "Europe's future success will depend on the solutions we find in the field of free movement of workers". The same for Hungary, which called for "flexibility, but also job security". Poland was disappointed at the restrictions laid down by certain States (UK, Ireland, Austria) on access by workers from the new Member States to their employment markets. "We are disappointed that various Member States have made discussions on the free movement of workers into a political debate! It's as if transition periods are political elements!" said the Polish representative. Cyprus announced that it would send the Commission its first national action plans for employment in July 2004, and Malta in October 2004. Luxembourg said that efforts should be made in terms of both supply and demand for employment. It pleaded in favour of quality jobs for older workers.
Estonia and the Czech Republic pleaded in favour of a more flexible employment market. For Lithuania, the opening of the Member States' work markets to workers from the new Member States should be done as quickly as possible to arrive at a single employment market, and to achieve the Lisbon strategy.
Free movement of workers- Margot Wallström for respect of EU and Accession Treaties to the letter
Responding to the concerns of the future Member States on the free movement of workers in the final press conference, Margot Wallström said: "We must take as our basis the stipulations of the EU Treaty- freedom of movement, non-discrimination between citizens- which must be upheld. There is also an Accession Treaty, which provides for Member States to take measures restricting the access to their labour markets. We must respect the Treaty. We must make accession a success, and look at how we can receive workers from the candidate countries, because we need them". She announced that she had written to the Member States to ask them what they intended to do about this. "What we need is greater transparency, and a frank and open discussion. We must avoid xenophobic implications, and end emotional reactions. We must respect the EU and Accession Treaties to the letter", concluded the Commissioner.