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Belgium takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2024 for a period of six months. In the field of employment and social policy, the Belgian Presidency will “work on an ambitious and forward-looking social agenda”.
It is committed to strengthening the social protection of citizens by making progress on legislative dossiers, such as the directive on working conditions for platform workers and the coordination of social security schemes. This will also include non-legislative dossiers on the social economy, quality internships and the digitisation of social security.
The Presidency will focus on mental health at work, risk prevention and support for returning to work after illness. On the socio-economic front, it will strive to strengthen social dialogue and democratise work, in particular by monitoring discussions on teleworking.
The Belgian Presidency will work to consolidate the European foundation of social rights, drawing up an inter-institutional declaration and identifying initiatives for a fair, ecological and digital transition. It will support ambitious strategies for equal opportunities, gender equality and non-discrimination, with the aim of achieving the commitments of the Porto Summit by 2030. It will propose initiatives to guarantee access to social protection, improve monitoring and support the implementation of the Council’s recommendations on adequate minimum income.
EU-OSHA is contributing to this ambitious programme by participating in a high-level conference on mental health at work and an event on the roadmap on carcinogenic substances, the latter also being at the heart of the thematic day of the Higher Committee of Labour Inspectorates (SLIC).
