Brussels, 05/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - There are almost as many different active labour market policies (ALMP) as there are member states but they all have one thing in common - and that is wanting to maximise the employment rate and to be as effective as their budgets are large. They, above all, make it possible to combat long-term unemployment and to promote a more rapid return to active employment for those who find themselves without work. For around two years now, the European Commission has been examining the different practices and is promoting the best of them through the “European Semester” budgetary process. Today, ALMPs are part of the debate on the social dimension of the future Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has included this matter in current negotiations on EMU, raising the question as to whether ALMPs should take on greater importance at EU level (see EUROPE 10796). The debate has been launched and the question remains open with the aim of promoting the most effective approaches within the existing legal framework. “Effective tools of active labour market policies during the crisis” were precisely the focus of a conference organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in Brussels on Tuesday 5 March.
ALMPS are essentially composed of programmes for: - adjustment between employment supply and demand; - guidance and advice provided by public employment services (PES) or by private intermediaries in some cases; - training adjusted to the needs of the labour market; - specific policies targeting employment or re-employment of vulnerable groups; - aid to employment; - and jobs in the public sector. As explained by Lars Engsted from the directorate general for employment at the Commission, there is no universal tool that will meet all these needs. On the other hand, certain practices within the EU have demonstrated their effectiveness while others have shown that they have very little impact on the labour market, if any impact at all.
Among the most effective measures, labour market services which include assistance for finding employment are the services which provide the most support today and their budgetary allocation is increasing. Training programmes are well on track, even if their effects are limited, mainly being visible when a specific group is targeted. Salary subsidies, early retirement systems and the creation of public service posts have, for their part, demonstrated their lack of effectiveness. At a time when the EU is preparing to spend around €6 billion for youth guarantee mechanisms, the ALMPs devoted to young unemployed persons are proving to be the most difficult to assess and, according to John Hurley from Eurofound, the most complex to set in place.
Monitoring, with penalties imposed on the unemployed person if necessary, today seems to be the miracle formula. However, it is a formula that is only rarely used quickly on the labour markets and ALMPs have only a very weak impact in the short term. In the medium term, it is a different story and the Scandinavian countries are there to provide evidence that, by devoting considerable financial means to the matter (a little less than 2% of GDP), their citizens' rate of activity can reach record highs.
Nonetheless, since the beginning of the financial and economic crisis in 2008, spending devoted to ALMPs has constantly declined, apart from a few exceptions (Germany, Poland). According to a study by Eurofound, these are countries where the unemployment rate has increased the most, and in which spending has been largely sacrificed in order to offset the additional financial burden caused by the coverage of and right to unemployment benefits. There is a growing demand for public services that are finding it hard to manage the extra burden in a context in which the unemployment rate in the eurozone and the EU is continuing to reach record peaks each month (see EUROPE 10797). The years 2010 and 2011 were “very worrying” in this respect, commented Engsted, as there were more cuts in the number of posts in those services. The Commission voices concern and points out to member states, through country-specific recommendations (CSR), that the individual monitoring of the unemployed, which seems to be one of the most effective measures, is today insufficient. (JK/transl.jl)