site.btaLabour Minister Donev Participates in Employment, Social Policy Council

Labour Minister Donev Participates in Employment, Social Policy Council

Sofia, March 4 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Labour and Social Policy Minister Galab Donev participated in the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, held in Brussels, Donev's Ministry reported on Saturday.

Bulgaria welcomes the efforts for modernizing EU legislation in the area of social security systems coordination, which can correspond to the social and economic reality in Member States, Donev said. The proposed measures in this field will contribute to establishing legal clarity regarding access of economically inactive persons to specific benefits of the social security system, the Bulgarian Minister is quoted as saying.

Donev has stressed the need to discuss the coordination of unemployment benefits for people whose last job was abroad. He noted that clear rules must be introduced for the coordination of long-term welfare benefits paid out by Member States. According to him, the principle of equal treatment concerning access to social benefits is of key importance for achieving progress on the matter.

Speaking at a discussion about improving access to the EU labour market, Donev said that increasing employment in the short- and long-term requires the application of an appropriate set of measures for the discouraged and long-term unemployed, by taking into account the individual characteristics and needs of each person.

He presented before the Council Bulgaria's good practices in that area by giving as an example the so called case managers, who coordinate activities between the social, health care and educational institutions for successfully resolving specific cases and providing more employment opportunities. The Bulgarian Minister has also stressed the role of Roma and youth mediators, the mobile teams for assisting job seekers and employers in remote regions.