Ministers for Employment and Social Policy of the European Union had
the opportunity to exchange views and best practices on Europe 2020
Strategy core issues, issues that concern each European citizen. The
contribution of these issues to the goal of economic recovery with more
jobs and quality jobs and stronger social cohesion is crucial.
On 30 April, at the morning plenary session, the President of the
Council, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare of Greece,
Ioannis Vroutsis, highlighted that Europe has entered a path to
recovery. However, the goal is to lay strong foundations for enhancing
the recovery, with special attention to those mostly hit by the crisis.
The
two-day informal meeting of the ECOFIN, as well as the 13. Joint ECOFIN
/ FEMIP Ministerial Meeting, organized by the Geek Presidency in Athens
on 1-2 April had a full agenda and Ministers were able to exchange
views on a number of key issues affecting Europe’s economy and financial
situation.
In particular, Europe’s social problems and their
implications for economic growth were discussed, based on a research and
policy paper presented by Bruegel, which confirms the link between
poverty and unemployment on the one hand and economic growth on the
other. There was a fruitful discussion on how fiscal sustainability is
negatively affected by social problems, as well as on concrete measures
to be taken to address persistent unemployment and social insecurity,
which constitute a major problem for the EU.
