§ Mr. Donald ThompsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the outcome of the meeting of the Labour and Social Affairs Council held in Luxembourg on 14 October; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. HowardThe Council reached unanimous agreement on the draft directive concerned with health and safety on temporary and mobile construction worksites. The Council formally adopted a common position on the directive concerning written statements of employment conditions (proof of contract), on which the United Kingdom abstained in the vote.
There was lengthy discussion of the provisions in the proposed directive on pregnant workers concerned with dismissal and maternity pay. However, agreement was not reached on actual texts, which were referred back to COREPER for further examination.
There was agreement to take forward my proposal that the Social Affairs Council should launch an employment initiative, based on the principle that unemployed people should be provided with the help they need to return to work as quickly as possible, and on a commitment by the Council to devote more of its time at future meetings to identifying and disseminating information on effective practice. As the first practical step in this initiative, the Council took note of a paper which I presented on the comprehensive range of help and advice available in the United Kingdom to people without a job.
The EC Ministers discussed implications of the European Court of Justice decision on the Barber case. Industrial action on the part of the interpreters prevented any discussion of the proposed directive on working time.
This Council demonstrated yet again that the United Kingdom is far from isolated in its approach to EC social affairs. A wide range of member states have substantial concerns about the more difficult legislative proposals made by the Commission under its social action programme. In contrast, the Council was able to make progress on matters of genuine relevance to health and safety at work and agreed that high priority should be given to creating and sustaining employment.
Prior to the Council, there was a meeting between members of the Council and representatives of the European Parliament to discuss the state of progress on EC social affairs.