Announcement: Informal Meeting of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs, Brdo pri Kranju, 31 January - 2 February 2008

The informal ministerial meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers, hosted by Minister Marjeta Cotman as President of the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, will take place between 31 January and 2 February 2008 at Brdo pri Kranju. The meeting will focus on discussions of the flexicurity concept.

The informal ministerial meeting will commence on Thursday 31 January, with the meeting of the three Ministers from Slovenia, France and the Czech Republic with the representatives of the Social Platform (European non-governmental organisations) and thereafter with the representatives of European social partners. The troika meeting with the NGO representatives and with the social partners traditionally precedes the informal meeting of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs. Participants at both meetings will discuss the practical application of the principles of flexicurity.

After the meeting, which will be closed to the public, a press conference will be organised at 5.45 p.m.

On Friday 1 February 2008, on the basis of a background paper presented by the Slovenian Minister and current President of the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, Marjeta Cotman, the EU Member State Ministers will also discuss flexicurity, on the basis of the following questions:

1. While establishing and implementing comprehensive flexicurity arrangements, in what way should the common principles of flexicurity be applied so as to take into account the specific situation of young people and older workers and, in particular, the gender dimension?
2. What combination of policy measures have proven to be or could be useful to ensure a gender mainstreaming approach? What effects have such policy measures had on trends in the labour market and the development of social protection systems?
3. How can or should social protection systems be changed in order to better respond to the emerging challenges/interactions between labour law and social protection rules in order to support effective transition?
4. What specific measures could/should be used in order to establish trust among and guarantee the support of young people, older workers and women for the changes introduced? What should be the role of social partners? How can other stakeholders contribute to achieving this end?

Seeking balance between security and flexibility is a long-term process. The Slovenian Presidency will continue the process of discussing the concept of flexicurity in the European Union. After a year of discussions, the Council of the European Union adopted the common principles of flexicurity, which were in December also supported by the European Council. The next step will be the comprehensive guidelines for the implementation of the Lisbon strategy and the transposition of the common principles of flexicurity into national reform programmes with a coordinated set of policies. Comprehensive flexicurity arrangements are necessary for improving the operation of labour markets and supporting efficient transitions so as to remove employment obstacles and strengthen social inclusion. Coordination between the economic, social and educational policies is therefore essential; equally important is the promotion of an inclusive society and of the population’s awareness of and trust in the future of Lisbon objectives.

At this informal ministerial meeting, the Slovenian Presidency will devote special attention to young people and older workers as well as to the challenges that women face on the labour market.

In addition to the Ministers of the EU Member States, the informal meeting is expected to be attended by Vladimír Špidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Jan Andersson, Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and the Ministers of EU candidate countries.

After the end of the informal meeting, which will be closed to the public, a press conference will be held at 5.15 p.m. on Friday 1 February 2008 at which the President of this configuration of the Council of Ministers, Marjeta Cotman, and Vladimír Špidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, will present the conclusions of the ministerial meeting.

On Saturday 2 February, media representatives are invited to join the ministers on a visit to Postojna Caves which is part of the accompanying programme.