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BackNot true, many will argue. However, if one reads the latest proposals included in the employment package of the EU Commission, one quickly realizes where the priorities lie. Even the German “Handelsblatt” puts it in a nutshell and writes: 84 billion Euros are planned to boost employment - from 2014 to 2020 - however, putting the houses of the crisis-ridden banks in order cost many times as much! In the opinion of the Commission, workers and employees should show restraint on pay and brace themselves for labour market reforms, such as changes to the protection against dismissal.
Employment package of the EU Commission has little positive to offer to employees
Unemployment figures in Europe are on a steady increase. Meanwhile, the employment rate in the EU has fallen to 68.9 percent. Only a short while ago, it had been the aim of the EUROPE 2020 Strategy to achieve an employment rate of 75 percent by 2020. However, there is still a long way to go. The EU is exactly 17.6 million new jobs short to achieve this goal. The Commission wants to use its employment package introduced this week to counteract this development. It is supposed to provide assistance concerning the creation of new jobs.
Trade unions are not “not amused” – wage development is to be monitored
One of the proposals by the Commission in its employment package concerns the development of wages in Europe. The suggestion is to create a tripartite pay monitoring body, which monitors wage development in the Member States in relation to productivity, inflation, domestic demand, unemployment and income imbalances. Everything of course with the full involvement of the European social partners. Shamed be he who thinks evil of it. One should not forget that wage policy no longer lies in the competencies of the Brussels authorities - and rightly so. The German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) regards the proposal as a danger as it would undermine the autonomy of the social partners and categorically rejects the pay monitoring body. In the same breath, the Commission points out that wage-setting mechanisms would lead to problems with competitiveness should they fail to take economic circumstances into account. The general conclusion is that the crisis has shown that the new economic governance has to be accompanied by increased coordination of employment and social policy.
Youth guarantee is an important project of the Commission
However, not everything, which has been proposed in the non-binding communication, should be regarded with scepticism. One positive aspect is that a Youth Guarantee has been envisaged and that the Commission plans to present a respective proposal by the end of 2012. Another idea is to set up an EU-wide platform between the individual labour inspectorates in the EU, which shall help to reduce illegal employment. And there is also talk of increasing environmental and wealth taxes. The social dialogue is generally regarded as a guarantor for the success of job creation measures. It is also interesting that the Commission urges the Member States to assist EU citizens who are faced with tax problems in other Member States, be it by providing translations of information or by uniform tax returns. In this context it would also be desirable to give workers and employees more support, for example in respect of enforcing labour law entitlements against employers, in particular if they are working in more than one Member State. This would be real progress, for which one searches in vain in the entire employment package.
Further information:
Documents referring to the EU Employment Package
Unemployment figures in Europe are on a steady increase. Meanwhile, the employment rate in the EU has fallen to 68.9 percent. Only a short while ago, it had been the aim of the EUROPE 2020 Strategy to achieve an employment rate of 75 percent by 2020. However, there is still a long way to go. The EU is exactly 17.6 million new jobs short to achieve this goal. The Commission wants to use its employment package introduced this week to counteract this development. It is supposed to provide assistance concerning the creation of new jobs.
Trade unions are not “not amused” – wage development is to be monitored
One of the proposals by the Commission in its employment package concerns the development of wages in Europe. The suggestion is to create a tripartite pay monitoring body, which monitors wage development in the Member States in relation to productivity, inflation, domestic demand, unemployment and income imbalances. Everything of course with the full involvement of the European social partners. Shamed be he who thinks evil of it. One should not forget that wage policy no longer lies in the competencies of the Brussels authorities - and rightly so. The German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) regards the proposal as a danger as it would undermine the autonomy of the social partners and categorically rejects the pay monitoring body. In the same breath, the Commission points out that wage-setting mechanisms would lead to problems with competitiveness should they fail to take economic circumstances into account. The general conclusion is that the crisis has shown that the new economic governance has to be accompanied by increased coordination of employment and social policy.
Youth guarantee is an important project of the Commission
However, not everything, which has been proposed in the non-binding communication, should be regarded with scepticism. One positive aspect is that a Youth Guarantee has been envisaged and that the Commission plans to present a respective proposal by the end of 2012. Another idea is to set up an EU-wide platform between the individual labour inspectorates in the EU, which shall help to reduce illegal employment. And there is also talk of increasing environmental and wealth taxes. The social dialogue is generally regarded as a guarantor for the success of job creation measures. It is also interesting that the Commission urges the Member States to assist EU citizens who are faced with tax problems in other Member States, be it by providing translations of information or by uniform tax returns. In this context it would also be desirable to give workers and employees more support, for example in respect of enforcing labour law entitlements against employers, in particular if they are working in more than one Member State. This would be real progress, for which one searches in vain in the entire employment package.
Further information:
Documents referring to the EU Employment Package