Press Releases

Haubner: Social security and combating poverty must be priorities at EU level

The current President of the Council, Social Affairs Minister Haubner, chaired the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council in Brussels today. The Ministers discussed key social policy messages that are to be incorporated in the conclusions of the European Council to set the future course of EU policy. “The relaunch of the Lisbon strategy in spring 2005 led to a focus on growth and jobs. A growth and employment policy will only work if flanked by the right social policy, however. The two are not contradictory, but mutually reinforcing”, Haubner said.

Common goals and a common methodology on social security and combating poverty were already discussed at the informal meeting of EU Social Affairs Ministers hosted by Haubner in Villach in January. The key messages for the Spring Summit will now be adopted on the basis of these discussions and of a joint report setting out the national strategies for social inclusion and combating poverty. "Social inclusion and combating poverty must be priorities at EU level. The requisite strategies must reinforce the economic and employment strategies and vice versa. Only in this way can we make a decisive contribution to combating social exclusion and poverty", Haubner said, outlining the main requirements. The social partners and civil society are to be included in this endeavour. Haubner: "All the citizens must be able to see and feel the social dimension of the new partnership for growth and jobs and the associated value added. People must feel secure again. This can only be done by providing access to high-quality pension and health systems for everybody on a long-term basis."

Austria’s Social Affairs Minister also reported the results of the conference on ‘Demographic challenges — Family needs partnership’, which she had organised at the beginning of February in Vienna under the Austrian Presidency. This looked at the issues surrounding the ageing of European society and its repercussions for the labour market and the pension systems. The compatibility of family and working life was one of the keys to mastering the challenges. It should be possible for everybody who wants to have a child to do so without fearing the consequences for their job or their future. This conference produced important results which will help tackle these issues”, Haubner said.