On 19 and 20 July 2017, the Luxembourg ministers Nicolas Schmit and Lydia Mutsch attended the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs and Equality of the European Union, which took place in Tallinn.
The links between employment policies and equality policies were put on the agenda of the EPSCO Council under the Luxembourg Presidency in 2015.
The Luxembourg Minister of Labour, Employment and Social and Solidarity Economy and Minister for Equal Opportunities represented Luxembourg in discussions which centred around the balance between working and family life.
In this context, the Luxembourg ministers presented the major legislative reforms carried out in the recent past, particularly in the areas of taxation, parental leave, paternity leave, family leave and the organisation of work.
For Nicolas Schmit, the question of reconciliation between work and private life is still more acute in the context of the profound transformation of the world of work due to the digital revolution. The organisation of work must also ensure more flexibility for employees.
Additionnally, Lydia Mutsch stressed that "besides a legal and regulatory framework that encourages women and men to take care of the care of family members, it is necessary to bring about a fundamental change in mentalities while women continue are still too often considered to be predestined to assume family responsibilities in a broad sense."
Faced with an open legal framework that is favourable to men and women and in view of men's particular interest in taking advantage of the opportunities open to them in terms of flexible work organisation and family leave, the meeting concluded that all individuals and groups involved should be open-minded about the sharing of family responsibilities between men and women.
Photo by Arno Mikkor (EU2017EE)
