Informele ministerraad voor Werkgelegeheid en sociale zaken spreekt over mobiliteit van werknemers(en)

The meeting of the Ministers will start on Thursday, 22 January at 16:00 in Luhacovice and it will last until Saturday, 24 January.

One day before the start of the meeting (21 January) Minster Petr Necas will meet with representatives of social partners and the Social Platform in Brussels. They will address the issue of labour mobility, which is also the main topic of the meeting of Ministers in Luhacovice.

Full liberalisation of the labour market and elimination of mobility obstacles are the priority of the Czech Presidency in the area of employment. Therefore, the meeting will particularly focus on discussions of individual aspects of mobility. Three thematic parts will address professional and geographical mobility, mobility of persons disadvantaged by unemployment and labour market inactivity.

Each thematic part will be addressed by representatives of two Member States and European Commissioner Vladimír Å Spidla. Speeches by ministers of the current Social Troika, Sven Otto Littorin from Sweden and Spanish Minister Celestino Corbacho Chaves are planned for the meeting. Agnès Leclerc will address the meeting on behalf of France and Viera Tomanová on behalf of Slovakia. The Presidency, represented by Minister Petr Necas, will deliver a statement on geographical mobility in cooperation with Austria that, as well as Germany, still applies limitations on access to the labour market for citizens of the new Member States. The Presidency would like to point out that such measures are unreasonable.

On Friday, the working part of the meeting will be concluded by a lunch dedicated to a discussion on the revision of the working time directive. The rest of the day and Saturday morning will be reserved for the accompanying programme for Ministers and delegates.

A press conference will be held on 22 January at 18:00 and on 23 January at 13:30. The press conference will be attended by the Presidency, Ministers from France and Sweden and Commissioner Vladimír Å pidla.

Programme of the working meeting Thursday, 22 January 2009 16:00 - 17:00 Introductory panel 16:05 - 16:15 Opening of the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs 16:15 - 16:25 Opening speech by European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (Vladimír Å pidla) 16:25 - 16:30 Speech by representative of Business Europe (Jørgen Rønnest) 16:30 - 16:35 Speech by representative of the European Trade Union Confederation (Maria Helena Dos Santos André) 16:35 - 16:40 Opening speech by President of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament. (Jan Anderson) 16:40 - 16:45 Speech by President of the Employment Committee (EMCO) (Emilio Gabaglio) 16:45 - 16:50 Speech by President of the Social Protection Committee (SPC) (Aurelio Fernandez) 16:50 - 16:55 Speech by representative of the European Economic and Social Committee (Leila Kurki) 16:55 - 17:00 Contribution of the Youth Forum and summary of conclusions of the speeches. 17:00 - 18:00 First thematic part dedicated to professional mobility 17:00 - 17:05 Contribution of France on the topic of professional mobility (Agnès Leclerc) 17:05 - 17:10 Contribution of Slovakia on the topic of professional mobility (Viera Tomanová) 17:10 - 17:15 Speech by European Commissioner on professional mobility (Vladimír Å pidla) 17:15 - 17:55 Discussion of Ministers on the topic of professional mobility 17:55 - 18:00 Conclusion of the thematic part on professional mobility (Petr Necas) 18:00 - 18:30 Press conference Friday, 23 January 2009 9:00 - 10:00 Second thematic part dedicated to geographic mobility 9:05 - 9:10 Contribution of the Czech Presidency on the topic of geographic mobility (P. Necas) 9:10 - 9:15 Contribution of Austria on the topic of geographic mobility 9:15 - 9:20 Speech by European Commissioner on geographic mobility (Vladimír Å pidla) 9:20 - 10:00 Discussion of Ministers on geographic mobility 10:15 - 11:00 Third thematic part dedicated to the mobility of persons on the fringe of the labour market. 10:15 - 10:20 Contribution of Sweden on the mobility of persons on the fringe of the labour market (Sven Otto Littorin) 10:20 - 10:25 Contribution of Spain on the mobility of persons on the fringe of the labour market (Celestino Corbacho Chaves) 10:25 - 10:30 Speech by European Commissioner on the mobility of persons on the fringe of the labour market (Vladimír Å pidla) 10:30 - 11:00 Discussion of Ministers of the mobility of persons on the fringe of the labour market 11:00 - 11:05 Conclusion of the meeting (Petr Necas) 11:05 - 11:25 Group photo 11:30 - 13:30 Working lunch of the Ministers - discussion on regulation of working time 13:30 - 14:00 Press conference (P. Necas, V. Å pidla, Sweden, France) 14:00 Beginning of the accompanying programme

Contact: Jana Ríhová, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Tel.: +420 221 922 249, GSM: +420 725 761 147, E-mail: jana.rihova@mpsv.cz

For more information see the Calendar on the website of the Czech Presidency.