Annexes to COM(2003)176 - Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States

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dossier COM(2003)176 - Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States.
document COM(2003)176 EN
date July 22, 2003
ANNEX


THE EMPLOYMENT GUIDELINES

A European strategy for full employment and better jobs for all

Member States shall conduct their employment policies with a view to implementing the objectives and priorities for action and progressing towards the targets specified below. Special attention will be given to ensuring good governance of employment policies.

In addition to the Employment guidelines and their associated Employment recommendations, Member States should fully implement the Broad economic policy guidelines and ensure that the two instruments operate in a consistent way.

Reflecting the Lisbon agenda, the employment policies of Member States shall foster the three overarching and interrelated objectives of full employment, quality and productivity at work, and social cohesion and inclusion.

These objectives should be pursued in a balanced manner, reflecting their equal importance in achieving the ambitions of the Union. They should be pursued involving all relevant actors. Synergies should be fully exploited, building on the positive interaction between the three objectives. Equal opportunities and gender equality are vital for making progress towards the three objectives.

Such an approach would also contribute to reducing unemployment and inactivity.

Full employment

Member States shall aim to achieve full employment by implementing a comprehensive policy approach incorporating demand and supply side measures and thus raise employment rates towards the Lisbon and Stockholm targets.

Policies shall contribute towards achieving on average for the European Union:

- an overall employment rate of 67 % in 2005 and 70 % in 2010,

- an employment rate for women of 57 % in 2005 and 60 % in 2010,

- an employment rate of 50 % for older workers (55 to 64) in 2010.

Any national targets should be consistent with the outcome expected at European Union level and should take account of particular national circumstances.

Improving quality and productivity at work

Improved quality at work is closely interlinked with the move towards a competitive and knowledge-based economy and should be pursued through a concerted effort between all actors and particularly through social dialogue. Quality is a multi-dimensional concept addressing both job characteristics and the wider labour market. It encompasses intrinsic quality at work, skills, lifelong learning and career development, gender equality, health and safety at work, flexibility and security, inclusion and access to the labour market, work organisation and work-life balance, social dialogue and worker involvement, diversity and non-discrimination, and overall work performance.

Increasing employment rates must go hand in hand with raising overall labour productivity. Quality at work can help increase labour productivity and the synergies between both should be fully exploited. This represents a specific challenge for social dialogue.

Strengthening social cohesion and inclusion

Employment is a key means to social inclusion. In synergy with the open method of coordination in the field of social inclusion, employment policies should facilitate participation in employment through promoting access to quality employment for all women and men who are capable of working; combating discrimination on the labour market and preventing the exclusion of people from the world of work.

Economic and social cohesion should be promoted by reducing regional employment and unemployment disparities, tackling the employment problems of deprived areas in the European Union and positively supporting economic and social restructuring.

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

In pursuing the three overarching objectives, Member States shall implement policies which take account of the following specific guidelines which are priorities for action. In doing so they shall adopt a gender-mainstreaming approach across each of the priorities.

1. ACTIVE AND PREVENTATIVE MEASURES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED AND INACTIVE

Member States will develop and implement active and preventative measures for the unemployed and the inactive designed to prevent inflow into long-term unemployment, and to promote the sustainable integration into employment of unemployed and inactive people. Member States will:

(a) ensure that, at an early stage of their unemployment spell, all jobseekers benefit from an early identification of their needs and from services such as advice and guidance, job search assistance and personalised action plans;

(b) based on the above identification, offer jobseekers access to effective and efficient measures to enhance their employability and chances of integration, with special attention given to people facing the greatest difficulties in the labour market.

Member States will ensure that:

- every unemployed person is offered a new start before reaching six months of unemployment in the case of young people and 12 months of unemployment in the case of adults in the form of training, retraining, work practice, a job, or other employability measure, combined where appropriate with ongoing job search assistance,

- by 2010, 25 % of the long-term unemployed participate in an active measure in the form of training, retraining, work practice, or other employability measure, with the aim of achieving the average of the three most advanced Member States;

(c) modernise and strengthen labour market institutions, in particular employment services,

(d) ensure regular evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of labour market programmes and review them accordingly.

2. JOB CREATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Member States will encourage the creation of more and better jobs by fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, investment capacity and a favourable business environment for all enterprises. Particular attention will be given to exploiting the job creation potential of new enterprises, of the service sector and of R & D. Supported by the process of benchmarking of enterprise policy and the implementation of the European Charter for Small Enterprises, policy initiatives will focus on:

- simplifying and reducing administrative and regulatory burdens for business start-ups and SMEs and for the hiring of staff, facilitating access to capital for start-ups, new and existing SMEs and enterprises with a high growth and job creation potential (see also BEPGs, guideline 11),

- promoting education and training in entrepreneurial and management skills and providing support, including through training to make entrepreneurship a career option for all.

