Brussels, 07/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - A the end of the employment summit in Prague on Thursday 7 May, the outgoing Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, declared that the summit had helped produce “concrete and significant steps” to protecting citizens' jobs, creating new jobs and fighting against rising unemployment in the Union. Ten concrete actions had been defined on short and long term challenges and they are expected to be implementation at national and European levels in collaboration with social partners. Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission explained that the summit highlighted the excellent cooperation between the European Commission, Czech presidency and the future Swedish and Spanish presidencies of the EU, social partners and stakeholders such as the European Economic and Social Committee. The Czech presidency wanted to use the summit as a way of identifying good practices for mitigating the negative effects of the crisis, indeed improving future employment, stimulating coordination between the European Union, its member states and social partners. European social partners were able to present their joint declaration, “Action to tackle the current economic and financial crisis”, as well as their 2009-10 programme in the framework of the European social dialogue. The Commission will draw from the summit's discussions when it presents its proposals to the European Council on 18-19 June (EUROPE 9896/9895).
Among the ten different actions planned are: helping a many people as possible to keep their jobs through a temporary adjustment of working hours combined with retraining; encourage the spirit of enterprise and job creation, for example through indirect wage cuts and flexicurity; significant increase in the number of life long learning and high quality training by the end of 2009; promote the labour markets and promote more inclusion by guaranteeing work incentives, active and efficient labour market policies and modernisation of the social welfare systems, an approach that also includes better integration of disadvantages categories, including people with disabilities, the low-skilled and migrants; use of labour to meet supply and demand of labour; help the unemployed and youth to create their own businesses by proposing support training and start-up capital and by reducing or getting rid of taxes on start-ups; pre-empt and manage restructuring through mutual learning activities and exchange of good practices. Barroso highlighted “the very precious role played by SMEs” and affirmed that the Commission would make “European employment action” a priority.
Addressing the press, José Manuel Barroso said that he hoped that the results of this summit would “find an echo during the June European Council” and that Heads of State and governments would “be serious about tackling unemployment. Europe is not just an economic project, it is still a social project”. The Swedish prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt guaranteed that the Swedish presidency of the EU was going to continue the debate launched by the Czech presidency on how to promote employment in Europe. He added that the debate focused on reform.
The common approach of social partners on the way to tackle the crisis is shared by the European institutions and member states meeting round this table, explained Ernest-Antoine Seillière, the president of BusinessEurope, adding, “everything which can help us lower charges on businesses has to be implemented”. On the social aspect of the crisis, BusinessEurope and the European unions have a common approach on flexicurity, part-time working and mobility. He concluded that the 3rd joint unions-employers' programme would be the basis of the June European social summit.
In reply to one journalist who wanted to know whether the notion of flexicurity was a little passé, President Barroso explained: “Flexicurity is as ancient a concept as Denmark and the Nordic countries but it is a very recent concept at a European level. Social partners agreed on certain principles. An agreement was preceded by their labour market analysis. Today we are highlighting
the application of measures and concepts because the situation has changed. The financial crisis has become an economic crisis…”
…”Many countries - China, Russia, etc. - are experiencing economic decline, with significant social implications. We therefore need to think about the practical ideas put forward by social partners”. He then referred to the example of the Lisbon strategy post-2010 and focused on two questions: “How should job losses be approached while keeping our competency? How to support our social market economy, which is one of the most important ideas in the Lisbon Treaty, to transform it into an ecological economic whilst maintaining European competitiveness in the world? (G.B./trans/rh)