The third pillar is about adaptability - a new working life policy to handle the process of technological and organisational change. In Europe the Social Partners are being invited to take the lead in seeking a new productive balance between flexibility and security in employment. I have noted Mr. Kochan's emphasis on the changing structures of employment and the need to adjust to the new realities. I believe we have made good progress in this respect in Europe. We have moved away from the old debate of regulation versus deregulation.
Current concerns are about skill, on the one hand, and work organisation, on the other.
The article identifies the resurgence of a national social dialogue in many European countries. It links the economic success of countries such as Italy, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria clearly with the growth of national dialogue and formal pacts between trade unions, employers' organisations and governments. And it points up the importance of the EMU project as a major contributing factor in the revival of the social dialogue at national level in much of Europe. The fourth pillar concerns equal opportunities between men and women - a new policy for reconciliation of working life and family life. Our support, in Europe, is motivated by both social justice and hard economic reality - the new demographic prospective of slow population growth.