2001 NAP unveiled

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The Minister of Employment and Solidarity officially presented France's 2001 National Action Plan (NAP) for employment in May 2001. Consultation with the social partners was carried out differently this year - to their general satisfaction - and the various government ministries were more involved. The main thrusts of French employment strategy have been maintained, but with the addition of a more individualised and "qualitative" approach.

France's National Action Plan for employment for 2001 was officially presented by the Minister of Employment and Solidarity in May 2001. Based on a now well-established annual process laid out four years ago, the NAP - in response to the Employment Guidelines for 2001, agreed by the EU Council of Ministers - includes a report on the preceding year's Plan, responds to the EU Council's recommendations on French employment policy (EU0010276F) and puts forward new measures for implementing the 2001 Guidelines.

The 2001 NAP was based on greater inter-ministry cooperation than in previous years, including a greater role for the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity, the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry, the Ministry of National Education and the Secretary of State for Women's Rights and Vocational Training. The quality of this inter-ministry cooperation enabled a coherent synthesis of French employment strategy to be produced.

French employment strategy

Starting in 1998 with the first NAP (FR9805107F) developed after the European Council's extraordinary employment summit in Luxembourg in November 1997 (EU9711168F), France has developed an overall employment strategy based on the following three tenets: greater and more sustainable growth; more employment-intensive economic growth; and growth that benefits everyone. Over the past few years, France has consistently posted stable economic growth of above 3% per year. An active employment policy, together with this economic growth, led to the creation of 1.6 million jobs between June 1997 and early 2001. Over the same period, unemployment fell by more than 1 million.

The main thrusts of French employment policy have been maintained for 2001. However, there is now an additional resolve to develop a more individualised and "qualitative" approach. More specifically, the objectives of the policy are to:

• provide an environment conducive to job creation for all;

• refine the "back-to-work" policy in order to prevent and combat exclusion and to facilitate across-the-board access to the labour market; and

• develop high-quality jobs and industrial relations.

These three goals, which make up the overall guiding principles of French employment strategy, are each developed in various programmes and specific areas of action.

For 2001, France has set a target of an employment rate consistent with that set out in the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 (EU0004241F). In 1999, the overall employment rate in France stood at 60.4%, compared with 62.2% in the EU as a whole, while the rate for women was 53.5% in France and 52.9% in the EU. France's target for 2001 is to bring the overall and women's employment rates up to 62.8% and 55.8% respectively.

Results of the 2000 NAP

Economic growth was strong in 2000 (at 3.2%), states the NAP in its assessment of the 2000 Plan (FR0005164F), and employment figures were particularly good. There was a significant drop in youth and long-term unemployment. Over 580,000 jobs were created and the number of unemployed people fell by 420,000.

The targets of various programmes were met. In 2000, the "youth employment-new services" (Emplois-jeunes-Nouveaux services, EJNS) scheme (FR0106162F) resulted in the creation of 30,000 positions and the hiring of 75,000 young people, bringing the total number of jobs created under this programme since 1997 to 267,000. Furthermore, the negotiated reduction in working time in response to the 35-hour week legislation (FR0001137F) led to the creation or preservation of 347,000 jobs.

Other measures also had a positive impact. The reduced value added tax (VAT) rate on home maintenance resulted in the creation of 30,000 jobs overall and an increase in the number of new companies in this sector (up 4.2%). As far as employment equality is concerned, the target of having women make up 55% of all beneficiaries of labour market integration and back-to-work schemes was reached.

Response to Council recommendations

In its 2001 recommendations on Member States' employment policies, the EU Council of Ministers raised a number of issues about France, which are addressed in the NAP:

• in an attempt to reduce the use of early retirement, the government has decided to put more emphasis in 2001 on initiatives aimed at getting older unemployed workers back to work, and to buttress measures designed to retain them in the labour force. It is seeking to alleviate tax pressures on unskilled, poorly-paid jobs through increased social security contribution relief for low- and middle-income earners within the framework of agreements reducing working time, cuts in unemployment insurance contributions, the lowering of tax rates and the creation of an "employment allowance" (Prime pour l'emploi, PPE) scheme for the low-paid;

• a new series of measures designed to simplify "red tape" is being implemented in 2001 to reduce company administrative expenses;

• individualised support for unemployed people is to be strengthened from 1 July 2001 by new measures implemented by the National Employment Agency (Agence nationale pour l'emploi, ANPE) based on the recent unemployment insurance reform agreement (FR0106161N); and

• action will be taken on work organisation and the employment-creation effects of the reduction of working time through company-level collective bargaining implementing the new 35-hour week legislation. Action in 2001 will focus mainly on support measures for the reduction of working time in companies with a workforce of under 20.

Social partner consultation and input

The social partners were significantly involved in preparing the 2001 NAP. Issue-specific working groups dealing with jointly decided subjects - recruitment difficulties, job quality, employment of older workers, life-long training and a locally-based approach to employment - were set up within the Committee for Social Dialogue on European and International Issues (Comité du dialogue social pour les questions européennes et internationales, CDSEI) (FR9812149N) and they worked to an intensive programme. Discussions within these working groups resulted in employers' associations and trade unions submitting written contributions. The main findings of the groups and the written contributions were included in the NAP.

Talks on the 2001 NAP were included on the agenda of jointly-managed bodies involved in employment policy and its coordination at European Union level, such as the administrative boards of the National Employment Agency (Agence nationale pour l'emploi, ANPE), the Association for Adult Vocational Training (Association pour la formation professionnelle des adultes, AFPA), and the Higher Council for Employment Equality (Conseil supérieur de l'égalité professionnelle).

Lastly, working sessions of the CDSEI dealing with the 2001 NAP allowed the social partners' opinions to be considered and the final text to be reworked.

The structures and procedures for consultation with the social partners are the subject of a special chapter in the 2001 NAP.

Most trade unions and employers' associations applauded the quality of the consultation and work procedures over the 2001 Plan.

Commentary

The preparation process for the 2001 NAP was a major step forward in terms of both the greater involvement of government ministries and consultation with the social partners. The momentum built up in the Committee for Social Dialogue on European and International Issues over the past few years seems to have been a positive force in moving in this direction.

However, while the interlinking of EU guidelines, National Action Plans and their EU-level assessment seems to be a reality, cooperation on the issue of employment between national employers' organisations and trade unions and their respective European organisations does not yet seem to have got off the ground. However, the exchange of "good practice" through this relationship would undoubtedly be useful.

Finally, employment policy cannot be completely isolated from other aspects of economic policy. The "macroeconomic dialogue" system put in place at EU level in 1999 (EU9905174N) is geared to promoting the consistent linkage between social concerns, employment policy and broad economic and monetary policy guidelines. An equivalent process at national level would undoubtedly be useful. (Maurice Braud, IRES)