Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2000)548 - Guidelines for Member States' employment policies for the year 2001 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2000)548 - Guidelines for Member States' employment policies for the year 2001. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2000)548  |
| date | 06-09-2000 |
1. The draft proposal for Employment Guidelines is one element in the 'employment package' adopted each year by the Commission and submitted to the autumn European Council for final endorsement. The package consists of the draft Joint Employment Report for 2000, as well as the employment Guidelines and country-specific recommendations for 2001. The Joint Employment Report reviews the employment situation and assesses measures taken by the Member States in response to the Guidelines and recommendations for 2000. The Guidelines contain policy orientations for all Member States, while the recommendations relate to specific countries. New orientations must be consistent with the analysis carried out in the Joint Employment Report. However, in the case of the Employment Guidelines, a more thorough revision has been carried out in order to take into account new priorities agreed at the Lisbon Summit, though the four pillar structure has been retained intact.
The Treaty context
2. The present proposal for the Employment Guidelines will be the fourth annual version since the extraordinary Luxembourg Summit on employment, held at the end of 1997, put into effect the new provisions of the Employment Title of the Treaty. Since art. 128 of the Treaty came into force in 1999, the Commission is now formally obliged to submit a proposal for Employment Guidelines. Member States have to take these Guidelines into account in shaping their employment policies, and report on their implementation during the spring of 2001 in order to prepare the next annual cycle of the 'Luxembourg process'.
3. The proposal for Guidelines 2001 has to be submitted for their opinion to the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of Regions and the Employment Committee. Prior to formal adoption of the Guidelines for 2001 by the Council, the European Council has to review the Joint Employment Report, which - after discussion of the Commission draft by the Council- will reflect the joint assessment from the Commission and the Council of the implementation of the previous Guidelines by Member States, and establish the factual basis for the new Guidelines.
4. Sound macro-economic policies, appropriate wage developments and structural reforms in line with the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, and a determined implementation of the Employment Guidelines based on the 4 pillars of employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability and equal opportunities, are required in order to make the necessary further progress. As foreseen in Article 126 of the Treaty, Member States are required to implement their employment policies in a way which is consistent with the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines.
Main features of the Guidelines for 2001
5. The Commission's approach and the content of the guidelines for 2001 have been influenced by four main factors: the Lisbon Summit conclusions, the mid-term Review of the Luxembourg process which was carried out on the basis of terms of reference set by the Lisbon Summit conclusions, the analysis of the Joint Employment Report and the need for simplification in certain areas. In the following, an overview is presented on how these elements have been taken into account in revising the guidelines for 2001.
Maintenance of the four pillars
6. The Mid-term Review of the Luxembourg process was recently conducted at the level of the Employment Committee on the basis of terms of reference set by the Lisbon Summit. It concluded that the Employment Title of the Treaty and the subsequent Luxembourg process, through the 'open method of co-ordination' based on drawing up employment guidelines at Community level and translating them into national employment action plans, has been successful, both in terms of political impact and in reducing unemployment.
7. The Mid Term Review confirmed the wide consensus that the four pillar structure of the guidelines has demonstrated its value, and should therefore not be changed until a full impact assessment of the strategy has been made towards the end of the current five-year cycle in 2002. The Mid-Term Review also provided an opportunity to decide how the policy ideas from the Lisbon Summit could be incorporated into the Guidelines.
Overall new priorities resulting from the Lisbon Summit conclusions.
8. The Lisbon Summit agreed on a new comprehensive strategy towards employment, economic reform and social cohesion as part of the knowledge-based society and made a commitment to regaining the conditions for full employment. The Summit subscribed to the overall aim of raising the employment rate from 62.2% in 1999 to 70% by 2010 (and more than 60% for women). The goal of full employment, to which action in all the pillars should contribute, and the targets for 2010 merit a strong emphasis in the guidelines. The Commission has opted for an introductory horizontal section, reiterating this overall goal and the basic institutional basis underlying the strategy (It also defines the roles of the various actors more clearly and deals with the need to further develop targets and benchmarking methods
9. Two additional horizontal issues emerging from the Lisbon and Feira Councils are addressed in the horizontal section, in order to underline their overall relevance for the pillars. The first is the role of the Social Partners, who are invited by the Santa Maria da Feira European Council to play a more prominent role in implementing and monitoring the Guidelines which depend on them. The second concerns Lifelong Learning, the importance of which is particularly stressed by the Lisbon conclusions. Lifelong learning has been defined by the Member States and the Commission as 'encompassing all purposeful learning activity, whether formal or informal, undertaken on an ongoing basis with the aim to improve skills, knowledge and competence'. It has an over-arching relevance for the employability and adaptability pillars, where the required action should then be further spelled out under the relevant guideline, which will vary according to the level of action required and the bodies responsible for it (school and work-based education and training, for young and adults).
10. As a consequence, the guidelines for lifelong learning under the employability pillar (GL 4-6) have been clustered in order to better articulate the integrated approach to lifelong learning, whereas the respective roles of the Social Partners and the Member States have been better spelled out under the adaptability pillar (GL 14-16).
Specific priorities resulting from the Lisbon Summit conclusions.
11. The scope of the guideline on employment promotion in services has been widened to include personal services in accordance with the Lisbon Summit conclusions (GL 11).
12. A stronger focus has been placed on tackling discriminatory aspects of the labour market in order to reinforce the link with social inclusion (GL 8).
13. Updated common targets for education (GL 4-5) and requirements for more national targets have been incorporated in the guidelines in response to the Lisbon Summit conclusions (see GL 7 on training, GL8 on discrimination and GL 19 on equal opportunities)
Changes resulting from the analysis of the Joint Employment Report
14. The analysis of the national implementation reports contained in the draft Joint Employment Report reveals that, against the background of a healthier economic climate, long-standing problems, such as high unemployment and low participation of women in employment, have started to improve. However, participation rates amongst older people remains low in many Member States and new challenges are emerging more clearly than in the past, notably labour shortages, skill gaps and regional disparities.
15. As a consequence of the labour market situation and partly in view of simplification, the following changes have been introduced in the Guidelines:
-the guidelines on prevention of unemployment, where the Member States in practice treated the case of youth and adult unemployed as part of an integrated set of measures, have been grouped in GL1.
-Old GL 3 on active labour market policies has been updated and split into two guidelines (new GL 2 and guideline 6); the common benchmark of 20% (now generally fulfilled) has been replaced by new targets in terms of per capita expenditure in active measures, and a more ambitious and concrete benchmark referring to training measures;
-the guideline on older workers (now GL3) has been widened from the tax-benefit aspect to a more comprehensive set of policies in support of active ageing.
-GL 7 addresses the issue of shortages in the labour market and skills gaps
-two previous guidelines on equal opportunities have been grouped under a new GL 19