Persbericht: vergadering Raadsformatie Werkgelegenheid, Sociaal beleid, Volksgezondheid en Consumentenzaken

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

PROVISIONAL VERSION

PRESSE 48 PR CO 7

PRESS RELEASE

3146th Council meeting

Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs

Employment and social policy

Brussels, 17 February 2012

Presidents Mr Manu Sareen,

Minister for gender equality Ms Mette Frederiksen

Minister for employment

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

Main results of the Council

The Council held a policy debate on the question of women on company boards.

Preparing its contribution to the Spring European Council of 1-2 March, the Council held also a policy debate on the priorities for action in employment and social matters by adopting conclusions as well as the joint employment report.

PROVISIONAL VERSION

CONTTS¹

17.11.2012

PARTICIPANTS................................................................................................................................4

ITEMS DEBATED

Women on company boards.................................................................................................................6

Contribution to the Spring European Council of 1-2 March................................................................8

OTHER ITEMS APPROVED

VIRONMT

— Scrutiny of Commission legislative acts related to environment...........................................................................11

CUSTOMS UNION

— Accession of Croatia and Turkey to two conventions............................................................................................11

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

— Restrictive measures - Burma................................................................................................................................12

— Relations with the Palestinian Authority...............................................................................................................12

— Restrictive measures - Zimbabwe..........................................................................................................................12

TRANSPARCY

— Public access to documents....................................................................................................................................13

Where declarations, conclusions or resolutions have been formally adopted by the Council, this is indicated in the heading for the item concerned and the text is placed between quotation marks. Documents for which references are given in the text are available on the Council's Internet site (http ://www. consilium, europa, eu)

Acts adopted with statements for the Council minutes which may be released to the public are indicated by an asterisk; these statements are available on the Council's Internet site or may be obtained from the Press Office

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

PARTICIPANTS

Belgium:

Ms Monica DE CONINCK Bulgaria:

Mr Totyu MLADOV

Czech Republic:

Mr Jan DOBES

Denmark:

Ms Metre F REDERIKS Mr Manu SARE

Mr Bo SMITH

Mr Henrik NEPPER-CHRISTS Germany:

Ms Annette NIEDERF RANKE

Estonia:

Mr Hanno PEVKUR Ireland:

Ms Joan BURTON Ms Kathleen LYNCH

Greece:

Mr Andreas PAPASTAVROU Spain:

Ms Engracia HIDALGO TA M. Francisco BONO RIOS

France:

Ms Roselyne BACHELOT-NARQUIN Italy:

Ms Elsa FORNERO

Cyprus:

Ms Sotiroula CHARALAMBOUS Latvia:

Ms Ilze VINKELE Lithuania:

Mr Donatas JANKAUSKAS

Luxembourg:

Mr Nicolas SCHMIT

Hungary:

Mr Miklós RÉTHELYI Mr Sandor CZOMBA

Malta:

Mr Chris SAID Netherlands:

Mr Henk KAMP Austria:

Mr Harald GÜNTHER Poland:

Mr Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ

Minister for Employment Minister for Labour and Social Policy Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Minister for Employment

Minister for Gender Equality, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Nordic Cooperation

Permanent Secretary of Minister Mette F REDERIKS Permanent Secretary of Minister Manu SERE

State Secretary

Minister for Social Affairs

Minister for Social Protection Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Equality and Mental Health (Departments of Health and Justice and Equality)

Deputy Permanent Representative

State Secretary for Employment

Minister for Economy and Employment of the

Autonomous Community of Aragón

Minister for Solidarity and Social Cohesion

Minister for Labour and Social Policy, responsible for Equal Opportunities

Minister for Labour and Social Insurance

Minister for Welfare

Minister for Social Security and Labour

Minister for Labour, Employment and Immigration

Minister for National Resources

State Secretary, Ministry of the National Economy

Minister for Justice, Dialogue and the Family

Minister for Social Affairs and Employment

Deputy Permanent Representative

Minister for Labour and Social Policy

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

Portugal:

Mr Alvaro SANTOS PEREIRA Mr Pedro MOTA SOARES

Romania:

Mr Valentin MOCANU

Slovenia:

Ms Patricia CULAR

Slovakia:

Mr Peter JAVORCIK Finland:

Mr Janne METSAMAKI Sweden:

Ms Hillevi GSTRÖM Ms Nyamko SABUNI

United Kingdom:

Mr Norman LAMB

Minister for Economic Affairs and Employment Minister for Social Solidarity and Social Security

State Secretary, Ministry of Labour, the Family and Social Protection

State Secretary, Ministry of Social affairs, Employment and Family

Deputy Permanent Representative

State Secretary

Minister for Employment Minister for Equal Opportunities

Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs

Commission:

Ms Viviane REDING Mr Laszló ANDOR

Vice-President Member

The Government of the Acceding State was represented as follows:

Croatia:

Mr Mirando MRSIC

Minister for Labour and Pension System

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

ITEMS DEBATED Women on company boards

The Council held a policy debate on the question of gender balance on company boards. The aim was to explore the different ways of approaching this challenging and politically sensitive issue

