European heads of state and employment ministers met in Barcelona on 15–16 March 2002 for the annual spring European Council to discuss economic, social and environment issues. The Council praised the progress made by the EU employment strategy but noted that more needed to be done to achieve the targets set by the Lisbon and Stockholm Councils in 2000 and 2001, and outlined a number of priority actions
The European Council met under the Spanish Presidency in Barcelona on 15–16 March 2002 for its annual spring summit on the economic, social and environmental situation in the European Union. Previous European Councils of this type had been held in Lisbon in March 2000 (EU0004241F) and Stockholm in March 2001 (EU0104208F).
In general, in the summit conclusions, the Presidency notes that much progress has been made within the framework of the 'Lisbon strategy' of economic modernisation agreed by the March 2000 Lisbon Council. These include areas such as stepping up active labour market policies and reducing the tax burden on labour.
However, the conclusions also note that progress has been too slow in a number of areas, specifically: reform of benefit systems in order to provide an incentive to work; wage formation systems; labour market efficiency (unemployment often co-exists with skills shortages); active ageing policies, which seek to encourage older workers to remain in the labour market; female participation rates; and the regulation of employment, with a view in particular to striking the right balance between flexibility and security.
In order to achieve the targets set at Lisbon, the conclusions state first that the involvement of workers in changes affecting them must be increased. The Council invites the social partners to find ways of managing corporate restructuring through dialogue and a preventative approach. The European Commission launched the first stage of social partner consultations at EU level on this issue in January 2002 (EU0201235F). Second, the Council stresses the importance of enhancing the 'qualitative' aspects of work, and in particular the health and safety dimension. It notes that there will be a forthcoming Commission Communication on a Community health and safety strategy.
Other issues looked at by the Council in broad terms included the fight against poverty and social exclusion – Member States are invited to set targets in their national action plans on this issue to reduce, by 2010, the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion. These poverty and exclusion plans were drawn up in 2001 for the first time, as part of the Lisbon stategy. Further, the Council calls for pension system reforms to be accelerated, in order to address the challenge of the ageing population in the EU. A pensions coordination strategy, based on the method of open coordination (involving the setting of common objectives and agreed indicators, regular reporting and the identification of best practice) was launched in 2001 (EU0110207F).
Priority action
The Council conclusions list a number of areas in which action is considered to be a priority. They state that full employment, which is at the heart of the Lisbon strategy, requires the creation of more and better jobs. In order to achieve this, a number of changes to the Luxembourg employment strategy (ie the regular cycle of EU Employment Guidelines and National Action Plans for employment) are suggested, as follows:
- simplification of the strategy, by reducing the number of guidelines, but without undermining the effectiveness of the guidelines;
- alignment of the time frame with the deadlines of 2010 set at Lisbon, including an intermediate evaluation in 2006 in order to assess achievement of the intermediate targets set in Stockholm; and
- reinforcement of the role and responsibility of the social partners in the implementation and monitoring of the guidelines.
In terms of current employment policies, the Council urges Member States in particular to:
- give priority, in terms of tax cuts, to reducing the tax burden on low-wage earners;
- adapt tax and benefit systems to make work pay and encourage people to enter the labour market;
- take into account the relationship between wage developments and labour market conditions, thereby allowing evolution of pay according to productivity developments and skills differentials;
- review the regulations governing employment contracts in order to promote more jobs and to strike a proper balance between flexibility and security;
- remove disincentives for female labour force participation and aim to provide, by 2010, childcare in respect of at least 90% of children between the age of three and the mandatory school age, and in respect of at least 33% of children under three; and
- reduce early retirement incentives for individuals and limit the introduction of early retirement schemes. Conversely, there should be greater effort to increase opportunities for older workers to remain in the labour market. Most concretely, there should be a progressive increase of around five years in the effective average age at which people stop working in the EU by 2010. Progress towards this goal will be analysed each year in advance of each future spring Council.
Skills and mobility
The Council welcomes the Commission's recently-launched action plan on skills and mobility in the EU (EU0203204F), which aims to remove barriers within European labour markets by 2005, and calls on the Council of Ministers to take the necessary steps to put into practice the measures proposed in the action plan. In terms of concrete action in this area, the European Council states that a European health insurance card will replace the current forms needed for health treatment in another EU Member State, and the Commission will present a proposal for this before the 2003 spring Council. Further, the 'one-stop European job mobility information' website, as proposed in the action plan, will be launched and become fully operational by the end of 2003.
Further, the Council welcomed the adoption by the EU-level social partners, at a social summit held prior to the Council, on a joint framework for action on the lifelong development of competence and qualifications.
Commentary
Following the spring Councils held in 2000 and 2001 in Lisbon and Stockholm, the Barcelona Council is the third such meeting to focus on social issues. Whereas the Lisbon Council set concrete employment targets to be achieved by 2010 and the Stockholm Council complemented this with intermediate targets, the Barcelona Council concentrated largely on reviewing progress so far and suggesting minor amendments to the European employment strategy. Nevertheless, as well as arguably strengthening recommendations on pay developments and reviewing employment contract legislation, it has set concrete targets in two new areas.
First, it has set a goal of achieving, by 2010, the provision of childcare for 90% of children aged between three and the mandatory school age and for 33% of children aged below three. This is designed to encourage female labour market participation. Although this is an admirable aim, it does not go into detail concerning the kind of childcare on offer, which above all needs to be of good quality and affordable.
The second concrete goal is that of achieving a progressive increase of around five years in the average actual age at which people stop working in the EU by 2010. The attainment of this goal is likely to depend on issues such as making it attractive for older workers to continue in their jobs or in alternative employment. This will be relatively difficult to achieve in many countries which have popular state or collectively-agreed early retirement mechanisms in place. (Andrea Broughton, IRS).