Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council

Monday 14th October 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Esther McVey)]

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will be held on 15 October 2013 in Luxembourg. There are no health or consumer affairs issues on the agenda. The United Kingdom will be represented by the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), who is responsible for employment relations and consumer affairs, and Shan Morgan, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the European Union.

In the first discussion Ministers will be invited to agree a general approach with regard to the enforcement directive on posting of workers. This will be followed by an exchange of views on youth employment, with the main focus on the implementation of the related initiatives at both national and EU levels.

Ministers will discuss the evaluation of the 2013 European semester in employment and social policies and will be asked to endorse the respective contributions from the Employment Committee (EMCO) and Social Protection Committee (SPC) as well as the key conclusions of the SPC report on social policy reforms for growth and cohesion as a contribution to the annual growth survey 2014 policy priorities.

There will also be a policy debate on the social dimension of the European Monetary Union in which the Commission will be invited to present its recent communication “Strengthening the Social Dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union”, followed by a presentation of the respective contributions of the EMCO and SPC.

Ministers will consider Council conclusions on the European Court of Auditors’ special report on the value of European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

Under any other business the presidency will provide updates on legislative issues and will report on preparation for the tripartite social summit meeting.