Brussels, 18/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - At the invitation of the British EU Council Presidency, an informal meeting of the Tripartite Social Summit will be held in London on 24 October. As always, the aim of such a summit is to prepare the European Council, this time the informal Hampton Court summit. The tripartite summit will be jointly chaired by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, with the participation of British Labour and Pensions Minister David Blunkett and Trade and Industry Minister Alan Johnson, as well as high level representatives of the European social partners - ETUC for the trade unions and UNICE for employers, UEAPME for craft, medium and small enterprises, CEEP for enterprise with public participation - and representatives from the next two EU Council Presidencies (Austria, Finland), as well as European Social Affairs Commissioner, Vladimir Spidla. The presence of the Heads of Government Wolfgang Schüssel, of Austria, and Matti Vanhauen, of Finland, has not yet been confirmed.
On the work agenda there is economic security and social justice, personal and physical security of citizens, and the role of the EU in globalisation. Social partners will only take part in the discussions on ways to strike a balance between economic security and social justice. All observers agree, however, in saying that the conditions for preparing the informal tripartite social summit are very difficult, as the Commission communication on the future of the European Social Model is not foreseen until 20 October, which leaves only a very short time in which to ensure substantial contributions.