Brussels, 26/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - As required by the Spring Summit of 2003, the president of the Employment Task Force Wim Kok presented on Wednesday the Commission with his report, "Jobs, jobs, jobs - Creating more employment in Europe", which identifies concrete measures for all Member States (current and new). This report will be discussed at the Employment Council on 1 December and sent to the Social Summit on 11 December in Brussels in time for drawing up a joint Commission and Council report on employment, which will be submitted to the Spring Summit of 2004.
Wim Kok informed the press that perspectives were worrying and that Europe still had a long way to go before it reached the Lisbon objectives. He added that Member States had to make a double effort to reach the objectives but also in order to meet the distant challenges, such as globalisation and changes in society, such as the ageing population. He also highlighted the need to promote economic growth and productivity. He noted that Europe needed people with jobs and "better activities". He pointed to the improvement in Europe's performance in tandem with 1) increasing ability of workers and enterprises and their ability to accept changes, both cyclical and structural; 2) attracting more people to the labour market, which means Member States have to end the traps of unemployment, inactivity on low wages and adjust the balance between taxation and benefits, as well as by concentrating on low wages; 3) investing more and more effectively in human capital, which requires the public authorities to increase the levels of instruction in order to make life long training a reality; 4) ensuring effective implementation of reforms through better governance with better governance. Mr Kok said that the main challenge was to raise public awareness. He stated that Member States had to take different action and the EU had to support them by using "benchmarks".
Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou said that this report "will encourage reform". She pointed out that the average rate of unemployment was 8.1% in 2003.
The Kok report puts together recommendations for each of the countries in the enlarged Europe (the three first conditions quoted above). Subsequently, for the three most outstanding performers in research and development, Kok recommends: that Denmark continues to reduce overall taxes on work; that it ensures greater integration of immigrants; that it tackles the deterioration of basic skills for pupils in primary schools; that Finland promotes diversification of enterprise structures; that it provides a follow up programme for active old age; that it reduces the number of school drop outs and provides poorly qualified people with easier access to training. This third recommendation also applies to Sweden, which is expected to reduce its non wage costs at work, particularly for low wage earners and continue to make work pay. For the new Member States, the report recommends that: in Cyprus, it re-examines employment policies for foreign workers; that the Czech Republic better integrates the most vulnerable groups on the labour market, in regions other than Prague, as well as for the Roms; that Estonia improves taxation systems and regularises non-declared work; that it improves training for all workers, particularly the unskilled: in Hungary, that it improves working conditions, prevention and health care: Lithuania, that it prioritises better access to training, aid for job search, including geographical mobility and the modernisation of the public services: Latvia, that it develops active and preventive polices for the unemployed, such as helping job seekers, business leaders, geographical mobility and access to training: that Malta implements its privatisation programme and gradually reduces its administrative and tax costs at work: that Poland speeds up the implementation of new public services and jobs with decent pay: that Slovenia promotes access to training for older workers: that Slovakia reduces tax costs at work.