No C 269/58 Official Journal of the European Communities 14. 10. 91 
Opinion on Employment in Europe 1990 
(91/C 269/18) 
On 19 December 1990 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the fourth paragraph 
of Article 20 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an Opinion on Employment in 
Europe 1990. 
The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 13 June 1991. The 
Rapporteur was Mr Liverani. 
At its 288th plenary session (meeting of 4 July 1991), the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by 110 votes to 9, with 25 abstentions. 
1. Introduction — continued long-term unemployment, 
1.1. The Committee welcomes the report. Like its 
predecessor, the 1990 report fulfils a precise commit­
ment made by Commissioner Papandreou on the sub­
ject of social dialogue and subsequently included in the 
social action programme. 
1.2. The report meets the need for a statistical survey 
of all aspects of employment; it provides a comprehen­
sive picture of the employment situation and the 
implementation of Community employment pro­
grammes. 
1.3. The report was not able to take account of the 
unexpected economic events which are still unfolding 
in Central and Eastern Europe. The upheaval generated 
by the economic reforms launched by the governements 
of these countries is bound to alter at least partially 
the indicators of EC domestic demand (consumption, 
investment, imports/exports, public spending). 
1.4. At the time the report was issued, the framing 
of an overall strategy to integrate migrant workers from 
Eastern Europe seemed equally unlikely; the phenom­
enon was far too recent, and the older immigration 
flow from south of the Community's borders had still 
not been properly analyzed or a strategy worked out 
for it. The policies pursued in this field must be attuned 
to the economic situation and the labour market. 
1.5. The Commission singles out certain broad pri­
ority subjects, such as: 
— the rise in employment, unaccompanied by a corre­
sponding drop in unemployment, — the rise in new, 'non-typical' forms of work, which 
are not yet properly regulated, and which are there­
fore difficult to appraise and forecast, 
— the rise in female employment, in tandem with 
problems of job quality and measures to reconcile 
employment with family responsibilities, 
— the impact of restructuring (sectoral, managerial, 
technological, etc.) and of mergers on employment 
and on economic and social cohesion, 
— vocational training, skills and mobility in the EC in 
the face of the changing situation and the new 
requirements of a Community-wide labour market, 
— the links between environment protection, growth 
and employment. 
1.6. The report rightly highlights three key points 
concerning the implications of '1992' for employment: 
— with the exception of a 'hard core' of long-term 
unemployed, unemployment in the Community is 
not static, but is a fluctuating phenomenon which 
hits different population groups in turn, 
— contrary to expectations, unit labour costs do not 
vary greatly within the Community (this is because 
of the general correspondence between pay levels, 
skills and productivity), 
— pay levels are therefore of relative significance in 
decisions on the siting of plant with an eye to the 
completion of the single market. 
14.10. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 269/59 
2. 1992 and employment 
2.1. Since 1986 economic growth in the EEC has run 
at 3,5 %, with employment growth of 1,5 %, i.e. around 
seven million new jobs. Although these positive figures 
bode well for 1992, real unemployment has fallen by 
only one per cent. This is because two thirds of new 
jobs are taken by women entering the job market for 
the first time. 40 % are part-time jobs which have done 
little to increase overall employment. In other words, 
only one of eight new jobs is filled by the unemployed. 
2.2. Similar employment growth (1%, with around 
three million new jobs) is expected for 1990-1991. Over 
the two year period the labour force will increase by 
around two million. Female employment will rise in 
the Member States, but will remain below that in other 
developed countries. 
2.3. Hence although employment is expected to con­
tinue to rise until 1992, unemployment in the EC will 
remain virtually unchanged. Neither market mechan­
isms nor the measures being taken for 1992 will suffice 
to resolve this problem. A real Community employment 
strategy still has to be developed. As well as providing 
a new legal basis for social provisions, the reform of 
the Treaties being discussed at the Intergovernmental 
Conference should make it possible to develop an 
employment strategy less fettered by the political con­
straints of the present unanimity rule. 
3. The inadequacy of Community strategy 
3.1. While the Commission report on employment 
in 1990 provides useful information and assessments on 
the situation at Community level, its omission of any 
mention of a full-scale Community strategy is alarming. 
The 1989 report considered the cooperative growth 
strategy for more employment (drawn up in 1985 and 
approved by all Member States) as a key part of Com­
munity policies in this area. Although the 1990 report 
lists individual programmes and projects, these macro-
policy and micro-policy fragments are not tied to a 
coherent, systematic blueprint for tackling the employ­
ment challenge facing the EC and its Member States. 3.2. For instance, the Commission mentions the 
important employment role which will fall to the Struc­
tural Funds. It points out that their financial resources 
will be doubled by 1993 (when they will account for 
25% of the Community budget) and 60% of these 
resources will be spent in underdeveloped and declining 
regions. But the Commission does not lay sufficient 
emphasis on the need for a Community framework of 
objectives for economic and social cohesion, to which 
the resources of the Structural Funds should be chan­
nelled. More particularly, it does not say how these 
sums could be invested in industries which have to 
restructure and adjust in the aftermath of the introduc­
tion of the single market, in order to safeguard and 
diversify jobs. The Commission does not propose an 
alternative employment strategy for avoiding abrupt, 
uncontrolled market reactions in these sectors. 
