VZCZCXRO3637
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHBS #0598/01 1121550
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211550Z APR 08
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE

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