Presidencies come and presidencies go, but Europe carries on. In the employment and social policy area, Europe continues to talk a lot and do little. This has been the way for several years and 2010 to date has been no different.

Spain held the EU presidency for the first six months of 2010 and I challenge any reader to identify one concrete outcome in the employment field. Will Belgium, which holds the presidency until Christmas, be any different? This is not an adverse comment on either country, simply a reflection of the fundamental differences that exist in their approach to developing European social policy that has been exacerbated by an expanded (and, at the same time, more diverse) EU. The consequence of such enlargement has benefitted those opposed to EU employment initiatives.

The programme of the Belgian presidency is closer to hyperbole than intelligible and understandable action. They have identified “four priority areas for action”. Three of these can be loosely classified as “environmental or greener jobs”; “ageing – niche jobs for the elderly”; and “equality – exclusion from the labour market”. The fourth area is an old EU favourite, beloved of HR professionals: “flexicurity”.

As the Belgian presidency so elegantly puts it:

“Developing flexicurity through the concept of making transition pay, by ensuring that the transition of workers on the employment market will benefit both the employee and the economy as a whole, by developing quality transitions and by fighting against segmentation in employment while creating the conditions for better job security.”

A gold star to the best answer on what the above 50-word sentence means!

At a practical level, Belgium will: pursue the initiative on measures aimed at improving the health and safety of pregnant workers; seek to introduce measures ensuring that the restructuring of businesses proceed in a socially responsible way; seek to implement the International Labour Organization “Decent Work Agenda” across the EU; make further attempts to revise the working time law; and develop proposals for the revision of the directive on exposure of workers to electromagnetic waves.

This sounds ambitious. In truth, it is not. Fifteen years ago, a Belgian presidency, just like a Spanish presidency, would have had concrete plans to reach agreement on several employment law initiatives. Tinkering is now the name of the game. And tinkering, as the recast European works council directive shows, can create all sorts of unwanted problem – in fact, just as many as new initiatives.