Wide-ranging employment Council

Ministers met in Brussels on 2-3 December 2002 for an EU employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs Council. In the area of employment and social policy, a range of issues were discussed, including working conditions for temporary agency workers, health and safety for self-employed workers and protection from electromagnetic fields and waves.

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council met in Brussels on 2-3 December 2002 for the last time under the current Danish Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Social security

Dealing with a packed agenda, the Council looked first at social security issues. It agreed on a general approach, pending the European Parliament’s first reading, on part of a proposal for a Regulation on the coordination of social security systems in the European Community, covering sickness, maternity and paternity, accidents and work and occupational diseases and death grants (EU0206201N). The proposal aims to simplify Community legislation in order to remove obstacles to the free movement of persons created by the fact that different national social security systems exist. It will replace Regulation 1408/71/EEC on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community.

The Council also reached political agreement on a proposal for a Regulation to extend to third-country nationals the provisions of Regulation 1408/71/EEC. The text will be adopted at a forthcoming session of the Council.

Further, the Council endorsed revised common objectives against poverty and social exclusion following a report by the chair of the Social Protection Committee, in preparation of the 2003 National Action Plans against poverty and social exclusion (EU0111101N).

Gender mainstreaming

In conclusions adopted at the Council, ministers reiterated Member States’ commitment to the principle of gender mainstreaming and took note of a Presidency guide intended to offer specific advice to future Presidencies on how to gender mainstream different Council configurations.

Temporary agency work

A policy debate on key issues was held by ministers on the proposal for a Directive on working conditions for temporary agency workers, originally issued in March 2002 by the European Commission (EU0204205F). This follows the opinions on this text recently issued by the European Economic and Social Committee (EU0211204F) and at first reading by the European Parliament (EP) (EU0212201N). The Commission issued an amended proposal on 28 November 2002.

The debate focused on what are seen as the five main outstanding issues:

• restrictions on the use of temporary agency workers;

• exemptions for temporary agency workers on assignments of less than six weeks;

• temporary agency work as a labour market instrument;

• non-discrimination against temporary agency workers in relation to the concept of a 'comparable worker'; and

• the role of the social partners.

Delegations welcomed the Presidency’s efforts to move this dossier forward and reiterated the importance of temporary agency work in increasing competitiveness, at the same time underlining the need to protect workers’ rights.

Ministers agreed that the two issues which need to be taken into account in order to achieve political agreement within the Council are:

• the restrictions on temporary agency work (Article 4 of the proposal); and

• the periods of exemption for temporary agency workers as regards the principle of non-discrimination (Article 5.4 of the proposal).

Work on this dossier will continue under the Greek Presidency, which begins on 1 January 2003 for a six-month term.

Health and safety for self-employed workers

Political agreement was reached on a draft Recommendation on the application of health and safety legislation to self-employed workers. The text will be adopted at a forthcoming session of the Council. This Recommendation aims to prevent the risks of occupational accidents and diseases to which self-employed workers are exposed, as existing Community legislation applies only to employees and therefore excludes self-employed workers. There is a high number of self-employed workers in what are deemed to be high-risk sectors, such as agriculture, fishing, construction and transport.

Corporate social responsibility

The Council issued a Resolution on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in which it acknowledges the work carried out so far on this issue – most recently the Commission’s Communication on CSR, issued in July 2002 (EU0207205F) and the subsequent launch of a European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility ([CSR EMS Forum](http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/empl/csr_eu_multi_stakeholder_forum/info/data/en/csr ems forum.htm)) (EU0211205F). The Resolution is addressed to the Commission, the organisations involved in the CSR EMS Forum, the Member States and future Presidencies of the EU, addressing a range of issues aimed at guaranteeing progress in this area and improvement of CSR strategies.

Electromagnetic fields and waves

Ministers took note of information from the Presidency on the preparation of a new text for a Directive on minimum requirements for safety and health in relation to workers’ exposure to risks due to electromagnetic fields and waves (EU0210203F). The Presidency stated that it intended to present a proposal in this area before the end of 2002. When issued, this will be the third proposal emanating from an original 1992 proposal for a physical agents Directive. In 1999, the text of the 1992 proposal was split into four separate issues: noise; vibration; optical radiation; and electromagnetic fields and waves. An EP-Council conciliation text of the proposal on noise was issued in November 2002 (EU0212202N), while the Directive(2002/44/EC) on vibration was adopted in June 2002.

The new text on electromagnetic fields and waves is expected to contain similar provisions to those on vibration and noise, including issues such as:

• risk assessments by employers;

• the information and training of workers; and

• the introduction of limit values for exposure.

Other issues

The Council adopted a Resolution on 'e-accessibility' for people with disabilities – improving the access of people with disabilities to the knowledge-based society. It also adopted conclusions on domestic violence against women, in the context of the annual review of the implementation of the United Nations’ agenda for women’s empowerment.

Ministers also adopted a Resolution on social inclusion through social dialogue and partnership.

A report from the Presidency concerning the proposal for a Decision to establish a tripartite social summit for growth and employment, including the social partners, issued by the Commission in June 2002 (EU0208203F), was approved. This proposal would formalise the summit, which is currently being held informally each year on the eve of the annual spring European Council. There are still a number of legal and procedural matters which require further study and so, until these matters are resolved, the summit will continue to be held on an informal basis, in accordance with established practice.

A report on streamlining the annual economic and employment policy coordination cycles, as outlined in a Commission Communication (issued on September 2002 - EU0210206F), was approved by ministers. The synchronisation of the two cycles is expected to result in improved effectiveness of both coordination policies.

Commentary

This Council progressed a number of legislative proposals which have been the focus of work and debate over the past few months. The most high-profile issue here is the Commission’s proposal for a Directive on working conditions for temporary agency workers. Although significant progress has been made on this dossier during the Danish Presidency and the outstanding issues appear to have been narrowed down to two main areas, there obviously remains a great deal of work to do. It will be interesting to see what progress the incoming Greek Presidency can achieve.

The other areas where progress has been made include the proposal for an instrument, in the form of a Recommendation, governing health and safety for self-employed workers and progress on the drawing up of a Directive on protection against electromagnetic fields and waves. In the latter case, it is likely that a proposal will be issued before the end of 2002. (Andrea Broughton, IRS)