3.3. A particularly disquieting figure should be men­
tioned: the Member States invest only 2,5% of their 
GDP in programmes which directly affect the labour 
market. It is reasonable to ask why the Commission 
does not propose a strategy and policies for rationaliz­
ing, targeting and significantly increasing this expendi­
ture, which is essential if employment is to be guaran­
teed now and in the future. 
3.4. It should also be noted that the detailed analysis 
contained in the report overlooks—or rather puts off 
to a later date—the necessary exploration of the links 
between economic policy, the labour market, and the 
implementation of the basic social rights of workers as 
laid down in the social charter. The Commission has 
already presented a series of proposals for reforming 
the social provisions of the Treaty (redrafting of Articles 
117, 118, 118a, 118b, 119, 120 and 121). 
Economic determinism—although to some extent guid­
ed and adjusted by national and Community inter­
ventions—continues to prevail, and insufficient account 
is taken of whether the results are in keeping with the 
social principles enshrined in the charter. 
3.5. In short, there is no overall yardstick for 
assessing economic and employment data in terms of 
the rights enshrined in the charter, and reflected in the 
social goals of European union as proposed by the 
Commission to the Intergovernmental Conference: 
— improvement of living and working conditions, 
guarantee of equitable social protection, promotion 
No C 269/60 Official Journal of the European Communities 14. 10. 91 
of social dialogue, development of human resources, 
and the fight against marginalization, 
— enhancement of the role of the social partners and 
their independent role in negotiations, in a pro­
cedural framework which gives them a part in the 
decision-making process of the union, in accordance 
with the principle of subsidiarity, 
— worker participation, information and consul­
tation—these being areas in which European union 
can supplement and support action by the Member 
States, with a view to the social consensus which is 
needed in order to improve the competitiveness of 
business and the economy as a whole and to create 
jobs, this in turn being vital to the sustained econ­
omic development mentioned in the Social Charter. 
3.6. However, it is a matter of concern that reference 
to the Community goal of full employment has disap­
peared, along with mention of upward harmonization 
and hence the full exercise of basic social rights. 
Moreover, certain provisions remain subject to the una­
nimity requirement of Article 235: harmonization of 
social security, trade union rights and the right to strike, 
and the right to access to employment for migrants 
from third countries. 
4. Towards a Community Employment Strategy 
4.1. In the presence of this 'employment deficit', the 
social challenge which will face the Community in 1992 
and thereafter cannot be dealt with by switching the 
action focus from growth to employment and back 
again. 
4.2. The European social challenge will have to be 
tackled by clear-cut, interlinked forward-looking poli­
cies on employment which do not simply react passively 
to fluctuating market demands but are responsive to 
them and integrated with them. Hence, as the Commit­
tee has said before: 
— the flexible advantages and economic performance 
of the market need to be sustained by adaptable 
working methods and proper training conducive to 
maximizing employment potential, 
— and so, too, should market prospects be comp­
lemented by concerted employment programmes 
focused on societal needs such as housing, social 
and civic services, improving the quality of life, 
protecting and upgrading the environment and natural resources, preserving and renewing our cul­
tural heritage, etc.—needs vital to the social fabric 
of European democracy, upon which the free mar­
ket depends (1). 
4.3. In most Member States, national policies to 
boost employment (which are often not fully 
implemented, and have very different success rates) are 
backed up by the many Community programmes and 
schemes illustrated in the Commission report. What is 
lacking however is the overall approach which is vital 
to tackle the common problems that extend beyond the 
national sphere. 
As 1992 draws closer, there is an urgent need to coordi­
nate employment policies within a coherent, compre­
hensible, agreed strategy. The Community should take 
up this challenge, to prevent the single market from 
producing ,winners and losers' in the social field, with 
all the risks of political destabilization that this might 
entail. Accordingly, and without presuming to flesh out 
a complete programme for employment in the Com­
munity, the Committee recommends that a Community 
employment strategy be guided and spurred by the 
following considerations: 
4.3.1. Flexibility and basic social rights — 
management and consensus 
Sustained economic growth designed to achieve an 
investment-based improvement in the quality and level 
of employment calls for significant progress in labour-
supply conditions. This is why the Committee has 
repeatedly recognized that the flexible methods desired 
by modern businesses who are concerned about com­
petitiveness call not for deregulation but for the ability 
of workers to demonstrate 'functional adaptability' in 
the face of qualitative, technological and strategic 
changes. Consequently, companies and workers need 
to demonstrate a firm commitment to the promotion 
of further training and reskilling, backed by dialogue 
and agreements to ensure participation and hence 'pro­
gress through consensus'. 
