Brussels, 25/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - The EU's Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Council (EPSCO) is to meet on Friday 29 February in Brussels under the chairmanship of Marjeta Cotman of Slovenia. It will be attended by European Commissioner Vladimir Spidla. Ministers will adopt the documents sent to the Spring Summit on 13-14 March and will have an exchange of views on preparation of the Social Tripartite Summit for growth and jobs on 13 March. They will also approve the joint opinion of the Employment and Social Protection committees on the Commission's communication on the re-examination of the single market. They will be adopting a resolution on the situation of people with disabilities in the EU, a resolution presented on the initiative of the Slovenian presidency.
Ministers will hold a public debate on key messages they will be submitting to the European Spring Council and will be adopting them. The Slovenian presidency has indicated that these messages underline the importance of the guidelines on employment in the new Lisbon strategy cycle and will determine the priority tasks on job creation, fostering social cohesion and modernising the social protection systems. The presidency explained that the conclusion of the first of these messages is that the Lisbon strategy has achieved its results. The Commission will present is communication to the March summit entitled, “Strategic Report on the Renewed Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs: Lauchn of the new Cycle (2008-10) - Keeping up the Pace of Reform”.
As part of the preparation for the European March Council, ministers will also adopt the joint report on employment 2007-08 (see other article), the 2008 joint report on social protection and social inclusion (EUROPE 9606). They are expected to reach a political agreement on recommendatkons arn the main economic policy guidelines for EU member states for 2008 and implementation of member states' employment policies (EUROPE 9562). Minsters will take note of the Commission report on “gender equality - 2008” (EUROPE 9586).
Marjeta Cotman will also inform ministers about the preparations for the Social Tripartite Summit for growth and jobs, on the eve of the European Spring Council. Discussions with European social partners will focus on the general gramework for the Lisbon strategy, particularly the integrated guidelines and their common anayis of the labour marets and the positive effects of the fight against energy dependency and the repercussions on jobs and growth. (G.B.)