After a first day of discussions with the social partners and the Social Platform, the EU’s employment ministers were poised, on 8 July, to discuss the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy and demographic and climate challenges to be taken on board in developing employment policies. The previous day’s debates on these two subjects between European unions and employers were heated. “Today’s debates by employment ministers are focusing on the idea of increasing the labour force and raising the retirement age to cope with the ageing of the population. Never is it acknowledged that there are large numbers of job seekers on the market and that job offers are lacking,” commented John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

Although the social partners adopted, on 4 June, a common declaration on the new EU strategy for the next decade, they have not really built consensus on the best way to achieve sustainable growth and ensure an early return to more and better jobs while assuring a viable budget. While Monks reiterated his firm opposition to deregulation and more flexibility on the labour market, employers, represented by BusinessEurope, called for more ambitious policies on flexicurity and support for young people. The opposition between the two sides was illustrated in comments by Philippe de Buck, secretary-general of BusinessEurope, who regrets the unions’ reluctance to commit to pension reform, on which the European Commission has just launched a public consultation. BusinessEurope considers that the member states should raise the retirement age, discourage early retirement, improve the link between contributions and benefits and allow companies to provide profitable supplemental pensions.

The European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation (CEEP), the third partner in social dialogue, said it is willing to participate in the discussion. Although public service employers regret the lack of a sense of urgency in the new strategy, they encouraged the Presidency to advance on its implementation. Belgian Minister Joëlle Milquet reiterated the Presidency’s employment policies, which she had already presented at the Employment and Social Policy Council, in early June in Luxembourg. First, growth policy must encourage sustainable jobs while boosting employment demand (training, participation) and supply (cost of labour, job creation in new sectors, support for entrepreneurship). “For that to happen, special attention has to be given to young people and to the principle of flexicurity,” she added. Second, employment policies need to be placed at the heart of the new rules on economic governance and macroeconomic surveillance by giving the EPSCO Council a key role. Lastly, Milquet argued for a cautious and phased-in crisis resolution strategy with regard to employment.

SOCIAL ROAD MAP

State Secretary Jean-Marc Delizée, who was replacing Belgian Social Affairs Minister Laurette Onkelinx, called on the Commission to draw up a road map for the organisation of the social dimension of the 2020 strategy. He also mentioned that the Belgian Presidency’s views on combating poverty converge to a large extent with those of the Social Platform. The representatives of non-governmental organisations defended regular monitoring of the new guideline (10) on social inclusion and poverty reduction and called for special measures for young people and the working poor.