Credit: MTEESS
Last Friday, Luxembourg called for a more social European Union at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) in Brussels.
The Luxembourg Minister of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Dan Kersch, and the Minister of Social Security, Romain Schneider, used the occasion of the EPSCO meeting to call on the European Commission and the Council of the EU to set up a real Social Union.
In a policy debate on the future of social Europe after 2020 and the design of future social and employment policies to accelerate social and economic convergence, Dan Kersch presented the Luxembourg position in the matter. For his part, Romain Schneider addressed a second debate on the political priorities of the European Semester 2019. In this context, the Council adopted conclusions on the Annual Growth Survey and the Joint Employment Report, which provide policy guidance in the areas of employment and social policies.
Besides the Council meeting, Minister Kersch held various bilateral meetings with his counterparts in Germany, the Netherlands, Latvia and Lithuania. The discussions focused on the challenges related to Regulation 883/2004, the European Semester, the future headquarters of the European Labour Authority and the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Office (ILO) to be celebrated this year.
Meanwhile, Minister Schneider met his Portuguese counterpart, José Vieira da Silva, to exchange views on bilateral relations in the field of social security, including the mutual recognition of disability. This meeting also made it possible to review the actions taken during the recent visit of the Secretary of State to the Portuguese Communities, José Luis Carneiro, to take stock of their implementation.