A Community framework for such progress could 
embrace the following: 
— The 'functional adaptability' necessary to modern 
businesses should be promoted and balanced by a 
clear Community affirmation of the guaranteed 
right of all workers to initial and further training: 
the granting of EC structural fund assistance to 
companies should be conditional on the observance 
of this right, backed by an EC instrument to uphold 
it. 
(*) OJ No C 201, 7. 8. 1989. 
14. 10. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 269/61 
— The economies of scale which companies seek 
should be backed by EC positive action to maintain 
employment and help workers acquire new skills. 
— The greater capital productivity which businesses 
also strive for could be furthered by an EC Guide 
to good practice (drawn up by the EC employment 
agency). The guide should indicate positive 
examples in the employment field, such as schemes 
where cost-cutting is achieved by greater pro­
ductivity and compensated by reduction and re­
organization of working hours and the creation of 
new posts. In a similar vein, the draft Directives on 
the organization of working time, special forms of 
employment, the protection of pregnant women and 
women who have recently given birth, a European 
Works Council, and a form of proof of an employ­
ment relationship could, when operative in the 
Member States, help flesh out the qualitative aspects 
of a Community employment strategy. 
— Implementation of these Community instruments 
must be backed by greater social dialogue and poss­
ibly by EC-level collective bargaining, with respect 
for the necessary flexibility and the principle of 
subsidiarity. 
4.3.2. The labour market and free move­
ment 
If workers are to move freely, job vacancies must be 
widely advertised throughout the Community. To help 
achieve the publicy needed for a real European labour 
market, the Sedoc system needs to make a 'qualitative 
leap'. The process could be speeded up if the European 
employment agency were finally to be established and 
operate in close cooperation with Sedoc. The aim 
should be to establish a computerized European net­
work which links all the national employment offices 
and makes details of the individual vacancies readily 
available. Again in the interests of transparency, mutual 
Done at Brussels, 4 July 1991. Community-wide recognition of qualifications should 
be extended and speeded up. Upgrading of the work of 
the European Centre for the Development of Vocational 
Training (CEDEFOR), particularly with regard to the 
preparation of a European Directory of Occupational 
Profiles, would be helpful here. 
4.3.3. Towards a European employment 
investment programme 
The Committee asks the Commission to consider the 
case for a European employment investment instru­
ment, which could perhaps be introduced as part of the 
reinforcement of the structural funds. The instrument 
could focus on the needs of society and the maximiza­
tion of employment potential—in other words, pursuit 
of the social cohesion which is vital to sustained, demo­
cratic economic growth. This twofold aim could be 
effectively pursued in the following sectors: 
— businesses and cooperatives, which boost local 
employment prospects, 
— advisory services, self-managed groups, and other 
socially oriented organizations, 
— the craft activities and back-up services which are 
becoming increasingly widespread in both city and 
country areas, 
— labour-intensive sectors which can boost social 
cohesion and general welfare (housing, services, 
public works, infrastructure, the environment, tour­
ism, regional development). 
4.3.4. In conclusion, the Committee offers the Com­
mission a series of ideas and recommendations designed 
to revive the Community's cooperative growth strategy 
for more employment—first put forward in 1985—and 
hopes that the 1991 report will demonstrate a renewed 
commitment to this strategy. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN 
No C 269/62 Official Journal of the European Communities 14. 10. 91 
APPENDIX 
to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee 
The following amendments, which received at least one quarter of the votes cast, were defeated in the course 
of the debate. 
Page 4, point 2.3 
Delete the last sentence of this point. 
Reason 
The present unanimity rule should not be diminished. 
Voting 
For: 42, against: 78, abstentions: 7. 
Point 4.3.1, first indent 
Delete the reference to the 'guaranteed right' to training. 
Voting 
For: 37, against: 80, abstentions: 19. 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the protection of geographical 
indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (*) 
(91/C 269/19) 
On 31 January 1991 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture and Fisheries, which was responsible for preparing the Commit­
tee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 14 June 1991. The Rapporteur was 
Mr Quevedo Rojo. 
At its 288th plenary session (meeting of 3 July 1991) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by 80 votes to 43, with six abstentions. 
1. Preliminary comments 
1.1. The present situation of Community agriculture 
has been raised in Community circles before. The Com­
mission has on a number of occasions stressed the need 
to seek new solutions and to gear production to the 
growing demand for traditionally-produced products 
and regional specialities. The Committee has endorsed 
this approach. 1.1.1. A Community policy geared towards quality 
is thus vitally important, both to satisfy the require­
ments of increasingly discerning consumers and to raise 
producers' incomes by bringing more added value to 
the sector. 
(l) OJ No C 30, 6. 2. 1991, p. 9. 1.1.2. At the same time, Community consumers are 
showing an increasing interest in high-quality products 
now that their basic needs are so amply met.