Brussels, 29/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the Council formally adopted:
1) a decision concerning guidelines for Member States' employment policies. The Environment Council political agreement on the decision on 13 June 2003, after having adopted general guidelines at its meeting on 2/3 June (see EUROPE of 4 June, p.10). It covers ten strategic priorities for the Member States, along with target figures agreed by the Brussels European Summit of March 2003 (see EUROPE of 8 April, p.10, and 22 March, pp.9-10). The decision also includes a chapter on good governance and partnership for the implementation of the guidelines by the Member States. The employment guidelines will be used to draw up national employment action plans for 2003 which the Member States are to submit to the Commission no earlier than 1 October 2003;
2) a recommendation on the implementation of employment policy in the Member States. The recommendation is based on a proposal by the Commission providing dedicated guidelines on how to implement the employment guidelines, focussing on the most urgent and serious issues in each of the Member States (see EUROPE of 8 April, p.10).