Commissioner Thyssen attends Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council in Luxembourg

Today, Commission for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, attends the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) taking place in Luxembourg. This morning, Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs reached a political agreement on the Commission’s proposal to amend the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, which aims to better protect people from the risk of cancer-causing chemicals at work. The Council also reached a political agreement on a directive dealing with the Work in Fishing Convention 2007, which will create a better working environment in the fisheries sector. In addition, the Council held a policy debate on the New Skills Agenda for Europe and the recent proposal regarding the revision of the Europass framework. This afternoon, Ministers will discuss the 2017 European Semester in view of the Autumn Economic Package, and Commissioner Thyssen will present the Commission’s Communication on the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative. There will also be an exchange of views on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Long-Term Unemployment, and Ministers will start to prepare the upcoming Tripartite Social Summit taking place next week. Finally, the Council will discuss the state of play of the European Pillar of Social Rights and exchange views on the best way forward, as well as the Blue Card for highly skilled employment, the Action Plan on the integration of third-country nationals and the collaborative economy. Later this afternoon, at the end of the Council meeting, there will be a press conference by Commissioner Thyssen and her Slovak counterpart, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ján Richter. The press conference can be followed live here. Commissioner Thyssen‘s speaking points will be made available here.