Brussels, 09/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The next session of the Employment and Social Affairs Council on 10 March, chaired by Austrian ministers Ursula Haubner and Martin Bartenstein, with the participation of European Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, will kick off with a public debate on the European Council of 23-24 March. Social and employment affairs ministers will then adopt key messages to be sent to the Spring Summit. This point will make up the central focus of this Council. Ministers will at this event adopt joint reports on employment and social protection, as well as approve the Commission communication, “Working together, working better: a new structure for open coordination of social protection policies and social inclusion in the European Union”. The Council will also be drawing from the conclusions from the European Commission's annual report on national reform programmes in the revised Lisbon Strategy (a report that represents the Commission's contribution to the Spring Summit) and the Commission's 2006 report on sexual equality. Mr Bartenstein explained that at the heart of these “key messages” are: questions of job creation and social integration, employability, integration of “target groups” (youth, women, elderly workers) and the creation of jobs for persons with disability, immigrants and ethnic minorities. The document for the summit also highlights the role of social partners (how to get them to participate more in the Lisbon Process? To what level and on what subjects should interventions be based? What experience do Member States have in this area?).
The Council will pursue this work, together with the preparations for the Social Tripartite Summit on 23 March, just before the Spring Summit. Implementing the revised Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs will be at the centre of the exchange between ministers. The Employment and Social Protection Committees will then present their work programme for 2006.
The Council will also hold a discussion on the Regulation for Social Security with the aim of updating it. Work has already begun and, in principle, according to the Presidency, there are not expected to be any problems at a Council level, while waiting for the first reading of the European Parliament.
The European Commission will then present the Council with its report and provide an update of transition measures that allow for access restrictions on workers from the new Member States to the labour markets of the E15 (EUROPE 9127). These measures are valid from 1 May to 30 April 2006 but can be extended depending on the assessments made by the Member States in question. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden have not imposed any restrictions on free movement of workers, while Austria has just announced an extension of its rules on the issue. Finland, Spain and Portugal will be getting rid of their restrictions.