Brussels, 26/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 June, Xavier Bertrand, French Minister for Labour, Labour Relations and Solidarity, and President of the EPSCO Council (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) as of 1 July, presented the French EU Presidency's social programme to the members of the committee on employment and social affairs at the European Parliament in Brussels. It is a well-packed programme with a very clear message addressed to Europeans by the French minister: “The time has come for reactivating social Europe and Europe is a source of both social and economic progress - at the same time, not after (…). Social progress goes hand in hand with economic progress”. The social priorities of the French EU Presidency will be based on implementation of the renewed social agenda to be presented in Brussels on 2 July by the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the commissioner for social affairs, Vladimir Spidla.
True to his aim to give Europe more social momentum in the longer term (see EUROPE 9610), Xavier Bertrand pointed out that the social dimension will be the main challenge facing the French Presidency with two objectives in view: - first of all, that of launching momentum to allow new legislative initiatives to move forward; and that of supporting the development of a European social project for the years ahead. “The Presidency will work closely with all member states and with all the players at European level, and, here, I am of course thinking of members of parliament. I shall show that we are in the closest of partnerships, although at the beginning we may not always have the same opinion on certain subjects”, Mr Bertrand said, adding that “Europe must be more concrete, protective and close to the citizens. The Irish vote, among others, shows this only too well”. He went on to ask: “How can this be better demonstrated than in the social area?”
Specifying the two objectives of the French Presidency, Xavier Bertrand went on to indicate:
I) New legislative initiatives: 1) Review of the directive on European works councils must make it possible to clarify the definition of information and consultation and above all ensure that works councils are consulted “before” restructuring dossiers. “This will be a major contribution to the strengthening of social dialogue to answer questions that above all interest workers”, the minister commented while regretting stalled discussions between European social partners on this issue (see particularly EUROPE 9642). “I shall take forward this discussion to reach a balanced agreement in Council, if possible as I hope, before the end of the year”, the minister assured, announcing that a conference would be held on transnational social dialogue on 13-14 November in Lyons. 2) The directive on combating discrimination which, as Commissioner Spidla announced, would concern discrimination against people with disabilities, and also discrimination due to age, and sexual leaning and religious leaning (see EUROPE 9656). The Parliament recently took a stance on this subject with the adoption of the report by Elizabeth Lynne (ALDE, UK). This decision must be taken unanimously by member states and the Presidency will do all it can to reach consensus. In collaboration with the Commission, the Presidency will be organising a European summit on equal opportunities to be held in Paris in September. 3) Anticipated initiatives for reconciliation between family and professional life. The Presidency will support a review of the directive on the rights of spouses of self-employed workers, such as the right to maternity leave, paternity leave and filial leave. It will encourage an agreement “if the Commission makes a proposal in good time”, the minister warned. On these different dossiers, an informal meeting of ministers responsible for equal rights will be held on 13-14 November in Lille. The meeting will also allow the question of equal pay to be tackled, Xavier Bertrand said.
II) Themes on which progress must be made: It is essential to speak of renewing the European social agenda, a theme that will be the focus of work of the informal EPSCO meeting on 10-11 July in Chantilly, as well as a conference to be held in Paris on 12 November. The Presidency will underline during these venues the four challenges facing the social Europe, the French minister commented. These are: globalisation, climate change, demographic developments and the growing diversity of European companies. To answer these challenges, the Presidency suggests highlighting four possibilities: return to work, flexicurity, solidarity in the internal market and the fight against discrimination and poverty. These are a priority of the social agenda, he said. With this in mind, the French Presidency will use the conclusions reached by the mission on flexicurity (opened in May in France) headed by Vladimir Spidla and Gérard Larcher, who will be going on visit to take stock of the situation in the field in several member states (EUROPE 9663). In the context of this social agenda, the Commission envisages initiatives concerning the evaluation of competences and the weight of Europe in globalisation, as well as the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. It may promote the establishment of a European framework for professional mobility so that the rights of mobile workers are guaranteed and to ensure that these workers can benefit from European labour market opportunities. The fight against undeclared work will also be tackled, said Xavier Bertrand, announcing that two conferences will be held, one of which would cover worker mobility (11-12 September in Paris) and the other the fight against unlawful employment (13-14 October in Marseilles).
Other priorities of the renewed social agenda are: (1) placing emphasis on the social dimension of the internal market. With this in view, the French EU Presidency will highlight the dossier on social services of general interest (SSGI). It will encourage the Commission to establish a “roadmap fixing a number of compulsory meetings”. The reflection will continue during the second Forum on SSGI (28-29 October in Paris); (2) the fight against discrimination and poverty in societies where there is growing diversity. This autumn, the Commission will present its recommendations on active social inclusion, with Martin Hirsch, the French high commissioner for active solidarity against poverty, Xavier Bertrand announced.
As far as the dossier on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is concerned, the Presidency would like to encourage reactivation of a partnership approach on CSR, that is, an approach which involves not only companies but also social partners, NGOs and political players. The Presidency has called on the president of the French Economic and Social Council to organise, in connection with the Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee, a seminar on this theme, to be held in Paris on 30 October.
Bernard Lehideux (ALDE, France), Joel Hasse Ferreira (PES, Portugal) and Anne Van Lancker (PES, Belgium) appreciated the initiatives taken on SSGI, CSR, equal pay, as well as the idea of a roadmap, described as “excellent” by Ms Van Lancker. Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL/Portugal) and Philip Bushill-Matthews (EPP-ED, UK) raised the question of how the minister would promote a “return to employment”. Xavier Bertrand's response was: “through the European flexicurity mission”. (G.B./transl.jl)