Employment and Social Affairs issues were discussed in council on 2nd October 2008 under the presidency of Xavier Bertrand, French Minister of Employment, Social Relations, Family and Solidarity.

The European Commission was represented by Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. The main points on the agenda were anti-discrimination, flexicurity, European Works Councils, social security for migrant workers, and the designation of 2010 as the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

The ministers wanted to move forward with the negotiations on the text of the Commission proposal to extend protection from discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief beyond the workplace. The new directive would ensure equal treatment in the areas of social protection, including social security and health care, education and access to and supply of goods and services which are commercially available to the public, including housing. The directive will complete the existing European anti-discrimination legal framework.

The proposal of Commissioner Špidla was supported by the majority of the 27 member states. The German Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Ursula von der Leyen however, questioned the plan for a new European directive against discrimination. In contrast, Austria's Federal Minister for Social Affairs, Dr. Erwin Buchinger, demanded even more severe regulations as proposed by the Commission. Britain, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Slovenia, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Hungary also argued for stricter EU rules against discrimination.