The EESC Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship on employment of people with disabilities, trends in the self-employment work, road map for equality between men and women and integration of migrant workers

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held in Brussels on 23 February 2010 discussed and adopted the following opinions:

SOC/363 People with disabilities: employment and accessibility

The EESC supports a market that is inclusive for all, and points out that employment policies for people with disabilities must focus on the entire life process relating to employment ("lifestreaming"), and in particular on education, recruitment, staying in employment, and re-employment.
Policies aimed at young people with disabilities, together with policies for those disabled as a result of accident or illness, must be a priority in the future EU 2020 strategy and the Commission's new strategy for people with disabilities.The EESC calls for a report to be submitted within a year on the implementation of the provisions of Directive 2000/78/EC concerning disability and employment.
The EESC recalls that recruitment in the ordinary work environment entails the deployment of sufficient social services and of incentives and motivation, while recognising the role of companies that employ a majority of people with disabilities and, more widely, of social economy undertakings and SMEs, which also require the support of sufficient social services and incentives, stressing the importance of the social partners in this area.
The EESC calls for awareness-raising policies to combat persistent stereotypes regarding workers with disabilities, and highlights the role of the media in ensuring acceptance of diversity.

SOC/344 Trends in the self-employment work

Economically dependent work is coming under the spotlight in response to the need for a better understanding of the changing nature of self-employment which, affected by profound economic and social change, has moved beyond the forms of independent work traditionally recognised in the countries of the European Union. Only some European countries have legally recognised a new, intermediate category of workers, in between employees and the self-employed. The main objective of the existing national legislation is to afford particular categories of workers better protection, without classing them as employees. With the development of cross-border services, the variety of legislation in this area is an issue that concerns the European Union as a whole. Community harmonisation of employment statuses, starting with an actual European definition of economically dependent work, is clearly not a straightforward matter. However, the pressing need to gain a better understanding of the developments in independent work must not be ignored: otherwise, a growing sector of European workers risk being left without protection. On the basis of these general observations, the following recommendations can be made:

- Means of drawing up an accurate statistical picture of economically dependent work in the European Union should be developed.
- Studies permitting detailed analysis of national experiences in the area of economically dependent work should be promoted. Such evaluations would enable the priorities regarding protection for workers classed as economically dependent to be identified, together with the risks connected with the recognition of this new legal category and arrangements for collective representation of economically dependent workers.
- The issue of economically dependent work should be integrated explicitly into the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs, in ways to be determined.
- The European social partners should be encouraged to include economically dependent work in their work programmes, at cross-sectoral and sectoral level. The initiatives already undertaken by the European social partners in particular sectors, such as construction, illustrate how important the issue of professional status is for those involved in the European social dialogue. In this context, it could be helpful to assess the opportunities for developing links between the European social partners and organisations (particularly national bodies) representing independent workers.
- A general definition of employed persons in the European Union should be established, particularly on the basis of the information and analyses gathered as a result of the above recommendations.  Such an approach would be useful to help ensure the proper application of the existing European Labour Law Directives and to gain a better insight into the increases in cross-border employment in Europe. The existing differences in the way Member States distinguish between employees and the self-employed inevitably lead to problems in cases of worker mobility within the EU. Moreover, before any attempt is made to gain a better insight into self-employed but economically dependent work on a European scale, a clear, accurate definition of employees should be established. 

SOC/350 Road Map for equality between men and women (1006-2010) and the follow-up strategy

In addition to being an aim in itself, equality between women and men is a prerequisite for meeting the EU's aims for growth, employment and social cohesion.
The Mid-term assessment of the roadmap for equality is taking place at a time of economic crisis. It is important to note the impact and consequences of this crisis on women and men, given their different positions in society.
Equality should be mainstreamed into all policies, especially social and employment policies, and efforts should be furthered to remove barriers preventing women and men from participating fully and equally in the labour market.
To ensure and improve women's financial independence, both the quantity and the quality of female employment should be improved. The risk faced by women of falling into a precarious situation should be addressed and a fair distribution of family and domestic responsibilities encouraged.
Unequal pay, has structural causes: the undervaluing of skills traditionally viewed as female, occupational and sectoral segregation, precarious employment, breaks in working life, etc. Legislation and collective agreements are effective instruments for achieving this goal, with the need for all economic and social stakeholders to be involved.
The greater presence of women in business fosters equality, women's economic independence, victory over gender stereotypes and the promotion of women in the decision-making process.Women are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion and poverty. Tailoring social rights to individual needs, a guaranteed minimum income and taking into account periods of inactivity and reduced working hours enabling women to take care of a relative/dependent are measures that improve social protection and lower the risk of people falling into poverty.
Reconciling family life and work is crucial to achieving equality and improving jobs for women: high-quality public social services and improvements to existing maternity, paternity and parental leave. Progress needs to be made on all social stakeholders accepting responsibility for ensuring that household and caring tasks are fairly divided.
The EESC considers that the equal representation of women in decision-making must be promoted and that the Member States should, therefore, make a greater commitment, by setting clear goals and implementing effective measures such as positive action, equality plans, etc. 

SOC/354 Integration of migrant workers

The Spanish presidency has asked the EESC to draw up an exploratory opinion on how the EU can better integrate immigrant workers. Consequently, in the present opinion the Committee will concentrate on the integration of immigrant workers in employment and on other aspects relating directly or indirectly to the labour market.
The broader aspects of immigration and integration policy will only be touched upon insofar as they impinge directly on the opinion. The Committee has adopted a number of opinions on integration with a more general focus, and is drawing up an own-initiative opinion aimed at ensuring that integration figures more prominently on the EU's new social policy agenda, in areas such as education and training, gender equality, healthcare, housing, family and youth policy, poverty, social exclusion and so on.
Europe must sharpen its focus on integration within the common immigration policy. The Committee has set up a permanent study group on immigration and integration to work with the European Integration Forum.
The Treaty of Lisbon has a more solid legal foundation for the EU to provide "support for the action of Member States with a view to promoting the integration of third-country nationals residing legally in their territories".  

Vladimíra Drbalová
International Organisations and EU Affairs
Memeber of the EESC