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Minister Biser Petkov took over the rotating presidency of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO). The Bulgarian Minister of Labour and Social Policy took up the relay from Estonian counterparts Kaia Iva and Jevgeni Ossinovski during the last meeting of the Council, which took place in Brussels today in Brussels, Belgium.

During the meeting Minister Petkov presented the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of employment and social policy. Bulgaria's efforts will be focused on developing effective tools to strengthen the European Union's social dimension and improving people's lives in the short and medium term, he said.

During the Presidency of the Council of the EU, we will build on the debate on the future of work in the context of negative demographic trends and the impact of technology on the labour market. We will look for opportunities to continue the support of the European Social Fund after the end of the current 2014-2020 programming period, Minister Petkov said.

He stressed that the Bulgarian Presidency will focus on the concept of early childhood development as an instrument to create integrated policies to support families and the well-being of children from a young age. A priority of the Bulgarian Presidency will be the policies for integrating people with disabilities as full members of society, Minister Petkov said.  

In his speech during the European Semester debates, he said that efforts should be made to ensure the sustainability of social security systems for all workers, including the self-employed and those entering new forms of employment. The favourable economic environmentshould be used to improve access to employment for disadvantaged people as well as to improve access to education, training and acquisition of skills in demand on the labour market, Minister Petkov said.

At its meeting today, the Council of the EU adopted a general approach to the directive onaccessibility of products and services for people with disabilities. The proposed amendment to Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems has achieved a partial general approach on two chapters - long-term care benefits and family benefits.