Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (17 June 2011)

Lord Grayling Excerpts

Friday 17th June 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will be held on 17 June 2011 in Luxembourg. I will represent the United Kingdom on all agenda items.

There will be two round-table discussions at this meeting. The first will be a policy debate on the Commission’s proposal for Council recommendations on member states’ employment policies. I will stress that the United Kingdom wishes to strike the right balance, between acknowledging the Commission’s right to propose these recommendations to all member states, and ensuring Council’s input to the final text. Ownership by Council, with recommendations reflecting national priorities, will best secure the commitment of member states to deliver, and challenge each other, on the pace and depth of our labour market and welfare reforms.

The second discussion will be on demographic change and family policies where member states will be asked to give their views on how to support families most effectively. I will highlight the UK’s policy approaches and stress that while European Union level-discussion can help to inform national decisions, this is not an area of policy that will ever lend itself to a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Discussion at European Union level needs to take account of the individual contexts in different member states and member state competence in this area.

There will be a progress report on the pregnant workers directive. I will stress that the United Kingdom will not accept a directive which would fundamentally change our system of maternity pay and impose significant and unjustified costs on member states. Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the co-ordination of social security systems (Miscellaneous Amendments) is also on the agenda for a progress report. I will acknowledge progress made on this dossier, and make a statement about the importance of clarifying the interaction between the social security co-ordination and the free movement directive. There will also be a progress report on equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, an area in which the United Kingdom has comprehensive legislation.

Ministers will consider a number of Council conclusions. These will cover promoting youth employment to achieve the Europe 2020 objectives, reconciling work and family life in the context of demographic change, and tackling child poverty and promoting child well-being.

Under any other business, the Hungarian presidency will report on conferences they have hosted and provide information on social and employment-related aspects of the legal migration directives. The Commission will report on the United Nations convention on the rights of people with disabilities and will also provide an update on electromagnetic fields. The Cypriot delegation will provide information on the forum on the future of democracy. The French delegation will outline plans for the G20 meeting of Labour and Employment Ministers and the incoming Polish presidency will provide information on their work programme.