Press Release
François Biltgen at the informal meeting of the European Ministers for Labour and Employment and Social Affairs in Geneva: "Finding the right balance between economic freedom and social protection"

Date of release : 10-06-2005

Policy area : Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs

On 9 June 2005, the Minister for Labour and Employment, François Biltgen, as current President of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council" (EPSCO), chaired the informal meeting of the Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs in Geneva.

The theme of the meeting was the “Internationalisation of labour: a challenge for fair globalisation" and was organised within the framework of the International Conference on Labour of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which is currently taking place in Geneva. It brought together the Ministers of the 25 Members States of the European Union, of the applicant countries, Bulgaria and Romania, and those of the candidate countries, Croatia and Turkey.

In front of a large delegation of journalists, Minister François Biltgen presented his views on the subjects on the agenda of the meeting. François Biltgen, President of the EPSCO Council, started on the basis of two assumptions: the generalised fear of European citizens that they will lose their jobs or be faced with precarious jobs and a loss of confidence in all the institutions, whatever their nature.

"This fear and loss of confidence are partly due to globalisation", noted the Minister, before adding that "globalisation is not always a bad thing." In his opinion, globalisation is not a new phenomenon, but its nature has changed: it may have positive economic repercussions, but these are not always fairly distributed, neither at country nor regional level nor amongst individuals.

François Biltgen has drawn four main conclusions from these assumptions:

• First, he reaffirmed the importance of the social responsibility of companies and of social dialogue. "We need to train social ‘listeners’ to ensure a better implementation and constructive monitoring of these elements;"
• Then, we need to find the right balance between, on the one hand, the economic freedom needed to ensure economic growth and, on the other hand, the social protection vital for the dignity of labour and life.
• In this context, we need to generate the concept of "flexicurity" (flexibility + security) and encourage the changeover from "job security" to "employment security."
• Furthermore, we need to "anticipate company restructuring through greater adaptability, mobility and lifelong training."

Given the internationalisation of labour, we also need to reflect on the role of international players in the pursuit of the objective of a decent job, declared Minister Biltgen. Thus, the role of the European Union could be that of providing examples of good practice. Given its universal and tripartite nature, and especially its long experience in the field, the ILO could act as a bridge between the European Union and the other regions of the world.

Finally, concluded the Minister for Labour and Employment, in order to make social policy an element in its own right in globalisation, there must be constant cooperation in this field between all the organisations in the UN family.