Council reaches political agreement on social security Regulation

An EU employment and social policy Council meeting held in December 2003 reached partial political agreement on reforming Regulation 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to workers moving within the Union. Other issues discussed included equal opportunities for people with disabilities and immigration, integration and employment.

EU employment and social affairs ministers met in Brussels on 1 and 2 December 2003 within the framework of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, the last such meeting under the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union of the second half of 2003.

Social security Regulation

The first item on the agenda was a proposal for a Regulation aimed at replacing the current social security coordination system. It seeks to reform Regulation 1408/71/EEC on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community. The specific purpose of the proposed new Regulation, which was first presented in 1999, is to simplify Community legislation in order to remove obstacles to the free movement of persons created by the co-existence of different national social security systems. As the proposal is subject to Articles 42 and 208 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, it requires unanimity in the Council and co-decision with the European Parliament.

At the December 2003 Council, ministers succeeded in reaching a partial political agreement on the draft Regulation (agreement has not yet been reached on the annexes). The most difficult area to resolve was the content of the unemployment chapter. The first area of contention was the payment of unemployment benefits to unemployed frontier and seasonal workers, revolving around concern about the cost of unemployment benefits to the state of residence in the case of unemployed people who do not reside in the state in which they were previously employed. As, in these cases, the state of residence has not received contributions from the worker, it was proposed that the state of last activity should, within limits, reimburse the cost of the unemployment benefits provided by the state of residence. It has been agreed that:

• the Regulation would make clear the transfer of competence from the state of last activity to the state of residence;

• the state of last activity would reimburse unemployment benefits to the state of residence for a minimum of three months;

• this period of reimbursement would be extended to five months in cases where the worker has, during the preceding 24 months, completed periods of employment or self-employment of at least 12 months in the Member State to the legislation of which they were last subject; and

• in the case of relations between Luxembourg on the one hand and France, Germany and Belgium on the other, the application and duration of this reimbursement period will be subject to the conclusion of bilateral agreements.

The second area of contention was Luxembourg’s request for a specific transitional period due to the need for it to reinforce its employment services, resulting from the provision enabling frontier workers to register additionally with the employment service of their state of last activity. This is of particular concern to Luxembourg, as it employs a large number of frontier workers. The Council agreed to grant a two-year transitional period to Luxembourg.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives will now work on the annexes to the proposed Regulation with the aim of enabling the Council to reach full political agreement on the Regulation by the end of 2003. It will then be forwarded to the European Parliament for a second reading.

Equal opportunities for people with disabilities

The Council adopted a set of Conclusions on the follow up of the 2003 European Year of People with Disabilities (EU0209201N). In these Conclusions, the Council invites the current and new EU Member States to 'mainstream' disability issues into relevant policy areas and to transpose and apply fully the EU Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (Directive 2000/78/EC) adopted in November 2000 (EU0102295F), which covers disability discrimination alongside other grounds. The Conclusions also cite and welcome the European Commission’s Communication (COM(2003) 650 final) on the follow-up to the European Year of People with Disabilities, issued in October 2003 (EU0311205F), characterising it as 'a contribution to towards the full integration and participation of people with disabilities into the economy and society as a whole in an enlarged Europe'.

Immigration, integration and employment

The Council adopted a set of Conclusions on immigration, integration and employment, stating that it was important to discuss these themes regularly, coordinating work in this policy field with that in the area of justice and home affairs (EU0311206F). It also welcomed the Commission’s Communication (COM (2203) 336 final) on this issue, issued in June 2003 (EU0307201N), which was presented to the Thessaloniki European Council on 19 and 20 June 2003 (EU0307204F). In particular, the Conclusions welcome the Commission’s decision, set out in its Communication, to present an annual report on immigration policies, stating that this will strengthen cooperation in this area.

Other issues

Contribution to December European Council

The employment and social policy Council also prepared its contribution to the next European Council summit, which was held on 12 December 2003 (EU0312209F), focusing on the issue of new structural indicators in the employment and social policy field. These new indicators, put forward by the Commission in a Communication in October 2003, will replace the existing ones and simplify the decision-making process in the context of the 'Lisbon strategy' (EU0004241F).

Social Protection Committee

The Council reached agreement on a general approach with a view to establishing a revised Social Protection Committee in line with a new legal basis provided by the Treaty of Nice, which came into force on 1 February 2003. The Committee was originally set up by Council Decision in 2000 (EU0006256F). In its new form, it will continue to promote cooperation on social protection policies between Member States and with the Commission

Gender equality

Finally, the Council adopted Conclusions concerning female representation in decision-making processes in public and private sectors, in the context of the follow-up of the 1995 United Nations Beijing Platform for Action of 1995. These Conclusions set up nine quantitative indicators aimed at measuring the representation of women and men in economic decision-making centres.

Commentary

The December Council meeting of employment and social policy ministers made important progress on the politically sensitive area of unemployment benefits for frontier and seasonal workers. Now that the concerns of Luxembourg, which has a large number of these types of workers, have been addressed, it would seems that full political agreement on this issue may be reached in the Council in the near future.

One dossier which was notable by its absence from the agenda of this meeting was that of the draft Directive on terms and conditions for temporary agency workers (EU0204205F). This proposal has been blocked in the Council since June 2003, when ministers failed to reach a consensus on the text (EU0306206F). It has subsequently not been progressed at all by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The Irish government will take over the Presidency for a six-month term on 1 January 2004, but it is unclear whether or not it will make this issue a priority. (Andrea Broughton, IRS)