Informele bijeenkomst Werkgelegenheid en sociale zaken (en)
The Employment and Social Affairs Ministers of the 27 EU Member States and the Commission will meet informally in Guimaraes on 6 July. The meeting will be chaired by Portuguese Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity, José António Vieira da Silva. The Commission will be represented by Vladimír Spidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
Effective coordination of policies
The EU has developed new ways of coordinating social and employment policies since 1997, including the European Employment Strategy and, later, the Open Method of Coordination. Ministers will take stock of how these policy instruments have evolved over the past ten years and examine how to apply them to future challenges. They will discuss long term strategic priorities in social and employment policies and look into streamlining their co-ordination. Better and more effective co-ordination of both policies is absolutely essential in order to reach the Lisbon targets.
Flexicurity
The Commission's new communication on flexicurity seeks to establish common principles for flexicurity strategies in the Member States - to promote more and better jobs by combining flexibility and security for workers and companies. It also sets out four typical 'pathways' to help Member States draw up their own national strategies for flexicurity and learn from each other's experiences and best practices. The presentation by the Commission in Guimaraes will contribute to the ongoing debate involving all key players so that the European Council may adopt a set of common principles for flexicurity by the end of 2007.
Active ageing and active inclusion
To confront the challenge of demographic ageing in Europe, older workers need to be brought into and remain longer in the labour market. 'Active ageing' policies encourage lifelong learning and ongoing training of both older and younger workers. In this way they bring together employment policies as well as training and social protection systems. Ministers will discuss the inter-connections between these common challenges and seek to address them in a strategic way. They will also discuss how 'active inclusion' can enhance quality of life and opportunities for everyone.
Social partners and civil society
The ministerial meeting will be preceded, on 5 July, by a meeting of the "Troika", (i.e. the Employment and Social Affairs ministers of Portugal, Slovenia and France) with the social partners, the Social Platform (non-governmental organisations) and the European Parliament. The Commission will be hearing the views of the social partners and civil society on issues including active ageing, flexicurity and active inclusion in the context of the Ministerial meeting on 6 July. The social partners and civil society have a particularly important contribution to make to the debate on establishing common principles for flexicurity.