The current Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union was represented by Ján Richter, Minister responsible for employment, social and family affairs. The European Commission was represented by Commissioner Thyssen, responsible for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility.
The ministers adopted the Council Decision on the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States for the year 2016 and the Council Decision on the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment.
The ministers also reached general approach in first reading on the Directive Proposal of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work. The incoming Maltese Presidency will be able to negotiate with the European Parliament based on this mandate.
The employment and social affairs ministers reached political agreement on the Council Directive Proposal implementing the Agreement concluded between the General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives in the European Union (COGECA), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises (EUROPÊCHE) of 21 May 2012 as amended on 8 May 2013 concerning the implementation of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 of the International Labour Organisation.
The ministers held a political debate on the Commission proposal on the New Skills Agenda for Europe and endorsed the Employment Committee’s (EMCO) opinion on the topic. During this agenda point the European Commission also presented its recent proposal on the revision of the Europass framework for the provision of better services for skills and qualifications.
In the frame of the preparation of the 2017 European Semester, the ministers endorsed the Employment Performance Monitor (EPM) by the Employment Committee (EMCO) and the Social Protection Performance Monitor (SPPM) by the Social Protection Committee (SPC) as well as the main messages prepared by the two committees.
As a follow-up of specific employment-related issues, the European Commission presented its recent Communication on the Youth Guarantee (YG) and Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) three years on. The ministers also had an exchange of views on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Long-Term Unemployment (LTU), and endorsed the Employment Committee’s (EMCO) key messages on the integration of long term unemployed into the labour market. Commissioner Thyssen and the Vice-Chair of the PES Network also presented the first results of the bench-learning exercise of the Public Employment Services (PES) Network.
The agenda point concerning the social dialogue was dedicated to the presentation of the Slovak Presidency and the European Commission about the next Tripartite Social Summit on 19 October 2016 in Brussels. The Slovak Presidency and the European Commission also informed the ministers about the state of play concerning the joint statement on "A new start for a strong social dialogue", which was signed during the Dutch Presidency.
The Council adopted the Council conclusions on the "Report from the European Court of Auditors on EU policy initiatives and financial support for Roma integration”.
The Council generally endorsed the joint opinion of the EMCO and the SPC on the European Pillar of Social Rights in order to submit it to the public consultation launched by the European Commission this March. The joint opinion was elaborated exclusively by these two advisory committees and the Council has not examined its content. Hungary could agree with its submission to the public consultation as the own opinion of the EMCO and the SPC. At the same time from the procedural point of view we underlined that this joint opinion cannot prejudice either the further consultation process within the Council or the right of the Member States to express their position regarding the initiative to establish the European Pillar of Social Rights. This idea was recognized by the Council with the general endorsement. Hungary does not doubt the importance of social issues however at current stage of negotiations we have several concerns on the Commission’s initiative on European Pillar of Social Rights such as its legal nature, possible content etc.
