"The message from today's meeting, which was attended by more than two dozen employment ministers, is: Forward together with the social partners for a social Europe." This was stressed today, Friday, by Council President and Minister for Labour Martin Bartenstein in Villach at the concluding press conference of the informal meeting of EU Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs, adopting a motto which had been formulated at lunchtime by trade union representatives from the other side of the Drava at the venue of the meeting, the Congress Centre of Villach. On both sides of the Drava, there was thus, he said, the same objective, namely a social union.
"Europe needs a paradigm change to achieve this", stated the Minister. Commissioner Spidla had expressed this in the words: The protection of people in their employability must have priority over simple job protection." With the concept of "Flexicurity - Flexibility through Security", Mr Bartenstein emphasised, a major step was being taken in this direction. This is because the economy requires greater mobility in the labour market, but will only achieve this if employees are given corresponding securities in return.
Mr Bartenstein said that he was satisfied with the course of the conference, whose good atmosphere was confirmed by several participants. Above all the proposal to involve the social partners at European level to an increasing extent and in particular early on in the decision-making process, according to the Austrian example, had had a strong positive resonance. "Europe is here at the start of a new departure, and even before the spring summit and before the two meetings of the Council on Employment and Competitivity in March there will be consultations on 9 March on my invitation", he said. It is precisely employees who are in a position to give life to the concept of "Flexicurity".
With reference to a study presented in the course of the conference by Professor Per Kongshoj Madsen from Denmark, Mr Bartenstein commented that flexibility and social security are not opposites, but mutually dependent. This principle could also become the new motto for the trade unions, the minister hopes. It must also in any case be "got into people's heads that job security must be replaced by security of employment".
Mr Bartenstein argued that in future every policy measure should be examined to see whether it could contribute greater flexibility, greater security and greater protection for people in their employability. He said that there was already a series of good national examples which pointed, for all their differences, in the same direction. It would not indeed be possible to impose all measures similarly as an obligation for all the Member States, but benchmarking, the "cherry-picking", absolutely made sense, the minister said.
In this context, Mr Bartenstein also supported a relaxation of the years-long blockade of the directive on temporary employment, because this was closely entwined with both the services and the working time directive.
Transitional periods for employment to remain
Martin Bartenstein once again rejected calls to waive the use of the full transitional periods for the employment of people from the most recent Member States. These periods were agreed in the accession treaties and were therefore valid primary law. Mr Bartenstein understood the desire of the new countries for integration, but unfortunately the current situation in the employment market did not permit unregulated access of employees from the new Member States. In this regard, Mr Bartenstein indicated agreement with Germany, for which the same applies. Only persistently falling unemployment rates - which he very much desired - could lead to reductions in the periods, the minister emphasised.
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