Future for social services of general interest

The Council adopted conclusions entitled "Social Services of General Interest: at the heart of the European Social Model", calling upon the Social Protection Committee to work further on this issue with the aim inter alia of preparing for the next Forum on social services of general interest. The conclusions invite the Commission to further clarify the application of EU rules to social services of general interest, in order to enhance their legal certainty. The Commission should also for instance outline its views on how to identify a social service as an economic or non-economic service of general interest.

Ministers were briefed about a Social Protection Committee document on a voluntary European quality framework for social services (see Council Doc. 16319/10) establishing quality standards which should be met by social services of general interest. They also heard an oral presentation by the Commission of its biannual report on social services of general interest, giving an overview of the initiatives taken by the Member States to improve the quality of such services.