Women account for around 60 % of new university graduates in the EU, yet they are heavily under-represented in economic decision-making positions, especially at the top. In 2010, only 12% of members and a mere 3% of chairs of the boards of the largest companies listed on the stock exchanges of the EU member states were women

Ministers had the opportunity to share their experiences and to discuss what can be done at Union and member state levels to combat the problem of women's under-representation in company boardrooms

Responding to the Presidency's set of questions, delegations pointed out that "the glass ceiling" continues to impede women's access to company boardrooms

Even if no legal or formal barriers exist, cultural factors, including the persistence of traditional gender roles and stereotypes, continue to hamper women's careers

In order to overcome these and other barriers, many countries have called on state-owned companies, the business sector and the social partners to take steps to increase the number of women in company boardrooms

Apart from a mentality shift, concrete measures are needed in order to make possible a higher participation of women on company boards. Key actions include setting up appropriate maternity, paternity and parental leave systems, facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life and offering quality care services for children and other dependants. Measures such as awareness-raising, training and education, and the provision of mentoring are also important

Certain ministers advocated the use of binding quotas, while many others were in favour of a voluntary approach, at least at this stage

The Commission stressed that a low participation of women on company boards was synonymous with a waste of talents, especially in the context of the current economic crisis and mounting skills shortages in Europe

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

Closing the debate, the Presidency emphasised that the current crisis should not distract the member states from promoting equal opportunities. The Presidency recalled that equal opportunities created added value and brought benefits to the whole of society

The Council has long supported increasing women's participation in economic decision-making. It has adopted a set of indicators that are used to monitor and measure the developments. The data clearly show that progress is very slow

In addition, in the European Pact for gender equality (2011-2020), the Council urges action at member state and EU levels to adopt measures to close gender gaps and combat gender segregation on the labour market

The Commission stated in its strategy for equality between women and men (2010-15) that it would address the gender imbalance in business decision-making through targeted initiatives. It has also called on publicly-listed companies to sign a "women on the board" pledge by March 2012, making a voluntary commitment to increase women's presence on their boards to 30% by 2015 and to 40%, by 2020 by actively recruiting qualified women to replace outgoing male board members. However, so far, very few companies have signed up

In March 2012, the Commission will assess the situation. If no sufficient progress is achieved through self-regulation, it will explore different policy options for targeted measures for increasing the number of women on company boards

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

Contribution to the Spring European Council of 1-2 March

Implementing the European Semester, the Council discussed, on the basis of the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) and other elements related to employment and social policies, contributions to the Spring European Council of 1-2 March. The debate will feed into the Presidency's synthesis report which is also to be submitted to the European Council

In particular, ministers pointed out that fiscal consolidation efforts should be accompanied by enhanced employment and social policies. Fiscal consolidation should not increase poverty or hamper efforts to tackle unemployment, and in particular youth unemployment

The great majority of ministers expressed concerns about the sharp rise of youth unemployment; youth employment must therefore be a top priority. Actions like apprenticeships and vocational training are necessary in order to improve young people's skills and their work experience. Employers should be given incentives to recruit more young people by granting tax reliefs to businesses recruiting the young and unemployed

In that context, ministers referred to the 'youth guarantee scheme' to secure the right of every young person to be offered a job, an apprenticeship or training after a certain period of unemployment

The Commission stressed the importance of the Youth Opportunities Initiative that was launched in last December in order to, inter alia, help member states to use the European Social Fund more efficiently. The Commission also stressed that fiscal consolidation should not undermine social policies and social cohesion. Member states should step up efforts to increase the capacity of sectors with a large potential for growth, and hence for job creation. Apart from struggling with the impact of the economic crisis, inclusive and job-rich growth is needed

The Presidency summarised the debate stating that the reforms needed in the different member states should be socially balanced, that tackling youth unemployment is a top priority, that social partners have to be involved in all efforts and that the exclusion, marginalisation and poverty items will be underlined in the synthesis report

Regarding employment, the Council adopted the joint employment report (JER) (/12 REV2) which will be forwarded to the European Council

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

The JER analysis suggests that, while the 2011 priorities and measures remain broadly valid and further implementation of reform is essential, it is necessary to deploy additional efforts, in conjunction with national social partners, under certain priority areas. According to the report:

• - 

  Job creation capacity has to be stepped up to ensure a job-intense recovery that underpins economic growth and the reduction of unemployment;
• - 

  The difficult situation of young people risks creating unrecoverable damage to the labour market in most member states;
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  High unemployment rates and poor employment prospects call for effective active labour market policies mutually supported by adequate benefit systems to maintain employability and help people get back to work;
• - 

  The social situation has deteriorated throughout recent months calling for additional measures;
• - 

  Slowing growth hampers the already weak employment recovery and prevents an improvement of the employment rate

Moreover, the Council adopted conclusions ( + COR 1) setting out the main messages from the EPSCO Council to the European Council on 1-2 March. It reached a general approach on a decision on the employment guidelines (/12 REV 1).