3. ADDRESS CHANGE AND PROMOTE ADAPTABILITY AND MOBILITY IN THE LABOUR MARKET

Member States will facilitate the adaptability of workers and firms to change, taking account of the need for both flexibility and security and emphasising the key role of the social partners in this respect.

Member States will review and, where appropriate, reform overly restrictive elements in employment legislation that affect labour market dynamics and the employment of those groups facing difficult access to the labour market, develop social dialogue, foster corporate social responsibility, and undertake other appropriate measures to promote:

- diversity of contractual and working arrangements, including arrangements on working time, favouring career progression, a better balance between work and private life and between flexibility and security,

- access for workers, in particular for low skill workers, to training,

- better working conditions, including health and safety; policies will aim to achieve in particular: a substantial reduction in the incidence rate of accidents at work and of occupational diseases,

- the design and dissemination of innovative and sustainable forms of work organisation, which support labour productivity and quality at work,

- the anticipation and the positive management of economic change and restructuring.

Member States will address labour shortages and bottlenecks through a range of measures such as by promoting occupational mobility and removing obstacles to geographic mobility, especially by implementing the skills and mobility action plan, improving the recognition and transparency of qualifications and competencies, the transferability of social security and pensions rights, providing appropriate incentives in tax and benefit systems, and taking into account labour market aspects of immigration.

The transparency of employment and training opportunities at national and European level should be promoted in order to support effective job matching. In particular, by 2005, jobseekers throughout the EU should be able to consult all job vacancies advertised through Member States' employment services.

4. PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND LIFELONG LEARNING

Member States will implement lifelong learning strategies, including through improving the quality and efficiency of education and training systems, in order to equip all individuals with the skills required for a modern workforce in a knowledge-based society, to permit their career development and to reduce skills mismatch and bottlenecks in the labour market.

In accordance with national priorities, policies will aim in particular to achieve the following outcomes by 2010:

- at least 85 % of 22-year olds in the European Union should have completed upper secondary education,

- the European Union average level of participation in lifelong learning should be at least 12,5 % of the adult working-age population (25 to 64 age group).

Policies will aim in particular to achieve an increase in investment in human resources. In this context, it is important that there is a significant increase in investment by enterprises in the training of adults with a view to promoting productivity, competitiveness and active ageing. Efficient investment in human capital by employers and individuals will be facilitated.

5. INCREASE LABOUR SUPPLY AND PROMOTE ACTIVE AGEING

Member States will promote an adequate availability of labour and employment opportunities to support economic growth and employment, taking into account labour mobility, as indicated in specific guideline 3. In particular, they will:

- increase labour market participation by using the potential of all groups of the population, through a comprehensive approach covering in particular the availability and attractiveness of jobs, making work pay, raising skills, and providing adequate support measures,

- promote active ageing, notably by fostering working conditions conducive to job retention - such as access to continuing training, recognising the special importance of health and safety at work, innovative and flexible forms of work organisation - and eliminating incentives for early exit from the labour market, notably by reforming early retirement schemes and ensuring that it pays to remain active in the labour market; and encouraging employers to employ older workers,

In particular, policies will aim to achieve by 2010 an increase by five years, at European Union level, of the effective average exit age from the labour market (estimated at 59,9 in 2001). In this respect, the social partners have an important role to play. Any national targets should be consistent with the outcome expected at the European Union level and should take account of particular national circumstances,

- and, where appropriate, give full consideration to the additional labour supply resulting from immigration.

6. GENDER EQUALITY

Member States will, through an integrated approach combining gender mainstreaming and specific policy actions, encourage female labour market participation and achieve a substantial reduction in gender gaps in employment rates, unemployment rates, and pay by 2010. The role of the social partners is crucial in this respect. In particular, with a view to its elimination, policies will aim to achieve by 2010 a substantial reduction in the gender pay gap in each Member State, through a multi-faceted approach addressing the underlying factors of the gender pay gap, including sectoral and occupational segregation, education and training, job classifications and pay systems, awareness-raising and transparency.

Particular attention will be given to reconciling work and private life, notably through the provision of care services for children and other dependants, encouraging the sharing of family and professional responsibilities and facilitating return to work after a period of absence. Member States should remove disincentives to female labour force participation and strive, taking into account the demand for childcare facilities and in line with national patterns of childcare provision, to provide childcare by 2010 to at least 90 % of children between three years old and the mandatory school age and at least 33 % of children under three years of age.

