During the meeting of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), an exchange of views took place with Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Employment. During the debate on the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in this area, PiS MEP Elżbieta Rafalska took the floor.
The Polish politician inquired about the Belgian Presidency’s intentions regarding the European Disability Card and labor mobility in connection with the regulation on the coordination of social security systems. Elżbieta Rafalska, inquiring about the Belgian Presidency’s position on this matter, noted that eleven presidencies had been unable to tackle this issue, as it is a very difficult and complex dossier.
The MEP pointed out that among Belgium’s six main priorities in the EU Council, the fourth priority is strengthening the social and health agenda; however, as she noted, there was also mention of strengthening social dialogue at all levels, and she asked about specific new proposals from the presidency in this regard.
Elżbieta Rafalska also drew attention to the presidency’s fifth priority, which relates to the protection of people and borders. In this context, she asked whether, with regard to the protection of people, this refers to issues such as security—given the situation in Ukraine—and borders, as well as issues related to migration.
Pierre-Yves Dermagne, referring to the issue of the disability card, agreed that this is a priority. He said that the Belgian minister responsible for disability issues is handling this matter and “hopes to move forward as quickly as possible.”
“As you said, the regulation on the coordination of social security systems is a dossier on which many presidencies have fallen,” commented the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, expressing hope that this dossier can indeed be brought to a close. “We will draw inspiration from the proposals put forward during previous presidencies,” he said.
The Belgian politician stated that for Belgians, social dialogue is a top priority during the presidency. “Belgium has a long-standing tradition of collective bargaining and collective agreements; we have a rather unique social security system. Social dialogue is absolutely indispensable if we truly want to ensure that no one is left behind in the context of these transformations that are so profoundly changing our societies—such as the energy, environmental, and digital transitions,” he commented. He emphasized that, in this context, it is crucial to involve all social partners in the dialogue to a much greater extent and to ensure that it can proceed in a very dynamic manner. Responding to a question regarding the EU’s neighboring countries and EU candidate countries, Pierre-Yves Dermagne stated that Belgium had already emphasized, as part of its preparations for assuming the presidency, that this was a priority for it, a point it had made clear during meetings with representatives from Ukraine and Moldova.
