UK and Italy hold bilateral talks on EU employment issues

In April 1999, employment ministers from the UK and Italy met for talks on a range of employment and labour market issues and agreed a joint statement emphasising the need to promote growth, employment and structural reform at national and EU level.

On 21 April 1999, the UK's education and employment secretary, David Blunkett, hosted a meeting in London with the Italian minister of labour and social security, Antonio Bassolino, to discuss "issues of common interest on employment, training, active labour market policies and the European employment pact" (EU9903160N). The UK's Labour Party government is committed to campaigning for labour market flexibility in Europe (UK9704125F), and the meeting with the Italian employment minister, held in advance of the June European Council meeting in Cologne, follows recent similar bilateral discussions with countries such as Spain and Sweden (UK9812170N).

In a joint statement, Mr Blunkett and Mr Bassolino underlined the "paramount importance, for the European Union at the present time, of the fight against unemployment, social exclusion and deprivation, especially for young people. This needs to be combined with a comprehensive policy of growth and structural reform at national and EU level to make our labour markets more effective."

The ministers said that the "European employment pact", which will be launched at the forthcoming Cologne summit, "should give us a good basis on which to build an effective mix of macro-economic policies aimed at growth and employment strategies, building on our agreement at [the November 1997 Luxembourg employment summit - EU9711168F]". The joint statement emphasised that: "It is important to set national policies on employment, vocational training and the modernisation of welfare systems in a coordinated strategy to promote economic growth and social cohesion at European Union level. We must work together in partnership in Europe to promote growth, employment and structural reform."

In their discussions, the ministers agreed on the importance of initiatives in the UK such as "New Deal" for young people (UK9707143F) and the innovations introduced in Italy by the "social pact for development and employment" (IT9901335F), especially in relation to vocational training. The two governments have agreed to work together by comparing their experiences in respect of job creation initiatives at local level and the development of skills through lifelong learning.