Brussels, 18/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - Adopting the report by Mauro Nobilia (UEN, Italy) on new European jobs open and accessible to everyone, Parliament called on the Commission to unveil an action plan well before the spring 2002 European Council to promote worker mobility, along with the necessary legislative proposals for, inter alia, mutual recognition of qualifications and skills and the transfer of social security rights in order to close the loopholes that have existed for many years now; immediately carry out serious, in-depth high quality research into the potential disruptions to the job market that would be caused by a sharp rise in "job migration", particularly in various defined regions (cross-border regions); and prepare a proposal under the 6th Framework Programme for Research (which will be adopted by June 2002 in codecision with the EP) to launch a mobility strategy within the European Research Area.
The EP also hopes that following on from the conclusions of the Feira, Nice and Stockholm Summits, Member States will reach agreement by the end of 2002 on the taxation package and find a solution to the tax problems facing frontier zone workers. It stresses that the Council must take a decision as soon as possible to draw up parameters for the updating of Regulation 1408/71 on the co-ordination of social security systems. It also asks the Council and Commission to assess, by the end of 2002, the indicators defined by the Stockholm European Council to measure the creation of welfare and support services for children and child benefits.