Wide-ranging Employment and Social Policy Council

European Union employment and social policy ministers met on 3 December 2001 to discuss a wide range of issues. The agenda included the 'employment package', pensions and social inclusion, plus discussion of a number of proposals for statutory instruments, such as a Directive on worker involvement in the proposed European Cooperative Society and a proposed modernisation of the protection of workers against risks associated with exposure to asbestos.

The Employment and Social Policy Council of Ministers met on 3 December 2001 under the Belgian Presidency.

Progression of statutory instruments

A number of proposed statutory instruments were progressed during the Council meeting. First, ministers reached political agreement on a common position on the European Commission's proposal for a new Directive providing protection to employees in the event of their employer's insolvency. The proposal was issued on 15 January 2001 and aims to update an existing Directive (80/987/EEC), which dates from 1980, particularly in the light of case law emanating from the European Court of Justice over the past 20 years.

The Council noted a progress report given by the Presidency on the work which is continuing on the draft Directive on worker involvement in future European Cooperative Societies. The proposed Statute for a European Cooperative Society, dating from 1992, seeks to provide cooperatives with the same opportunities for European-level operation as provided by the European Company Statute (ECS) for private limited companies, but it had reached the same deadlock as affected the ECS for many years. However, following the progress made on the ECS and its accompanying Directive on worker involvement (subsequently adopted on 8 October 2001 - EU0110203N) the European Cooperative Society and its proposed worker involvement Directive were revived under the Swedish Presidency in March 2001 (EU0106220F).

The Council discussed the issue of the modernisation of social security Regulation 1408/71 and established a set of 12 parameters within which this can be achieved. This follows debates held at the 8 October 2001 Employment and Social Policy Council (EU0110203N). It is hoped that these parameters will aid future work on replacing this Regulation. The Council also decided to extend the Regulation to third-country nationals who are living and working legally in the EU, and invited the Council of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) to continue work in this area.

The Council heard a progress report from the Presidency on the work which has been carried out on a new draft Directive protecting workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos. This proposal aims to modify Directive 83/477/EEC, and it is hoped that a common position will be reached under the Spanish Presidency during the first six months of 2002.

Open coordination

The December Council also discussed several issues falling under the 'open coordination' method for Community action, involving the setting of common objectives and agreed indicators, regular reporting and the identification of best practice.

Employment package

The Council approved the joint 'employment package', issued by the Commission in September 2001 (EU0109236F). This package, which is the fifth to be drawn up within the framework of the Luxembourg employment strategy, launched in November 1997 (EU9711168F), comprises the joint Council/Commission employment report, recommendations to Member States and Employment Guidelines for 2002. The package was subsequently transmitted to the Laeken European Council meeting, held on 14-15 December. The Employment and Social Policy Council noted that the emphasis this year has been on quality of work and thus Member States have sought to create not only more jobs, but jobs of high quality. Within this context, the Council heard a presentation by the president of the EU Employment Committee on its report containing eight employment 'quality indicators', which was also forwarded to the Laeken summit.

Fighting social exclusion and poverty

A total of 18 indicators relating to the fight against poverty and social exclusion were adopted by the Council, in addition to a joint Commission/Council report (EU0111101N) relating to the content of Member States' national action plans on the issue. These plans were drawn up in 2001 for the first time, as part of the EU strategy agreed at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 (EU0004241F).

Quality and viability of pensions

Ministers held an exchange of views on the issue of the quality and viability of pensions, on which an interim report has been drawn up by the Social Protection Committee and the Economic Policy Committee. This report proposes ways of applying the 'open coordination' method to pensions (EU0110207F), while acknowledging that, although Member States are all facing the same demographic difficulties and can therefore work to some kind of common framework, regulation of pensions remains a national, rather than a Community-level, competence.

Other initiatives

The issue of a voluntary system of industrial dispute mediation at European level is supported by the Belgian Presidency (BE0108357N), and was one of the matters included in the Commission's current five-year social policy agenda, issued in June 2000 (EU0007266F). The December Council stated that the issue of setting up some kind of mechanism in this area at European level should be looked into in more depth – this might prove to be useful in settling conflicts between employers and employees which are of a transnational nature. It therefore welcomed the Commission's intention to consult the social partners on this issue.

The Council also adopted conclusions relating to the implementation by Member States of the Beijing action programme relating to equal pay and in particular to pay inequalities between men and women. This is part of an annual examination of Member States' implementation of this action programme, which followed the United Nations' fourth women's conference, held in Beijing in 1995. The Council also took note of an information report by the Presidency on the subject of gender mainstreaming within EU policies.

The Council adopted a resolution on corporate social responsibility, following the publication of the Commission's Green Paper on this issue in July 2001 (EU0107228F). The resolution welcomes the Commission's initiative and invites it to continue its work in this area, in collaboration with the social partners.

Finally, the Council approved the suggestion that 2003 should be the European Year of People with Disabilities. There will be a budget of EUR 12 million in order to sponsor efforts at Community and national level to improve the integration of people with disabilities into society and the workplace.

Commentary

This was the final Employment and Social Policy Council to be held under the Belgian Presidency, which finishes at the end of December 2001. It succeeded in moving on a number of proposals for statutory instruments, such as the proposal to protect employees in the event of their employer's insolvency, and sowed the seeds for further action in a number of cases, such as the proposal designed to protect workers from risks associated with exposure to asbestos and the possibility of the creation of a European-level system of voluntary mediation in transnational industrial disputes. However, it is clear that, in social policy terms, the emphasis is shifting towards the method of 'open coordination', which has, for the past five years, underpinned the European employment strategy. This method, comprising an annual cycle of guidelines for action, Member States' national action plans, assessment of these plans and recommendations for better implementation, has worked well in the case of employment, has started in the field of social inclusion, and is now to be used in the areas of pensions. (Andrea Broughton, IRS).