merrion street

The Minister for Jobs,Enterpriseand Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, is inLuxembourgtoday [Thursday] to attend EU Council of Ministers meeting on Employment and Social Policy.

Among the items to be discussed at today’s EPSCO Council meeting are:

• legislative initiatives for Posting of Workers,
• proposal for a Regulation on the EU Programme for Social Change and Innovation,
• proposal for a Regulation on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund,
• proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and
• Europe 2020 strategy: European Semester – Policy debate on the Employment Package

The Minister is in Luxembourgtoday having spent time in Brussels  yesterday (20

June) meeting Members of the European Parliament. The meetings were scheduled in the context of the upcoming Irish Presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2013, and among the MEPs the Minister met were the Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, the Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs, and the EPP Coordinator in the Committee for International Trade. The Minister also met with a group of Irish MEPs.

Speaking inLuxembourg, Minister Bruton said:

“For many months now the Irish Government has been seeking to put jobs and growth at the top of the agenda inEurope. At today’s Council I will be discussing with Ministers from 26 other EU countries ways in which the EU can act together to enhance jobs and growth across the continent and back into the Irish economy.

“One of the key items up for discussion is The Commission’s Employment Package which is a response to the high level of unemployment inEurope. The policy communication “Towards a Job-rich Recovery” launched by the Commission last April identifies the EU's biggest job potential areas and the most effective ways for Member States to create more jobs in today's difficult economic and social climate.

“I look forward to discussing these issues with Ministers from across the EU and making progress on implementing proposals that can make a real difference to our economy”.

The Commission’s Employment Package provides a medium-term agenda for EU andMemberStatesaction to support a job-rich recovery and reachEurope's 2020 goals for smart, sustainable and inclusive jobs and growth.  The proposal focuses on the demand-side of job creation, setting out ways for Member States to encourage hiring by reducing taxes on labour or supporting business start-ups more. It also identifies the areas with the biggest job potential for the future:

• the green economy,
• health services and
• ICT.

The policy communication underlines the need for a stronger employment and social dimension to EU governance and lays down ways to involve employers' and workers' representatives more in setting EU priorities.

The Employment Package also paves the way for reinforced coordination and monitoring of employment policies at EU level in line with new arrangements for EU economic governance. From 2013, and as part of the European Semester, the Commission plans to introduce a scoreboard to keep track of Member States’ progress in implementing their National Job Plans. The Commission has put forward proposals to strengthen the involvement of EU and national social partners in employment policy and to facilitate an exchange of views with the EU social partners ahead of the Spring EPSCO Council.Irelandwill be involved in such exchanges in 2013 in its role as Presidency of the Council. The Commission has also put forward plans for EU-level exchanges of views and monitoring on wage developments. Finally, the package stresses the important link between policy and EU financial instruments (like the European Social Fund) in supporting countries' employment priorities and reforms.

Press Office, Department of Jobs,Enterpriseand Innovation, Tel: +353 1 631 2200, press.office@djei.ie