The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council was held on 29 February 2008 in Brussels. I represented the UK. There were no health and consumer issues.

This was a straightforward Council with the main agenda item being Employment Ministers’ input to the spring European Council. Ministers adopted key messages, the joint employment report 2007-08, the Council decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the member states, the recommendation on the 2008 update of the broad economic guidelines, the 2008 joint report on social protection and social inclusion and the 2008 report on equality between women and men.

The policy debate which followed called for a greater social dimension to Lisbon and a greater focus on labour market reform, highlighting the need to do more on social cohesion, child poverty and skills. In my intervention I stressed the need to ensure that workers’ skills matched the requirements of a changing labour market and supported a European skills review. I pointed out that more needed to be done to increase labour market participation, highlighting that a job remained the best route out of poverty but that further targeted actions were still needed for some groups. I suggested that local partnerships and adapting local services to individual needs could provide some of the answers.

The presidency confirmed that the Tripartite Social Summit would discuss the Lisbon strategy and its new three year cycle, as well as the impact on employment of the energy and climate change package. The presidency also reported that the social partners would inform the Commission of the progress in their negotiations on work-life balance.

The Council also adopted a non-controversial joint Employment Committee and Social Protection Committee opinion on the Commission’s communication on the single market review and a resolution on the situation of disabled people in the European Union.

Under other business, the Council noted the annual Work Programmes of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee for 2008, and the Commission gave a presentation on the implementation of the Mission for Flexicurity.

The discussion over lunch covered the future European social agenda, focusing on the Commission’s mid-term review of the 2005-10 social agenda and beyond. The review is due to be published in June. The Government position was clear, that the social agenda provides the EU with an opportunity to reconnect with its citizens and that the focus of the review should be on issues that mattered to them. EU activity should add value and act as a catalyst for change providing analysis and evidence to inform reform programmes in member states. Themes for the future should include skills, improving mobility, tackling disadvantage and the social economy.