European Parliament Adopts Employment Guidelines for the Member States
Date: 3-6-2003
The European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on employment guidelines for the Member States which broadly approves the proposal.
The House supports the three main goals of the European Employment Strategy (full employment, increased productivity and better jobs, and greater social cohesion and 'inclusion' but says that a fourth goal should be added, namely, mainstreaming of male-female equality, which was a key factor requiring extra measures. While MEPs acknowledge that full employment should be the ultimate goal, it stresses the need for substantial reductions in employment rates, arguing that employment levels and unemployment rates are objectives which are to some extent independent of each other. MEPs therefore call for overall targets to be set, not only for full employment but also for the unemployment rate. Like the Commission in its proposal, the House highlights the importance of boosting job creation and fostering entrepreneurship. It adds, however, that it is important not only to create jobs but also to create better jobs. MEPs emphasise the importance of local and regional employment markets, which tend to be less sensitive to short-term economic cycles and macro-economic fluctuations, and call for active measures to reduce local and regional disparities. MEPs also consider that individuals' and businesses' tax burden should be reduced in order to give a boost to domestic demand.
Since the Member States are responsible for implementing the employment guidelines, Parliament stresses the need to improve the legitimacy and implementation of the European strategy by involving national parliaments in discussions on and the adoption of national employment plans.