Council conclusions on The Annual Growth Survey and the Joint Employment Report in the context of the European Semester Priorities
17 February 2012
The European Council welcomed the increased focus placed by the Annual Growth Survey and the Joint Employment Report on the need for strategies to deliver the core outcomes in the Employment Guidelines.
The Council called upon Member States, while respecting national competences where relevant, to enable the Council to review progress regularly by using their National Reform Programmes - or the updated information on the state of play of their national targets under the Europe 2020 Strategy in the case of the Member States with EU/IMF lending programmes - to respond to the priorities of the Annual Growth Survey, the Joint Employment Report and the Employment Guidelines, and to increase efforts, through a flexicurity-based approach, to build the sustainable conditions for more, better and new jobs by:
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Making it easier and more attractive for employers to hire people and for people to take up those opportunities, by exploring ways, in accordance with national practices of social dialogue, to shift taxation away from labour towards areas less detrimental to employment growth, whilst carefully considering the implications for the adequacy and sustainability of social protection systems, reducing employment costs by addressing the tax wedge, and reforming excessively rigid employment protection legislation to ease access for those left outside the labour market, encouraging the move from undeclared into regular employment, and where necessary revising wage-setting mechanisms to reflect productivity developments better;
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Removing barriers and creating conditions for entrepreneurs to create new jobs, especially in sectors with growth potential (“green” and “white” jobs and those in the digital economy) and supporting geographical and occupational mobility;
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Tackling unacceptably high youth unemployment through comprehensive actions to secure the transition from education to work, encompassing skills-building, quality apprenticeships and work experience, and targeted job-search assistance and career guidance. This should be done with special regard to the measures put forward in the new Youth Opportunities Initiative;
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Reducing long-term and low-skilled unemployment, and strengthening the participation of women and older people, through more effective active labour market policies, by ensuring efficient and effective employment services, through policies to support active ageing and continue efforts to increase the effective retirement age, and by ensuring equal conditions for women and men to participate in the labour markets;
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Tackling increasing poverty and social exclusion through active inclusion strategies combining adequate income, inclusive labour markets and access to quality services;
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Building productivity and income potential through a focus on skills and investment in efficient and effective education and training systems that forge a stronger partnership between education and the world of work, providing opportunities for those who lack necessary skills to acquire suitable qualifications and increasing tertiary or equivalent education levels, recognising all skills and competences acquired, and intervening early with policies targeted towards those at risk of dropping out of school;
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Reforming social protection systems to ensure their financial sustainability and adequacy, to preserve the role of automatic stabilisers, and to encourage participation in the labour market.
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To strengthen multilateral surveillance of the implementation of Member States’ NRP and Euro Plus Pact commitments further, and on a voluntary basis for those under a Memorandum of Understanding, and to undertake work on the principles of well functioning labour markets, including analysis of employment friendly social protection systems, and improve the identification and transfer of good practice;
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To work closely with the Economic Policy Committee, the Social Protection Committee and other Committees on issues of common concern.
Full conclusions
© European Council
