eu4journalists

Employment - Social affairs - Health

2. Employment

Issues

• European Employment Strategy
• Local Employment Development
• Worker mobility, equality and training

In 1998, the Amsterdam Treaty made promoting employment a major EU priority. This led to the drafting of a set of ‘employment guidelines’ which were grouped into four thematic priorities: employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability and equal opportunities. Each member state must take these guidelines into consideration when putting together its yearly ‘National Action Plan’ (NAP) for employment. To assess whether the Union’s employment objectives are being met, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers regularly analyse and compare each member state’s NAP. The resulting information is presented in a Joint Employment Report.

The European Union's employment policy includes the objectives of full employment, good working conditions, high productivity and social cohesion in line with its policy of “flexicurity,” the combination of labour market flexibility with security.

A number of employment initiatives and strategies are currently in use:

European Employment Strategy (EES)
A key component of the Lisbon Strategy, the EES depends on the continuous monitoring of the labour market, which is accomplished through annual Employment in Europe reports which, in turn, are used to create future employment strategies and policies for job quality, increased productivity and investments in human capital. The EES generates Joint Assessment Papers (JAP) for Candidate countries that prepare candidates for EU membership by adjusting institutions and policies to those of the EU until and during the accession process. The EES was created in 1997 following the Luxembourg Jobs Summit.

Local Employment Development
The EES has always included the development of regional employment policies, but in recent years a number of regional and local action plans have emerged to combat the unravelling of communities due to shifts in demographics and sectoral employment. Local development is especially important in job creation, in the promulgation of education and training programs, and it is where services for social inclusion, including the integration of the most vulnerable citizens, are undertaken.

Within the framework of the EES, employment policies are being expanded to stress local renewal, restore mutual trust between local, regional, national and EU governments and to generate awareness that local empowerment improves effectiveness of central policies, enhances democracy and stimulates social cohesion. Local development will, in the future, be much more integrated into national and EU policies

EURES European Employment Service
The European Employment Service provides information, advice and job-placement to workers and employers in order to facilitate mobility in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. The Service also involves trade union and other employee organisations, local and regional authorities, and provides data on work surpluses and deficits in various sectors in order to improve professional experience abroad and to contribute to the common European labour market. The major Funding programmes are the European social fund (ESF), PROGRESS, European Globalisation Adjustment Fund and EQUAL.

European Social Fund (ESF)
The EU's four Structural Funds were set up to help equalize standards of living between Europe's more and less prosperous regions. The ESF is one of these four funds, providing money for achieving the goals of the European Employment Strategy. It was set up in 1957 to improve working skills and thus employability, help to combat unemployment, promote training and make Europe's companies more competitive in the global marketplace. During the period 2000-2006, the ESF granted €70 billion across the EU for social initiatives, along with money from the member states. During the 2007-2013 period measures focus on increasing adaptability of workers and enterprises, enhancing access to employment and participation in the labour market, combating discrimination and good governance.

PROGRESS
PROGRESS is a combination of separate Community programmes that funded employment and social affairs, gender equality, non-discrimination, labour law, health and safety regulations set out in the Social Agenda (2005-2010) and the wider Lisbon Strategy.

European Global Adjustment Fund (EGF)
The EGF provides €500 million per year to help workers made redundant by the opening up of global trade. Launched in 2007, the EGF funds training, job-searching assistance, allowances for relocation and education and special measures for older and disadvantaged workers.

EQUAL
Since 2001, EQUAL has been generating new ideas for promoting inclusion in the workplace regardless of gender, race or ethnicity, religion, handicap, age or sexual orientation. It is part of the EES and the Social inclusion process. EQUAL has a budget of over €3 billion provided by the EU, which is matched by national funding from the member states. Thus far the program has received two project applications, one in 2001 and one in 2004.