Brussels, 08/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg this Monday 8 June under the chairmanship of Petr Simerka, the employment and social affairs ministers of the 27 member states held a long, extremely fruitful and highly positive discussion on the communication "A Shared Commitment for Employment". This communication, which was presented last week by the president of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso (EUROPE 9913), received extremely broad support from the ministers and was very well received as a working basis for the European Council of 18-19 June, to be held in Brussels.
Over lunch, the ministers once again tackled the issue of the working time directive. It is worth noting that after five years of negotiations, Parliament and Council failed to reach a compromise on this controversial issue at their most recent conciliation meeting. The bones of contention: the opt-out, standby time and multiple contracts (EUROPE 9891/9884/9875/9864).
The ministers also took note of the reports of the Presidency on the state of progress with work on the draft directives on: - improved protection for pregnant workers and those who have recently given birth or are breast-feeding; - the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for all people irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation; - social protection for freelance workers and assisting spouses. The ministers adopted all of the conclusions on the agenda. They held a long discussion on extending the provisions of Regulation 883/2004 on social security to third country nationals, with a view to reaching a political agreement. Lastly, they examined the proposal of the Commission on guidelines for the employment policies of the member states. EUROPE will return to all of these points. (G.B./transl.fl)