On social matters, the Council endorsed the Social Protection Committee's (SPC) opinion on the Annual Growth Survey (). The opinion draws the Council's attention to the long-term consequences of current fiscal consolidation measures for the social situation in the EU, and to what needs to be done to meet the European Council target on reducing poverty and social exclusion

It also endorsed the main messages of the 2011 SPC report on the social impact of the economic crisis and ongoing fiscal consolidation (). This SPC report is the third update of the analysis of the social impact of the crisis, as part of its Treaty mandate to closely monitor the social situation in the member states

It looks at the major trends in the social situation in the Union and the concrete policy measures member states have put in place in the past year to tackle the difficult economic situation and its social implications

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

On the basis of this report, the SPC has drafted five key policy messages for endorsement by the Council, stressing that fiscal consolidation measures must be responsive to the social needs of all generations and must preserve the capacity of social protection to cushion any unequal impact of the crisis and to satisfactorily withstand economic shocks

The Council took note of Commission's presentation of the alert mechanism report (). The so-called "six-pack" regulation entered into force on 13 December 2011. It includes regulation 1176 / 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances. The detection of possible imbalances is carried out under the alert mechanism, whereby the Commission is to produce an annual report containing an economic and financial assessment based on a scoreboard of indicators

The scoreboard of indicators and their thresholds provide information on the possible existence or development of excessive imbalances. Individual indicators cannot be taken separately, but must be analysed as part of the whole set of indicators to verify the existence of possible macro-economic trend which could lead to excessive imbalances. The scoreboard includes indicators which are relevant to the work of the EPSCO Council, in particular regarding employment and unemployment trends

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

OTHER ITEMS APPROVED

VIRONMT

Scrutiny of Commission legislative acts related to environment

The Council decided not to oppose the adoption of the following Commission's legislative acts amending directive 98/8/EC ¹ concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market:

• - 

  directive to include methyl nonyl ketone as an active substance in Annex I ();
• - 

  decision concerning the non-inclusion of naled for product type 18 in Annex I, IA or IB ();
• - 

  directive to include hydrochloric acid as an active substance in Annex I ();
• - 

  decision concerning the non-inclusion of dichlorvos for product type 18 in Annex I, IA or IB ();
• - 

  directive to include margosa extract as an active substance in Annex I ().

The Commission acts are subject to what is known as the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. This means that now that the Council has given its consent, the Commission may adopt them, unless the European Parliament objects

CUSTOMS UNION

Accession of Croatia and Turkey to two conventions

The Council adopted the EU position concerning a decision of the EU/European Free Trade Association (EFTA) joint committee to invite Croatia and Turkey to accede to the convention on a common transit procedure and to the convention on the simplification of formalities in trade of goods

OJL 123, 24.4.1998,

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

FOREIGN AFFAIRS Restrictive measures - Burma

Given the remarkable programme of political reform undertaken by Burma/Myanmar, the Council amended EU restrictive measures against Burma. It suspended admission restrictions concerning 87 persons, including members of the former state peace and development council, the government, deputy ministers and their family members. For more information, see press release .

Relations with the Palestinian Authority

The Council approved the EU position in the joint committee on the implementation of article 66 of the Euro-Mediterranean interim association agreement on trade and cooperation between the European Community and the Palestine Liberation Organisation for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The number of subcommittees that support the joint committee in the implementation of the interim association agreement and of the European neighbourhood policy action plan is to be increased from four to six. This is intended to enable a more constructive discussion since more time will be allocated to each subject matter

Restrictive measures - Zimbabwe

The Council eased EU restrictive measures on Zimbabwe, in recognition of progress made and to encourage further reforms. It pays tribute to the efforts of the Southern African Development Community and the South African facilitator in accompanying the Zimbabwean government along that road

The Council lifted visa bans and asset freezes of one third of the individuals (51) and two thirds of the entities (20) previously listed, representing the most significant amendment to EU measures on Zimbabwe since they were introduced in 2002. It also suspended the visa bans on two members of Zimbabwe's re-engagement team with the EU, i.e. Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa

At the same time, the Council also decided to extend its restrictions on development assistance for only six months with a view to begin preparing for enhanced cooperation as and when these measures can be lifted ().

Despite these restrictions, since the establishment of the Unity Government, the EU has provided close to US$ 1 billion in development assistance to address the needs of the Zimbabwean people, primarily in the provision of health care and education services

12

PROVISIONAL VERSION

17.11.2012

Whilst the Council noted that the overall situation in Zimbabwe has improved, further political reforms in accordance with the commitments in the GPA are necessary for a democratic and peaceful Zimbabwe. The Council remains ready to reconsider the measures at any time in response to concrete progress in the implementation of the GPA and the preparation of credible and peaceful elections

In parallel, Zimbabwe remains subject to an arms embargo

See also: Declaration of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the European Union.

TRANSPARCY

Public access to documents

The Council approved the additional reply to confirmatory application No 25/c/01/l 1 (ADD 1).