Brussels, 06/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The next director general of the International Labour Office (ILO), Guy Rider, and Nobel prize-winner for the economy in 2010, Christopher Pissarides, are of the opinion that the employment package presented by the European Commission in April this year contains commendable measures for kick-starting the economy. Rider fears, however, as he affirmed during an interview with Agence Europe to be published in full in our next edition, that the main challenge should be to successfully implement all the ideas contained in that package. Pissarides, for his part, fears that the measures will not go far enough and that they do not sufficiently target high job potential sectors, he said during the “Jobs for Europe” conference (see related article), on Thursday 6 September.
For the two participants at the conference which is currently unfolding in Brussels, active policies for promoting employment are essential at a time when unemployment in the eurozone exceeds 11%. Pissarides thus noted one simple fact: in the short term, there will be no recovery on the employment market within the EU in the current context, given the budgetary austerity plans. Furthermore, although the two speakers concede that it is necessary to adjust minimum salaries in a number of member states, this being one of the strong points of the employment package, this can only be achieved through collective negotiation.
Priority should not, however, be given to productivity. According to Pissarides, during a period of recession it may be favourable in the longer term to accept a lower rate of productivity if reforms for greater flexibility of demand on the labour market are achieved. The State must also promote employment, including by spending more, as it is necessary to extricate oneself from the annual budget way of looking at things, he argued. Finally, out of the three sectors - ICT, the green economy and health - that the Commission is hoping to target, only the last appears a true source of job creation. ICT is a market that is too limited and the green economy can create jobs but it also destroys jobs in the so-called “dirty” economy. (JK/transl.jl)