Employment and Social Policy Council (Hansard, 13 March 2001)

§ The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone)

My right honourable friend the Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities, along with my honourable friend Angela Eagle, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, represented the UK at the Employment and Social Policy Council held in Brussels on 6 March.

This was a busy Council, with the Standing Committee on Employment also meeting in the margins. Council and committee business focused on preparations for the forthcoming European Council in Stockholm on 23–24 March. The Commission presented its synthesis report, which will inform the social/employment dimension of Stockholm, together with its scoreboard on the implementation of the Social Agenda and its Communication on New Labour Markets. Ministers also noted the inputs from the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee in the discussion on the preparations for Stockholm. The UK emphasised the importance of remaining focused on the priorities agreed at Lisbon, working towards creating choice and mobility in a dynamic and flexible labour market and, with Commission support, pressed for concrete outcomes at Stockholm, particularly in terms of basic skills, a task force on skills and mobility, action on the gender pay gap, women entrepreneurs and a European employment target for older workers.

The Council held an open debate on the sustainability of pensions systems and agreed that the Social Protection Committee would prepare a report for the European Council in Göteberg on 15–16 June. The Presidency reported on the agreement with the European Parliament for a series of amendments to regulation 1408/71 which co-ordinates social security for migrant workers moving within the EU.

The Presidency formally reported on the recent series of informal ministerial meetings held in Sweden, at Luleå, Norrköping and Malmö.

Under any other business, the Commission raised the recent ILO measures against Burma concerning forced labour and the ratification of ILO Convention no 182 on the worst forms of child labour. No substantive discussion was necessary on these items. There was a brief discussion of the Commission's proposals for evaluating the European Employment Strategy, with the Presidency agreeing to remit the issue to the Employment Committee.

No votes were taken.