The relaunch of the social dialogue at European level, pension adequacy in an ageing society, the adoption of guidelines for employment lines and the integration of the long-term unemployed were all topics at the heart of discussions at the 'Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs' (EPSCO) Council held yesterday.
The Council was chaired by Minister of Labour, Employment and Social and Solidarity Economy, Nicolas Schmit and Minister of Social Security, Romain Schneider, and discussed social governance in an all-inclusive Europe through the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union.
"In this phase of crisis recovery, social progress and employment should be at the centre of our concerns," commented Minister Romain Schneider. "We must therefore strengthen social governance. The Presidency will inform the European Council of the discussions on the report of the five presidency that were conducted in the various relevant formations".
The Ministers held an exchange of views on the impact of the refugee issue on the labour market and social policy, in the presence of Minister of Family, Integration and the Greater Region, Corinne Cahen.
"This exceptional situation underlines the need to ensure the proper integration of refugees and solidarity between Member States," stated Nicolas Schmit, who had previously made the point during a meeting with representatives from the Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés (ASTI) last month.
Minister Schmit continued by commenting that the long-term unemployed also needed support regarding integration, saying "the long-term uneployed are victims of the crisis and the Presidency will do its best in order to adopt the recommendation on the integration of the long-term unemployed at the EPSCO Council meeting in December".
Ahead of the Council meeting, Minister Schmit chaired, in his capacity as Chairman of the group of social and social democratic minister of the EPSCO Council, a meeting of socialist and social-democratic Ministers of Labour and Employment, in order to discuss the issues on the Council agenda.
Photos by European Union (Bottom L-R: Minister of Labour, Employment and Social and Solidarity Economy, Nicolas Schmit ; Minister of Social Security, Romain Schneider)
