Weber, Tina

The Council of Labour and Social Affairs Ministers met on 7 October, chaired by Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker (currently President of the Labour and Social Affairs Council as well as the European Council). Ministers devoted most of its meeting on the preparations of the special Jobs Summit [1] to be held under the Luxembourg Presidency on 20-21 November 1997. The debate focused on the documents recently adopted by the European Commission- the draft /Joint Employment Report 1997/ and the Proposal for Guidelines for Member State Employment Policies 1998 [2]. The former is to be approved by the joint Economic and Financial Affairs and Social Affairs Council to be held on 17 November 1997. Ministers equally debated the establishment of a list of best practices on employment, based on the national contributions provided by the Member States in response to a request from Mr Juncker. [1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm [2] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/papers/guide.htm

In the run-up to the special Jobs Summit [1] to be held in Luxembourg on 20 and 21 November 1997, the European Commission, on 1 October 1997, adopted a package of three documents: [1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm

Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs from the 29 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries met in Paris on 14-15 October 1997 to discuss the implementation and monitoring of the OECD's /Jobs Strategy/ put forward in 1994. The meeting [1] came in the run-up to the EU special Jobs Summit [2] held on 20-21 November 1997 and the G8 Conferences in Kobe and London in February 1998, at which the crisis of unemployment and the maintenance of global competitiveness will also be at the top of the agenda. [1] http://www.oecd.org/news_and_events/release/nw97-89a.htm [2] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm

According to statistics released by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) in late September 1997, the average level of unemployment across the EU fell during both June and July 1997. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates were down to 10.7% in June and 10.6% (some 18 million people) in July after having remained static at 10.8% for the previous five months. Unemployment stood at 5.0% in the USA and 3.4% in Japan in June 1997.

A report released by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) in early September 1997 seeks to examine the extent of adult training in the Member States of the European Union. The data collected forms part of the European labour force survey undertaken in the spring of 1996. The findings of the survey show that for the EU has a whole, over 8 million individuals aged 30 and over said that they received education and training in the four weeks immediately preceding the interview. Of these, 6.3 million were employed, 0.5 million were unemployed and 1.3 million were economically inactive (retired people, students etc).

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, met François Perigot, president of the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE) and Sir Colin Marshall, president of the UK employers' confederation, the CBI, in London on 4 September 1997. The employers presented their priorities for the UK Council Presidency, which will follow the Luxembourg Presidency in the first six months of 1998.

The European Trade Union Committee: Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUC:TCL) and EURATEX, the European employers' organisation for textiles and clothing, signed the first "European Code of Conduct" on 22 September 1997 in the presence of Allan Larsson, director general of the the European Commission's Directorate General V for employment, industrial relations and social affairs. The signing of the Code of Conduct marks the successful outcome of over a year of sometimes strenuous negotiations as part of the sectoral social dialogue at European level.

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg,Jean-Claude Juncker, whose Government currently holds the Presidency of the European Council, told members of the European Parliament's economic affairs committee on 4 September 1997 that the purpose of the Employment Summit [1], to be held on 20-21 November, is to decide on concrete action to alleviate the problem of unemployment in Europe. He argued that "if this summit like earlier summits only results in declarations, but few concrete measures, then it is a failure". Mr Juncker emphasised that he did not want to see the meeting turn into a "deregulation summit" with the prime objective of achieving greater labour market flexibility. Instead, he wanted the summit to lead to the adoption of clear guidelines for European employment policy, which should form an integral part of the overall economic guidelines. Mr Juncker argued that these guidelines had to be sufficiently clear and detailed to allow an annual assessment of their achievement (or the causes of non-attainment). [1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm

The conclusion in July 1997 (EU9707141N [1]) of the recommendation framework agreement on the improvement of paid employment in agriculture stands at the end of a long process of negotiation between the European social partners in the sector. The partners are GEOPA- the Employers' Group of theCommittee of Agricultural Organisations in the European Union (COPA) - which represents those agricultural undertakings in Europe which employ paid staff, and the European Federation of Agricultural Workers' Unions (EFA), - one of the European industry committees of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/european-agriculture-social-partners-sign-first-sectoral-framework-agreement

A delegation from Eurocadres- the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff affiliated to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) - met with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jacques Poos and other representatives of the Luxembourg Council Presidency on 3 September 1997 to highlight the case for urgent action on employment at the European level. The delegation emphasised that the special European Council Employment Summit [1], planned for 21-22 November 1997 must live up to its expectations and produce concrete results and initiatives. Eurocadres warned that "the creation of a single currency and the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union would be endangered, if it was done at the expense of employment." [1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/elm/summit/en/home.htm