EU: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF DOL A/S FOULKE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000598 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOL FOR A/S FOULKE AND OSHA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PREL PGOV EUN BE SUBJECT: EU: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF DOL A/S FOULKE TO BRUSSELS (CORRECTED COPY) ¶1. Your upcoming visit to Brussels will include calls on European Commission officials in the Labor and Social Affairs Directorate and participation in the High-level Regulatory Cooperation Forum (HLRCF). This cable provides a summary update of EU labor and social policy and a description of the history and objectives of the HLRCF. USEU welcomes your visit to Brussels. -------------- EU LABOR AND SOCIAL POLICY: AN UPDATE -------------- ¶2. In launching the new cycle of the "Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs" (2008-2010) in March 2008, EU leaders reconfirmed the major guidelines of the strategy. These include improving the inclusion of people at a disadvantage, greater investment in human resources, adaptation of education and training systems and more flexibility combined with job security ("flexicurity"). The leaders stressed the need to further integrate economic, employment and social policies. They also stated that the focus of the new cycle will be on implementation (at Member State level and with full involvement of the "social partners"). ¶3. EU governments concur with the Commission that the European employment strategy "is delivering results" (number of jobs: + 1.5% in 2006 and 2007; rate of employment now standing at 64.4%, the highest since the beginning of the decade) but that these results "remain uneven and are still falling short of meeting the objectives." In light of persistent employment challenges and the current uncertain economic outlook, EU governments in the Council agreed on the need to pursue further structural reform, which in combination with a growth oriented macro-economic framework, "should further encourage more and better jobs and strengthen social cohesion." ¶4. In a context marked by rising prices in Europe and with unions on the offensive for wage rises, the Commission (which has no real leverage on employment policies that basically remain a national prerogative) consistently argues that Europe needs to create "more and better jobs" as well as new forms of security for workers through training and social protection that strengthen workers' and companies' ability to adapt. The Commission also wants to ensure that workers affected by restructuring do not become victims of 
globalization, but rather benefit from the opportunities it can bring. As the obstacles to labor movement from the newest EU members are progressively removed, the EU claims it has made a success of its enlargement to Central and Eastern European countries, retaining a certain unity of values at the heart of the European social model. ¶5. Recent rulings by the Luxembourg EU Court of Justice (ECJ) with implications for workers rights across the Union raised concerns with EU trade unions. In the so-called Vaxholm case, the ECJ ruled that Swedish unions had breached EU law when they forced a Latvian company to observe local pay deals, while the verdict in another case suggested unions cannot strike against firms moving from one Member State to another due to lower wages. -------------- THE HIGH-LEVEL REGULATORY COOPERATION FORUM (HLRCF) -------------- ¶6. Over the past three years, U.S. and European authorities have expanded significantly our cooperative activities and established effective mechanisms under the ongoing economic initiative to promote better quality regulation, minimize unnecessary regulatory divergences to facilitate transatlantic trade and investment and increase consumer confidence in the transatlantic market. ¶7. The HLRCF was agreed to during the April 2005 US- EU Summit, and is described in the Annex of the Summit Economic Initiative. The HLRCF was set up to allow for discussion of cross-cutting regulatory cooperation topics of a general interest to regulators, such as, identifying an agreed set of best cooperative practices ("what works, what does not, what can be BRUSSELS 00000598 002 OF 002 improved") to be attached to the voluntary guidelines; promoting arrangements to support the sharing of c0nfidential information under regulatory dialogues; and identifying anticipated regulatory needs; and/or (b) that are the responsibility of multiple regulatory authorities. In so engaging, it would provide a platform for exchanges between regulators and stakeholders on priorities in reducing regulatory differences and thereby advancing transatlantic economic integration. ¶8. The first dialogue in January 2006 focused on "good regulatory practices." Hosted by the European Commission, nearly 150 senior EU and U.S. regulators, representatives of the EU Member States, the European Parliament and the U.S. Congress, and a large number other stakeholders, including the Trans-Atlantic Business and Consumer Dialogues ("TABD" and "TACD") attended the conference intended to promote EU-U.S. regulatory dialogue, to glean insights into "how we regulate" on both sides of the Atlantic. A large part of the discussions was devoted to general regulatory policy, such as comparing the EU and U.S. regulatory systems, and approaches in assessing the impact of regulations. ¶9. The second HLRCF, hosted by the US Department of HHS in Washington, DC focused on best cooperative practices and regulatory work plans. The third event, hosted by the Office of Management and Budget in November 2007, focused on import safety and coordination before considering regulation. On 25 April 2008, the European Commission will host the fourth HLRCF that will focus strengthening EU-US Cooperation on imported product safety, risk assessment in which EU and US will address methodological cooperation, and the joint report on the analysis of impacts on international trade and investment in regulatory impact analyses and impact assessments. The afternoon session will focus on public consultation and notice and comment on the EU and the US regulatory process. Murray