The Danish example offers us inspiration in this. It offers proof, too, that restructuring public expenditure to shift finance towards a more active approach can not only address unemployment more effectively, but can help improve public finances themselves. The Danish have shifted from having one of the most passive labour market systems in the Union, to one of the most active, in four short years. In doing so, they have become one of the best three European performers in terms of public finances. The third priority is adaptability, the need to develop new approaches to restructuring, to equip enterprises and the workforce to embrace new technologies and market conditions.
Adaptability demands a better educated, motivated, and productive workforce.
The European workforce of the future can provide the flexibility and productivity that we will need for sustained competitiveness. But only if its skills are meshed with rapid changes in technology and work organisation, and if workplaces keep pace with new patterns of production. This will require Member States and regions to invest in people in more creative ways, based on local assets and conditions, new technologies and skill demands. The Summit focused strongly on the importance of the role and responsibility of the Social Partners in this. It invited the social partners to negotiate ways to modernize the organization of work, including flexible working arrangements, to make undertakings productive and competitive, and achieve the required balance between flexibility and security.