HC Deb 24 June 1994 vol 245 cc356-7W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Social Affairs Council held on 22 June.

Mr. Hunt

I attended the meeting of the Labour and Social Affairs Council held on 22 June in Luxembourg, and was accompanied by the Minister of State, Department of Employment, and the Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North (Mr. Burt).

The Council agreed to adopt the directive on the protection of young workers and to maintain in full the United Kingdom's renewable option not to apply limits to the working time of children and adolescents in the United Kingdom. Three member states abstained.

The other 11 member states reached a common position on the draft European works councils directive. In accordance with the terms of the social protocol to the Maastricht treaty, this directive will not apply within the United Kingdom and employees based in the United Kingdom will not count towards the threshold which determines whether the directive applies to multinational companies. As a result, more than 200 British companies which would otherwise have been covered by the directive will not have to establish European works councils. Furthermore, the directive will not oblige any British company to extend European works councils to the United Kingdom. Unlike companies in the other 11 member states, British companies will remain entirely free to decide for themselves what arrangements are best for consulting their United Kingdom employees.

The Council reached agreement unanimously on a regulation to set up a European Health and Safety Agency, which will be sited in Bilbao. The main aims of the agency will be to promote and encourage the dissemination of information on health and safety matters.

The Council also unanimously reached a common position on a new European Community vocational training programme, to be called "Leonardo da Vinci". The proposal will replace a range of existing Community training programmes, PETRA, FORCE, EUROTECNET and COMETT. It will have a budget of 620 mecu over five years.

The Council heard progress reports on the follow-up work to the Delors White Paper and conclusions of the Brussels European Council on competitiveness, growth and employment, on the draft directive on chemical agents and on a commission communication on immigration and asylum policies.

The Council adopted unanimously a resolution on the promotion of equal opportunities for men and women through the action of the European structural funds.

The Commission's draft programme on social exclusion was withdrawn from the agenda by the presidency.