7. PROMOTE THE INTEGRATION OF AND COMBAT THE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE AT A DISADVANTAGE IN THE LABOUR MARKET

Member States will foster the integration of people facing particular difficulties on the labour market, such as early school leavers, low-skilled workers, people with disabilities, immigrants, and ethnic minorities, by developing their employability, increasing job opportunities and preventing all forms of discrimination against them.

In particular, policies will aim to achieve by 2010:

- an EU average rate of no more than 10 % early school leavers,

- a significant reduction in each Member State in the unemployment gaps for people at a disadvantage, according to any national targets and definitions,

- a significant reduction in each Member State in the unemployment gaps between non-EU and EU nationals, according to any national targets.

8. MAKE WORK PAY THROUGH INCENTIVES TO ENHANCE WORK ATTRACTIVENESS

Member States will reform financial incentives with a view to making work attractive and encouraging men and women to seek, take up and remain in work. In this context, Member States should develop appropriate policies with a view to reducing the number of working poor. They will review and, where appropriate, reform tax and benefit systems and their interaction with a view to eliminating unemployment, poverty and inactivity traps, and encouraging the participation of women, low-skilled workers, older workers, people with disabilities and those furthest from the labour market in employment.

Whilst preserving an adequate level of social protection, Member States will in particular review replacement rates and benefit duration; ensure effective benefit management, notably with respect to the link with effective job search, including access to activation measures to support employability, taking into account individual situations; consider the provision of in-work benefits, where appropriate; and work with a view to eliminating inactivity traps.

In particular, policies will aim at achieving by 2010 a significant reduction in high marginal effective tax rates and, where appropriate, in the tax burden on low paid workers, reflecting national circumstances.

9. TRANSFORM UNDECLARED WORK INTO REGULAR EMPLOYMENT

Member States should develop and implement broad actions and measures to eliminate undeclared work, which combine simplification of the business environment, removing disincentives and providing appropriate incentives in the tax and benefits system, improved law enforcement and the application of sanctions. They should undertake the necessary efforts at national and EU level to measure the extent of the problem and progress achieved at national level.

10. ADDRESS REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT DISPARITIES

Member States should implement a broad approach towards reducing regional employment and unemployment disparities. The potential for job creation at the local level, including in the social economy, should be supported and partnerships between all relevant actors should be encouraged. Member States will:

- promote favourable conditions for private sector activity and investment in regions lagging behind,

- ensure that public support in regions lagging behind is focused on investment in human and knowledge capital, as well as adequate infrastructure (see also BEPGs, guidelines 18 and 19).

The potential of the Cohesion and Structural Funds and the European Investment Bank should be fully exploited.

GOOD GOVERNANCE AND PARTNERSHIP IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT GUIDELINES

Member States will ensure the effective implementation of the Employment guidelines, including at the regional and local level.

Involvement of parliamentary bodies, social partners and other relevant actors

Good governance and partnership are important issues for the implementation of the European employment strategy, while fully respecting national traditions and practices. The European Parliament will play an important role in this respect. Responsibility for implementation of the European employment strategy lies with the Member States. In accordance with national traditions, relevant parliamentary bodies as well as relevant actors in the field of employment at national, regional and local level have important contributions to make.

In accordance with their national traditions and practices, Social Partners at national level should be invited to ensure the effective implementation of the Employment guidelines and to report on their most significant contributions in all areas under their responsibility, in particular concerning the management of change and adaptability, synergy between flexibility and security, human capital development, gender equality, making work pay and active ageing as well as health and safety at work.

European Social Partners at interprofessional and sectoral level are invited to contribute to the implementation of the Employment guidelines and to support efforts undertaken by the national social partners at all levels, such as at interprofessional, sectoral and local level. As announced in their joint work programme, the European social partners at interprofessional level will report annually on their contribution to the implementation of the Employment guidelines. European Social Partners at sectoral level are invited to report on their respective actions.

Moreover, operational services should deliver the employment policies in an efficient and effective way.

Adequate allocation of financial resources

Member States will ensure transparency and cost-effectiveness in the allocation of financial resources to the implementation of the Employment guidelines, while complying with the need for sound public finances in line with the Broad economic policy guidelines.

They will fully exploit the potential contribution of the Community Structural Funds, in particular the European Social Fund, to support the delivery of policies and to strengthen the institutional capacity in the field of employment.