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 was held on 8 June 2009 in Luxembourg. I represented the United Kingdom.

The main agenda item at the council was the preparation of the social and employment aspects of the June European Council to be held on 18 and 19 June. There was also a ministerial exchange of views on the Lisbon agenda post-2010.

In introducing the main policy debate, the Czech presidency emphasised the contribution of the 7 May employment summit held in Prague and the Commission's 3 June jobs communication. Member states, including the UK, welcomed the Commission communication and its emphasis on skills and the reform agenda. A number of member states, including the UK, highlighted budgetary concerns about the European Social Fund proposals.

The council adopted without comment the council decision on the guidelines for employment policies of the member states and endorsed the Employment Committee opinion on skills and mobility. The council adopted conclusions on flexicurity in times of crisis, social services as a tool for active inclusion and on equality for women and men in active and dignified ageing. The council also adopted conclusions on the inclusion of the Roma. There was also a discussion of the Commission proposal to extend social security rights to third country nationals. The UK is not opted-in to this proposal. The presidency concluded that further preparatory work on the proposal was needed.

The council noted progress reports on revision of the directive on pregnant workers and on the directive on equal treatment of the self-employed. The council also noted a presidency progress report on the anti-discrimination directive. The incoming Swedish presidency underlined its hopes of continuing work and reaching political agreement in November.

Under any other business, the council took note of information from the Commission on the status of implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The council noted reports from the presidency of conferences it had hosted.

At the Ministers only lunch, there was a discussion on post-2010 successor to the Lisbon strategy. For the UK, I stressed the importance of the skills agenda and the importance of undertaking reforms to improve productivity and employment potential.