More growth; more jobs
At the recent tripartite social summit, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša (the current president of the European Council) discussed with employers' and workers' representatives the progress...
At the recent tripartite social summit, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša (the current president of the European Council) discussed with employers' and workers' representatives the progress made under the EU's Growth and Jobs Strategy. The leaders of EU institutions and social partners also addressed the priorities for the next three-year cycle of the Lisbon Strategy, the social consequences of climate change and energy dependency, as well as issues on the social dialogue agenda for the coming months.
The tripartite social summit meets at least once a year, ahead of the Spring European Council, to allow an exchange of views between the social partners, the European Commission and the heads of government of the current and the two following council presidencies. The agenda is always closely linked to the items discussed later by the heads of state and government at the EU's Spring Council.
During the summit, President Barroso pointed out that: "Social dialogue is making an important contribution to the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. We need a growing, job-creating Europe. But also a Europe which provides opportunities for every citizen and genuine and viable protection for workers. Social partners play a key role in our system of economic and social governance. They also have a role to play in discussions on climate change and energy issues."
Commissioner VladimÃr Å pidla welcomed the social partners' negotiations on granting better access to labour markets for disadvantaged groups, notably through lifelong learning.
"And I call on employers and trade unions to also launch negotiations on improving work-life balance..." he added.
The European social partners (ETUC, BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME) announced the agenda for social dialogue in the months to come. In particular, they committed themselves to undertake joint action to better achieve the aims of the Parental Leave Directive. This will be part of wider work on reconciliation dealing with other forms of leave for family reasons, working arrangements and care infrastructure.
As a follow-up of their joint analysis of European labour markets, which was published last October, the European social partners also announced that they would negotiate an autonomous agreement to facilitate access to and progression in the labour market for disadvantaged groups through a series of preventative and curative measures including lifelong learning.
Meanwhile, the European Commission's latest employment report paints an encouraging picture, forecasting five million new jobs in the EU by 2009, on top of the 6.5 million created in the last two years. Unemployment is expected to fall to under 7 per cent this year, bringing the number of jobless down to its lowest level since the mid-1980s.
Recent labour market reforms are beginning to show an impact with structural unemployment falling by one-third since 2004 and the EU employment rate, currently at 66 per cent, moving much closer to the overall target of 70 per cent.
Half of EU countries (as compared with just a few in 2006) are now actively working to achieve greater flexibility in the labour market combined with greater job security. The "flexicurity" approach aims to make labour markets more responsive to globalisation, to reduce structural unemployment and to ease the transition to a more open labour market.
Although more women and older people are in work, problems remain, with youth unemployment averaging 17.4 per cent. This is a persistent concern for many EU countries, as young people are still more than twice as likely to be unemployed as the average for the workforce as a whole.
Part of the problem is that nearly one in six young people drop out of school early. The EU is looking to reduce this number, recommending increased investment in education and training to boost attainment levels.
To respond to these challenges, Malta has included employment as one of the strategic themes in its National Reform Programme for 2005-2008. This commitment is also reflected in Malta's Structural Funds, with one operation programme focusing entirely on empowering people for more jobs and better quality of life.
This operational programme, which was launched in 2007, receives money from the European Social Fund and will act as one of the main pillars for the creation of more and better jobs that reflect Malta's position in the globalised economy.
• Mr Refalo is a consultant at Impetus Europe Consulting Group Ltd. For more information visit www.impetuseurope.com or contact michael.refalo@impetuseurope.com
The tripartite social summit meets at least once a year, ahead of the Spring European Council, to allow an exchange of views between the social partners, the European Commission and the heads of government of the current and the two following council presidencies. The agenda is always closely linked to the items discussed later by the heads of state and government at the EU's Spring Council.
During the summit, President Barroso pointed out that: "Social dialogue is making an important contribution to the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. We need a growing, job-creating Europe. But also a Europe which provides opportunities for every citizen and genuine and viable protection for workers. Social partners play a key role in our system of economic and social governance. They also have a role to play in discussions on climate change and energy issues."
Commissioner VladimÃr Å pidla welcomed the social partners' negotiations on granting better access to labour markets for disadvantaged groups, notably through lifelong learning.
"And I call on employers and trade unions to also launch negotiations on improving work-life balance..." he added.
The European social partners (ETUC, BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME) announced the agenda for social dialogue in the months to come. In particular, they committed themselves to undertake joint action to better achieve the aims of the Parental Leave Directive. This will be part of wider work on reconciliation dealing with other forms of leave for family reasons, working arrangements and care infrastructure.
As a follow-up of their joint analysis of European labour markets, which was published last October, the European social partners also announced that they would negotiate an autonomous agreement to facilitate access to and progression in the labour market for disadvantaged groups through a series of preventative and curative measures including lifelong learning.
Meanwhile, the European Commission's latest employment report paints an encouraging picture, forecasting five million new jobs in the EU by 2009, on top of the 6.5 million created in the last two years. Unemployment is expected to fall to under 7 per cent this year, bringing the number of jobless down to its lowest level since the mid-1980s.
Recent labour market reforms are beginning to show an impact with structural unemployment falling by one-third since 2004 and the EU employment rate, currently at 66 per cent, moving much closer to the overall target of 70 per cent.
Half of EU countries (as compared with just a few in 2006) are now actively working to achieve greater flexibility in the labour market combined with greater job security. The "flexicurity" approach aims to make labour markets more responsive to globalisation, to reduce structural unemployment and to ease the transition to a more open labour market.
Although more women and older people are in work, problems remain, with youth unemployment averaging 17.4 per cent. This is a persistent concern for many EU countries, as young people are still more than twice as likely to be unemployed as the average for the workforce as a whole.
Part of the problem is that nearly one in six young people drop out of school early. The EU is looking to reduce this number, recommending increased investment in education and training to boost attainment levels.
To respond to these challenges, Malta has included employment as one of the strategic themes in its National Reform Programme for 2005-2008. This commitment is also reflected in Malta's Structural Funds, with one operation programme focusing entirely on empowering people for more jobs and better quality of life.
This operational programme, which was launched in 2007, receives money from the European Social Fund and will act as one of the main pillars for the creation of more and better jobs that reflect Malta's position in the globalised economy.
• Mr Refalo is a consultant at Impetus Europe Consulting Group Ltd. For more information visit www.impetuseurope.com or contact michael.refalo@impetuseurope.com