John McGuinness
Question:100. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will report on the recent EU EPSCO Council meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18671/13]
View answerTuesday, 23 April 2013
Questions (100)
Written answers
The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council of Ministers met in Brussels on the 28th February. This was the first formal meeting of the EPSCO Council under the Irish Presidency. I co-chaired the Employment and Social Policy element of the meeting along with my colleague, Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton.
Prior to the commencement of the formal Council proceedings, there was a meeting between the President of the European Council and EPSCO Ministers which Ireland had convened at the request of President Van Rompuy. The informal discussions focused on better ways of co-ordinating economic and fiscal policies as well as enhancing the social dimension of the EMU, including social dialogue.
Deliberations at the formal Council meeting included political agreement being reached on the Youth Guarantee. This is a significant achievement for our Presidency. The Council Recommendation is that each Member State should ensure that every young person under the age of 25 receives a quality offer of employment, or of continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship, within four months of becoming unemployed. When implemented, the Youth Guarantee will contribute to three out of the five Europe 2020 targets by:
- increasing the employment rate,
- reducing the extent of early school leaving, and
- lifting people out of poverty and social exclusion.
There were two policy debates during the Council. Minister Burton chaired a lunch time debate on “Pension rights to support Labour Mobility” while I chaired a debate on the “European Semester”. There was broad support for the valuable role the Semester process plays in working towards our Europe 2020 targets. EPSCO also adopted the Commission’s 2013 Joint Employment Report and Council Conclusions on the Annual Growth Survey. The Council made a series of recommendations that fed into the European Council meeting on 14 and 15 March which provided guidance to national governments on strategies to be set out in their National Reform Programmes and Stability and Convergence Programmes.
The 2013 European Semester is now well under way. This is a significant challenge as we move into the second half of our Presidency. Member States are currently submitting their National Reform Programmes to the Commission for assessment. The results of that assessment will be presented on 29th May, together with proposals for country-specific recommendations for consideration by the EPSCO and ECOFIN Councils.
The Presidency's Synthesis Report on the Implementation of the European Semester reflected the view that the EU needs to ensure effective delivery of efforts along the five priorities set in the Annual Growth Survey: differentiated, growth-friendly fiscal consolidation; restoring normal lending to the economy; promoting growth and competitiveness; tackling unemployment and modernising public administration. In the areas specific to the EPSCO Council, it identified the need for Member States to address the following priorities:
- active employment, social and labour market policies with particular priority to be given to promoting youth employment;
- better performing education and training systems, ensuring that young people are equipped with the right skills and linking the worlds of work and education more effectively;
- continued application to increasing female labour participation rates, reducing long term unemployment and ensuring full participation of older workers;
- tackling the social consequences of the crisis and fight poverty and social exclusion.
The Commission introduced its proposal for a Social Investment Package (SIP). The measures in the package are aimed at enhancing people's capacities to support better involvement in society and better participation in the labour market. The intention is to benefit individuals' prosperity, boost the economy and help the EU emerge from the crisis stronger, more cohesive and more competitive.