Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council

Priti Patel Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Employment (Priti Patel)]

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will take place on 7 March 2016 in Brussels.

The Council will be invited to seek a general approach on the proposal for a Council decision on guidelines for employment policies in member states.

The Council will be invited to adopt draft Council conclusions in response to the Commission’s strategic engagement for gender equality, the Commission’s list of actions to advance LGBTI equality, and the 2016 annual growth survey. The Council will also be invited to adopt the draft joint employment report.

There will be policy debates on the European semester, for a contribution to the March European Council, and on the progress towards a new skills agenda for Europe.

Regarding the implementation of the country-specific recommendations, there will be a contribution from the Employment Committee (EMCO) on labour market segmentation and contractual arrangements.

The Council will be asked to endorse the key messages from EMCO on the way forward regarding the implementation of the youth guarantee.

The European Commission will make presentations on the 2016 country reports and the labour mobility package. The presidency and European Commission will make a joint presentation on social dialogue and the tripartite social summit.

Under any other business, the presidency will present information on legislative issues currently on their agenda. The Commission will present information on the European pillar of social rights, the state of play regarding the European social fund and youth employment initiative implementation, the employment and social dimension of the Energy Union, and the Istanbul convention on violence against women. Information on the 2016 work programmes of EMCO and Social Protection Committee will be presented by the committees’ respective Chairs.

[HCWS571]