Policies

EMPLOYMENT

Creating new and better quality jobs and reducing the much too high level of unemployment are still - despite clear successes in some EU countries - a top priority for the EPP group, since unemployment at any level is not only unacceptable and slows the growth rate and reduces living standards for every individual, but also means that national social security systems can no longer keep pace. It is not a question of using European employment programmes to paper over the failures of Member States, but of implementing and further developing the concept of a coordinated employment strategy, as a means of achieving a technological renewal in Europe which will help create jobs.

At the Lisbon Summit of 23 and 24 March 2000, the EU set out a new strategic objective for the next decade. This aimed to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. To achieve this objective, three strands were woven together to form a global strategy: intensifying the process of building up a knowledge-based economy, modernising the European company model, and applying a macroeconomic policy mix to meet the varying demands of full employment, high-quality jobs, workplace productivity, social cohesion and social integration. The transition to a knowledge-based economy is expected to provide a strong impetus for growth, competitiveness and employment. We consider, that the necessary infrastructure is made available to all and that participants are confident that their interests will be protected when they use the new communications tools. Therefore the EPP aims to ensure that enterprises and citizens have reasonably-priced access to communications infrastructure and that their interests are protected from breaches of confidentiality.

The EU has of course identified full employment as the main aim of every one of its economic and social policies, but the size of the unemployment figures, the high rate of youth unemployment and the lower employment rate among older people show very clearly that the potential for employment is still very far from being exhausted. Therefore the reforms of employment and job market policies must go further, obstacles preventing people taking up work must be removed and active employment policy measures must be encouraged, with more intensive individual help for unemployed people to increase their employability, so that they do not become long-term unemployed. To get closer to the goals of full employment and social cohesion, there should be a link between salaries and unemployment pay, to encourage people into employment and help create more jobs.

To meet the challenge of an ageing society, there must be a larger proportion of people in work in general and it must be made easier for older workers who wish to do so to stay in work. Therefore early retirement can no longer be seen as the immediate answer to firmsâ restructuring problems. Older workers must be given the opportunity to stay in work, through training and more flexible ways of organising working hours. We cannot do without the experience of our older citizens. Therefore, as well as the above employment measures, there must be reform of old-age pension systems, with flexible provisions aiming to allow people to retire gradually and when they want to, and to participate actively in public, social and cultural life so that they remain active in old age.

In addition the job market must be modernised, social security systems must be renovated so that they provide appropriate protection and also incentives to work, lifelong learning must be supported and promoted so that the knowledge-based society becomes a reality, and measures that stimulate rather than hinder job creation in enterprises must be encouraged. It must be our goal to create better and higher quality jobs that do not oppress people but foster their personal development. We in Europe can only keep pace in a globalised employment market by unceasingly providing further training to improve the quality of work. In the context of modernising work organisation, improving the quality of work, vocational training and further training and access to employment, the social partners are jointly responsible for finding a balance between flexibility and job security and increasing the adaptability of enterprises.

Enterprises are the greatest source of jobs. There is therefore an urgent need to improve the environment for them. This includes modernising competition rules and simplifying and improving the regulatory environment for enterprises. The Community and the Member States must make even greater efforts than before to simplify and modernise the laws and administrative procedures that affect enterprises and consumers at Community, national and regional level. Because of existing rules and regulations it takes far longer in Europe than anywhere else in the world to develop an idea into a marketable product. Incentives to start businesses must also be improved and obstacles removed with regard to legal requirements for natural and legal entities establishing a business or providing services, and access to risk capital must be made much easier. Further efforts must be made to encourage innovation, research and development and a spirit of enterprise, particularly in SMEs since it is SMEs that create the greatest demand for workers.

Laws are not the same as real life. Women and men are not yet in fact equally represented in all areas of life in the EU. There is a legal framework for equality between women and men in all areas of life, but in reality much more still needs to be done. Still today, women often earn on average less than men in comparable occupations, women who have jobs still bear the main burden of housework and child care, and women are still under-represented in some occupations and over-represented in lower income groups. Measures are therefore needed to make it easier for women to find and keep jobs and to prevent discrimination.

The EPP therefore calls for:

action programmes to promote work opportunities for women, as employees and also in the area of business start-ups and self-employment,
measures to make it easier to combine family life and work, particularly through more facilities for children and other people needing care,
more participation in support measures to improve qualifications, and binding provisions to remove discrimination against women at work.

Many jobs are lost when enterprises transfer their business outside the EU. The pressure of international competition makes it imperative to thoroughly review and simplify tax and contributions policies. It must once again be worth while to go out to work or take on the risk of self-employment or starting a business.

We want everyone to find fulfilment in their work and everyone who wants to work to be able to find a job. We must open up the sclerotic job market through the innovative ideas and measures we have described. Let us get to work.

Klaus Kellersmann