The Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties, Helena Dalli, attended the EPSCO Council meeting in Brussels.  

During the first part of the council meeting, a directive aimed at addressing the serious problem of women’s under-representation in economic decision-making at the highest level was discussed. The proposed directive would set a quantitative objective of 40% for the proportion of the under-represented sex on the boards of listed companies by 2020 (by 2018 in the case of public undertakings). 

Whilst reaffirming the Maltese Government’s commitment to the Proposal, Minister Dalli noted her regret that a general approach was not reached today, given the need for immediate and effective action in this area.

The Council held an exchange of views on the future of the strategy on gender equality, which expires at the end of this year. Minister Dalli remarked that, whilst significant progress in the field of equality has been achieved, statistics show that gender equality remains very much a work-in-progress, and that inequalities within and between EU Member States persist. “Women continue to be under-represented in the labour market, and experience a significant pay gap and pension gap later on in life.” Minister Dalli said.

Malta was a signatory to the joint letter sent to the Commission earlier this year, calling for an EU Strategy for Equality between women and men, and for a reinforced governance of gender equality in the EU. Minister Dalli expressed her regret at seeing the long-awaited Gender Equality Strategy for the EU “being reduced to a Commission staff working document”, and in this regard reiterated her call for a gender equality strategy for the EU.

The Council also held an exchange of views on the European Semester. Minister Dalli noted that, whilst Malta agrees with the economic priorities highlighted in the Annual Growth Survey (AGS), Malta remains against the creation of new legally binding benchmarks which fail to take into account the starting positions of member states, or their socio-economic backgrounds.  “This is an area which demands policy latitude and flexibility, and not an increasingly  mechanistic approach.” Dalli stated.

Minister Dalli also stressed that Malta is not in favour of the issuance of Country Specific Recommendations on social and employment aspects under the MIP procedure, since Mata feels that social and employment issues should not be considered as add-ons to economic and financial mechanisms.

“Malta is convinced that a clear distinction between the two areas and between the roles of EPSCO and ECOFIN should remain in place, especially if we want to enhance the ownership of the Semester process.” Minister Dalli said.

The council adopted conclusions on : 

- equality between women and men in the field of decision making;

- the promotion of social economy as a key driver of economic and social development in Europe;

- social governance for an inclusive Europe.

Ministers also discussed the issue of improving performance in the social and employment fields within the existing governance framework. Minister Dalli highlighted Malta’s concern about the recommendation to establish National Competitiveness Boards in the Euro area, stating that the report has a very narrow view of competitiveness, which Malta does not share. 

Minister Dalli pointed out that, with regard to social policy, it is not clear how the Euro Area Recommendation will be reflected in the 2016 Country Specific Recommendations.  “We are concerned that this will create a two-speed Europe which will in turn fuel even more divergences across the Union”, Dalli stated