Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou said that he spoke of the positive trajectory of the Cypriot labour market during an Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council which took place in Luxembourg.
On the Council’s sidelines, the Labour Minister had a meeting with European Commission Executive Vice President Roxana Mînzatu and had bilateral contacts with other counterparts, and with European Commission and Council Secretariat officers.
“In the framework of the Council, Panayiotou supported the beginning of negotiations with the European Parliament on the Traineeships Directive and expressed his opinion on shaping the new European action plan for social rights and the prioritisation of the European strategy on combating poverty,” a Labour Ministry press release issued here today says.
In statements after the Council concluded, Panayiotou said that together with his counterparts “we approved the Traineeships Directive negotiating text, we discussed the shaping of the action plan for social rights and we exchanged views over the aims of the strategy for combating poverty.”
“I referred to the positive trajectory of the Cypriot labour market which is improving in accordance with European guidelines for lower unemployment, higher employment, more skills and better salaries,” he noted.
According to the press release, on the sidelines of the Council and in the context of preparations ahead of the Cypriot EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2026, the Minister met with Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, France’s Labour and Employment Minister, Eddy van Hijum, the Netherlands’ Deputy Prime Minister and Social Affairs and Employment, Korinna Schumann, Austria’s Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection Minister and Michael Schäfer, State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs.
Panayiotou also met with Mario Nava, Director General of the Commission’s DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and David Brozina, Director General of the Council’s DG for Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health (DG LIFE).
(Source: CNA)
