Skip to main content

EU: Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council

Volume 708: debated on Thursday 5 March 2009

Statement

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Jonathan Shaw) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will be held on 9 March 2009 in Brussels. I will represent the UK, except for the agenda item on the pregnant workers directive, where the UK will be represented by my honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs. There are no health or consumer affairs issues.

The first and main item of the agenda is the preparation for the spring European Council which will be held on the 19 and 20 March 2009. A key messages paper will be adopted following a public debate on the economic crisis and the European economic recovery plan. The key messages paper identifies the main messages emerging from the various other reports for adoption at the March council. The presidency will also give information on preparation for the tripartite social summit. The tripartite social summit meets a minimum of once a year, including before each spring European Council. It is attended by the current presidency, the two future presidencies (Sweden and Spain), the Commission and the social partners.

The next item will be the presidency’s progress report on the negotiations to amend the European globalisation adjustment fund (EGF). Member states can apply to the EGF for matched funding of measures to help back into work any people made unemployed through large-scale redundancies. The Government believe that the EGF plays an important role and the UK is involved in negotiations to ensure that recently proposed revisions mean that it plays that role as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The council will also seek adoption of council conclusions based on the recent Commission communication “New Skills for New Jobs”. The conclusions commit member states and the Commission to develop policies and services to address skills needs and labour markets mismatches. There will also be adoption of council conclusions on professional and geographical mobility and the free movement of workers. The conclusions rightly stress the importance of joined-up approaches to support professional and geographic mobility, in response to the economic downturn. The Government welcome both sets of conclusions.

There will be a policy debate on the draft proposal to amend an existing directive which sets out the minimum protections for pregnant workers, and new or breastfeeding mothers. The UK system of maternity leave and pay is in many ways more generous than the proposed minimum. The Government support the aims of the proposal but need to ensure that any proposed changes would be compatible with our own existing provisions.

Under Any Other Business, the Commission will present its recent communication contributing to the spring European Council. In addition, the chairs of the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee will give an oral presentation on their 2009 work programmes. There will also be information on all conferences held under Czech presidency to date.