Brussels, 20/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - What is flexicurity? Flexicurity combines active labour market policies, flexible contractual arrangements, lifelong learning and modern social protection systems. It can help confront the challenges of globalisation and demographic ageing by ensuring that workers and employers are better equipped to manage change. Flexicurity was the subject of debate in Brussels on Friday 20 April among some 400 representatives of the social partners, NGOs, and government and European bodies attended by Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, the employment and social affairs ministers of Germany, Franz Munterfering, Denmark, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, and Portugal, Jose Vieira da Silva, and the president of the European Parliament's employment and social affairs committee, Jan Andersson.
Denmark comes top of the league in every category through flexicurity. Why? Danish minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen explained that Danish flexicurity is: 1) a velvet revolution on the labour market, a model of society that has been gradually formed and adjusted; 2) made up of three pillars, namely a liberal employment market where it is easy to hire and fire; it is a very finely meshed safety net with huge public funding; and workers get training if they lose their jobs. A working population that is constantly being trained up helps enhance Denmark's international competitiveness, explained Frederiksen, noting that a quarter of Danish workers change jobs every year, giving employers a position of strengthen on the international market because they can hire and fire workers at will. He added that flexicurity provides two apparently contradictory things, namely security for workers and freedom of action for employers; 3) an active labour market policy. The minister explained that the European Commission had to take account of the member states' labour market regulatory traditions in its communication on flexicurity (to be published in June this year), which the flexicurity conference would be contributing to, explained Vladimir Spidla. Frederiksen stressed the role of the social partners and the decisions to be taken in some areas, like pay rises, through collective bargaining. The Portuguese minister, Vieira da Silva, said that success would require a reference definition of the notion of flexicurity, the launch of an in-depth approach to social dialogue at EU level, flexicurity strategies based on solutions negotiated in the member states through the social partners, and good understanding of the situation in each of the 27 EU member states. This would require a lot of time, resources and ambition, he added, noting that the European social model should be reformed to meet the challenge of globalisation. Mentioning a recent Eurobarometer survey carried out in the autumn of last year, Vladimir Spidla said that a flexicurity approach is welcomed by most Europeans. For example, 76% believe that a 'job for life' is a thing of the past, 72% feel that work contracts should be more flexible so as to create new jobs and 88% believe that lifelong learning improves the chances of finding a job easily. Info: http: //ec.europa.eu/employment_social/employment_strategy/flex_meaning_en.htm (gb)