Brussels, 12/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted its annual "employment package", the results of which Anna Diamantopoulou presented the same day to the EP's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (see EUROPE of 10-11 September, p.13). The Commissioner stressed that forecasts in the matter were "less optimistic than in the past", that the delay in growth in the United States and the "recent events should make us redouble our efforts for employment" and that "one of the most serious problems we have to face in the immediate future is unemployment among the young of working age, situated at 16.3%".
The joint report on employment, said Anna Diamantopoulou, is a "comprehensive analysis of implementation of the guidelines in 2000 and a follow-up of horizontal objectives". She then observed: Very few Member States have reacted to the need to set national objectives for employment. Only seven countries have done so: Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom for horizon 2010, Finland, Greece and Sweden for 2005 and France for 2001. Only four countries have done so for women's employment, which are the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for 2010, Portugal for 2003 and France for 2001".
Regarding the recommendations to the different Member States, Anna Diamantopulou set out the points on which they focus:
1. proactive and preventive policies in the fight against unemployment among the young and long-term unemployed: progress needs making by Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Spain, France and Italy to guarantee a new departure for all young people and each adult during, respectively, the first 6 and 12 months of their period of unemployment (a goal set for 2002 by the Employment Summit of Luxembourg, in 1997). In Spain and Italy, this issue is linked to the need to modernize the public employment service. As for Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom, they must redouble efforts so that their proactive employment market policies guarantee more effective professional reinsertion for the long-term unemployed.
2. Increase the demand for labour: the recommendations (eleven in all: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden) are especially based on the inadequate level of activities for older workers Beglium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Austria) and encourage the pursuit of the reforms of the income tax/compensation and early retirement systems. They also refer to other categories of the population with a low level of activity, such as ethnic minorities and migrant workers (Denmark, Germany, Austria and Swden).
3. Life long skills, education and training: the majority of Member States (eleven in all: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal and the United Kingdom) have still not acted to set up a lifelong training strategy, or have adopted inadequate measures.
4. Tax burden on labour: Progress has been noted regarding tax relief on labour, mainly for workers who are only moderately paid or who are not well qualified. This is reflected in the reduction of the number of recommendations devoted to this area compared to last year. However, the document states, the tax burden on labour has to be reduced still further. The countries that have received recommendations along these lines are Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden.
5. Equal opportunities: The recommendations, addressed to Belgium, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, refer to specific shortcomings, such as child minding structures (Germany, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Austria and Portugal) or the differences in remuneration between men and women (Germany, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria and the United Kingdom).
6. Regional imbalance: The analysis shows considerable regional disparities in the results obtained on the employment front in Belgium, Spain, Finland and Ireland, and the need to improve regional worker mobility (Belgium and Spain).
7. Partnership: Inadequate participation of social partners in the efforts to improve the level and the quality of employment makes any concrete move forward difficult. The countries that have received a recommendation are: Greece, France, Finland, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
8. Overall policy mix: Only Greece and Italy are concerned (services, illegal employment).
Finally, concerning the guidelines 2002, the Commissioner remarked that, next year, there will be a five-year assessment for employment strategy. He insisted on three directions for guidelines: employment quality, the need to have national targets and that of making requirements stricter in order to achieve equal pay between men and women.
By way of conclusion, Anna Diamantopoulou pointed out that today's discussion comes within a different economic framework. The said current policies should not be changed because of the fall in growth. She pointed out that job-generation has been speeded up and that there has also been a fall in unemployment, and that the employment strategy has resulted in major changes. She feels one should insist on implementation of such policies. Ms Diamantopoulou went on to say that the terrorist attacks yesterday will have an effect on the economy. She considers that the EP must and can participate more fully concerning the guidelines for next year; that, as soon as the Commission has received the remarks made by the EP, it will present a revised document on this point. At any rate, she says, the economic freeze should not entail a political freeze. Our policies should be continued to face up to the economic decline, she concluded.