Overview of recent decisions on EU social policy.

On 2 December, the social affairs ministers met at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) in Brussels. The new Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, also took part in the meeting for the first time.

Internship package

An important part of the discussions was both the planned traineeships directive and the Council recommendation on a reinforced quality framework for traineeships. With regard to the traineeships directive, Hungary was unable to reach an agreement among the Member States despite several compromise proposals. The Member States justified this by stating that they prefer to retain their existing national systems for regulating traineeships. Further, Hungary submitted a progress report on the proposal for a Council recommendation on a reinforced quality framework for traineeships. While the Member States were able to agree on adjustments to the text for the scope of application, the remuneration of traineeships and written traineeship agreements, agreement has yet to be reached on other technical aspects. This includes, for example, clarity regarding the wording "remuneration in cash or in kind".

Demographic challenges

The Council also held a policy debate on the topic of comprehensive solutions to demographic challenges. On the one hand, this involves supporting parents in caring for their children and, on the other, efforts to integrate younger and older generations more strongly into the labour market. Germany referred to the family report, which makes it clear that there is a "rush hour of life" in which young parents have to look after their children and care for their parents alongside their jobs. These young parents need to be supported, including through investment in education and childcare programmes, parental allowance and programmes to raise awareness of the needs of young parents in companies.

European Semester 2025

As part of the European Semester, the Council has adopted common guidelines for employment policies. These set out the strategic framework for national labour market and social policies and are based on common objectives, in particular the basic principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The European Commission presented the draft guidelines in June. The European Parliament adopted its opinion on this on 23 October and spoke out in favour of legislative initiatives on teleworking, the right to disconnect and artificial intelligence in the workplace, among other things. The Parliament also called for the adequacy and sustainability of pension systems for employees and the self-employed to be ensured. Compared to the European Commission's draft, the Council included the prevention of precarious employment relationships for platform workers and emphasised the fair and transparent use of algorithms. In contrast, the amendments and additions proposed by the European Parliament were hardly taken into account.

Inclusion of people with disabilities

The EPSCO adopted conclusions to support the inclusion of people with disabilities. In particular, measures that promote integration into the open labour market and ensure the provision of high-quality jobs should be promoted. Inadequacies such as the lack of jobs adapted to the needs of people with disabilities should be eliminated. Comparable data on working and living conditions and improved EU indicators are also needed.

Gender equality

The ministers also approved conclusions on strengthening the mental health of women and girls by promoting gender equality. Measures such as the inclusion of a gender perspective in the design of mental health strategies and the fight against all forms of violence and gender stereotypes are proposed. Also in the area of gender equality, conclusions were adopted to ensure work-life balance and gender equality for all generations. The proposed measures in this context include the strengthening of formal care services, the introduction of flexible working arrangements, the fight against age discrimination and the promotion of intergenerational solidarity.

Other topics

The European Commission also provided information on a draft regulation on the establishment of a single digital declaration portal for posted workers. In this context, Denmark and seven other countries, including Germany, have submitted a non-paper on the promotion of digital applications for free and fair labour mobility in the EU. It calls on the European Commission to evaluate the results of the pilot project carried out as part of the digitalisation of the coordination of social security systems to provide digital certificates, the PD A1 and the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), and to identify further processes in social security. In addition, the Commission is to examine whether information on social security coverage and work status can be recorded in a digital European labour card.