Brussels, 16/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - EU social affairs and employment ministers are to meet in informal Council from 18 - 20 January in Berlin under the chairmanship of Franz Münterfering, German Minister for Labour and Social Affairs. On the assumption that all Member States want to improve living and working conditions in their respective countries, the German Presidency invites ministers to reflect upon two themes that are becoming increasingly important in discussions within most Member States: - the quality of work and flexicurity. In this context, the German Presidency hopes participants will also give their opinion on the Commission Communication on the Demographic Future of Europe of 30 October 2006, and on its Green Paper on Labour Law.
Commissioner Vladimir Spidla will attend the Informal Council. The informal EPSCO Council meeting (on employment and social affairs) strictly speaking will be held on Friday 19 January. It will be preceded on Thursday 18 January by a meeting of the Social Troika. The Troika will bring together the social affairs ministers of Finland, Germany and Portugal (three EU Presidencies in succession), as well as representatives of European social partners, European social NGOs and the European Parliament.
In its preparatory note to participants, the German Presidency stresses among other things that “major elements with regard to quality of work are: - working conditions promoting lifelong learning and possibilities of vocational further training; - adequate income; - social dialogue, dependent on national traditions; - participation and co-determination in companies; - safety, health protection and prevention measures at the workplace; - balance between flexibility and security; - compatibility of working and private life; - and in-company integration management (disability management)”. The Presidency also states it will “include the state of the flexicurity debate in our considerations and the preliminary work for common principles” carried out by the Commission, with the following objectives: (1) modernising labour law to allow flexible working hours, reducing labour market segmentation and combating moonlighting, so that people are able to develop optimal work patterns; (2) reliable, need-oriented systems of lifelong learning and an active labour market policy to support people in coping with rapid change, periods of unemployment and transitions to new employment; (3) modern social security systems, facilitating - also cross-border - mobility in the labour market and providing adequate income security at the same time. The Presidency stresses the fact that social partners “also play an important role here” as “they are responsible for many aspects of flexicurity. The social partners therefore bear a particular responsibility in this regard”.
To this backdrop, the German Presidency invites ministers to answer the following questions: (1) Where and in what manner do you see for your country, and for the EU as a whole, a particular need to act to achieve the goal of “good work”? - with wages? - in asserting workers' rights? - in protection against health risks at work? - in family-friendly working arrangements? (2) Should the Member States agree (much) more binding goals on the road to “good work”? (3) A variety of other forms of employment has developed in addition to regular, unlimited employment relationships. Do ministers agree that the regular unlimited employment relationship will also in future provide a legal framework that promotes: - workers' motivation, further training, and reliable communication and participation structures in the enterprise? (4) What concrete measures must be taken to provide legal and social security to people working in the new forms of employment or making transitions between different employment situations and periods without employment? (gb)