Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO)
Brussels, 29. 2. 2008
 The meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) will begin with the discussion, and probably adoption, of the documents to be submitted to the spring European Council on 13 and 14 March 2008. The key messages the Council will forward to the European Council stress in particular the importance of maintaining the stability of the employment guidelines under the new cycle of the Lisbon Strategy, define priorities for increasing employment and strengthening social cohesion as well as for modernising social protection, among which increasing investment in people and modernising labour markets come at the top of the list. The main finding of the Key Messages is the statement that, three years after its revision in 2005, the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs has been yielding results, although its objectives have not all been achieved in full as yet.
The EPSCO Council is expected to adopt the Joint Employment Report. The situation on the labour market shows that both the Lisbon Strategy and the European Employment Strategy are producing results: not only did the EU record the creation of four million new jobs in 2006 but also the lowest unemployment rate in recent years. The EPSCO Council is expected to reach political agreement on recommendations on the broad economic policy guidelines for the Member States and the EU in 2008 and on the implementation of employment policy in the Member States. Among the set of documents to be submitted by the Commission to the European Council are the "country chapters" assessing progress made by each Member State (and the eurozone).
The EPSCO Council is also expected to adopt the Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion, which sets out key areas for the sustainable development of Europe, such as the prevention and elimination of poverty and social exclusion through further modernisation of social protection within a framework of sound fiscal policies, combining both social adequacy and economic sustainability.
The Council will take note of the European Commission Report on equality between women and men 2007, drawn up at the request of the European Council and in cooperation with the Member States. This is the first report to cover the European Union expanded to twenty-seven Member States.
In the context of preparations for the spring European Council, the current ESPCO President, Slovenian Minister, Marjeta Cotman, will inform the Council about preparations for the Tripartite Social Summit to be held on 13 March 2008 in Brussels, immediately before the European Council meeting. The traditional Tripartite Social Summit will provide an opportunity for the social partners to continue discussions on the general context of the Lisbon Strategy, mainly on the integrated guidelines, with emphasis on “ownership”, and on the activities of social partners undertaken on the basis of their joint analysis of labour markets as well as on the positive effects on employment and growth resulting from combating environmental change and reducing energy dependency.
A Resolution on the position of persons with disabilities in the EU will be adopted at the EPSCO Council meeting. The Slovenian Presidency proposed adopting the Resolution with the aim of underlining key points in the area of protection of persons with disabilities. The Resolution summarises the findings and recommendations of the European Action Plan 2008-2009 and calls for the earliest possible ratification and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In the Resolution, the added value of certain new development expectations related to the protection of persons with disabilities will be highlighted.
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