EN Official Journal of the European Union C 81/13

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs (2005-2008) Communication from the President, in agreement with vice-President Verheugen and Commissioners Almunia and Spidla including a Commission recommendation on the broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States and the Community (under Article 99 of the EC Treaty) and a Proposal for a Council Decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (under Article 128 of the EC Treaty)

(2006/C 81/04)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the Integrated guidelines for growth and jobs (2005-2008), including a Commission recommendation on the broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States and the Community (under Article 99 of the EC Treaty) and a Proposal for a Council Decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States COM(2005) 141 final — 2005/0057 (CNS);

Having regard to the decision of the European Commission of 12 April 2005 and of the Council of 22 April 2005 to consult it on this subject, under the first paragraph of art. 265 and 128 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to its President's decision of 19 May 2005 to instruct the Commission for Economic and Social Policy to draw up an opinion on this subject;

Having regard to the Resolution of the Committee of the Regions on revitalising the Lisbon strategy adopted on 24 February 2005;

Having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 147/2005 rev. 1) adopted on 29 June 2005 by its Commission for Economic and Social Policy (Rapporteur: Mrs Pauliina Haijanen, Member of the Board, Regional Council of Southwest Finland, and member of Laitila Town Council (FI-EPP);

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 61st plenary session, held on 12 and 13 October 2005 (meeting of 12 October):

1. The Committee of the Regions' views

General comments

The Committee of the Regions

1.1 believes that the approach to gear the integrated guidelines towards increasing growth and jobs must be implemented with the aim of achieving greater social cohesion improving public welfare and quality of life; greater competitiveness and investment and a sustained high level of social protection are pre-requisites to achieving this;

1.2 reiterates its call for an intensified, more decentralised implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, in line with the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council which states that ‘A fully decentralised approach (to the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy) will be applied in line with the principle of subsidiarity in which the Union, the Member States, the regional and local levels, as well as the social partners and civil society, will be actively involved, using variable forms of partnership’;

1.3 nevertheless, considers that the integrated guidelines present an improved methodology in as much as they reflect compatibility between the European Union's economic and social policies and signal a willingness to move further towards simplifying the EU's macroeconomic governance instruments and making them easier to understand;

1.4 believes that in improving growth and jobs the aim must be to maintain and increase the welfare of all citizens across the whole of the Community and to enable them to develop their full potential in society;

1.5 believes that weak social development ultimately also slows economic growth;

1.6 considers wage growth to be an important measure of social development from an international perspective;

1.7 believes that its proposals for assessing the added value created by devolution and ensuring the participation of local and regional authorities in preparing and implementing the guidelines have not been adequately applied;

1.8 underlines its willingness to actively participate in the new Lisbon process and contribute every year to the Spring European Council, believes that the increased participation of regional and local authorities in the governance cycle at the European level will provide active partnering opportunities in the development of European decision-making and raise the level of awareness with regard to the regional dimension.

2. The Committee of the Regions' recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

2.1 considers it important for local and regional government to be actively involved in the practical implementation of the integrated guidelines and recommends further that the necessary conditions be established for taking the views of local and regional authorities into account, also during the phases of preparing and reviewing the guidelines;

2.2 believes it is important to improve the scope for local and regional authorities to shape and strengthen underlying economic conditions, which are the key to their vitality. Developing the services provided by local and regional authorities should be considered as one possible approach;

2.3 considers it important that the services provided by local and regional authorities be developed so as to become more profitable and more competitive. To achieve this, services should be made easier to organise by removing rules and regulations and other obstacles, which hinder innovation and creativity in the development of competitive public services, provided national and EU minimum standards are respected;

2.4 considers it important in relation to extending and deepening the internal market for services that attention be paid to providing services to regions that are difficult to reach and sparsely populated; it is essential for the efficient functioning of the internal market to clarify what is meant by the concepts of the general economic interest and services of general interest;

2.5 considers it important to develop social dialogue in order to have a strong input from the social partners into the reform effort.

The integrated guidelines and national reform programmes

2.6 proposes that in order to increase the involvement of regional and local authorities, social partners and civil society the integrated guidelines should in future mention the drawing up of concrete objectives based on the local and regional perspective;

2.7 believes it is important to ensure that the Member States have enough time to prepare the national reform programmes in collaboration with local and regional authorities, and therefore recommends that the Commission also prepare an indicative timetable for this phase of the guideline process;

2.8 recommends that more specific provisions be drafted for strengthening the proposed partnership with local and regional authorities. This factor should be considered not just in the guidelines but also in particular when preparing the European Social Fund strategies: the ESR strategies should support the partnership proposed in the guidelines, as well as the development of new models of cooperation between different spheres of government and the social partners;

2.9 suggests that citizens should be informed about the drawing up of the guidelines and national reform programmes in a way that emphasises the European nature of the objectives and reform needs and that also fosters the involvement of civil society throughout the Union in developing the new objectives and measures;

2.10 considers it important to ensure that preparation of the reform programme is seen in the context of the objectives of the cohesion and social funds, the social inclusion programmes and the Community's training policy processes;

2.11 considers it important to assess the extent to which abolishing state aids is a realistic option in those sparsely populated regions where competing private entities are not available as an alternative to publicly funded services;

2.12 notes that investment in developing human resources is critical and promotes economic growth and jobs in many ways, e.g. by encouraging innovations and their application, and by making it easier for employees and organisations to adapt to the challenges of change;

2.13 recommends that the Member States encourage local and regional authorities to learn from the experiences of other EU countries with reforming services in different types of municipalities and regions;

2.14 urges that steps be taken to establish how remuneration schemes can be developed to take better account of regional productivity differences;

2.15 considers it important that the ability of local and regional authorities to compete for skilled labour should properly be taken into account when the national reform programmes are drawn up and that the means be provided to maintain the fitness for work and motivation of older staff;

2.16 draws attention to the role of education and training policy in underpinning democratic society and developing human resources;

2.17 emphasises the role of local and regional stakeholders in forecasting demand for and supply of manpower and training and in coordinating information, and proposes that examples of good practice be compiled here;

2.18 considers it important to develop wide-ranging qualifications that allow people to move from one activity to another with further training;

2.19 emphasises that national decision-making powers and national requirements should be taken into account when organising training services and improving the equivalence of vocational qualifications;

2.20 notes that increasing the employment rate and lifelong learning require an extensive network of training services that responds flexibly to demand. Distance learning can be one means of achieving this. Labour policy training and vocational training should be clearly defined and duplication eliminated;

2.21 recommends that flexible learning approaches be developed to meet the needs of young people and adults, and that on-the-job training be promoted. When developing training schemes it is important to reconcile the needs and capacities of employers and staff, and to take the special training needs of business owners into account;

2.22 endorses promotion of the lifecycle approach to work and development of inclusive labour markets, but stresses that extra tasks must not be imposed on local and regional authorities without providing them with the necessary resources. Reform must not be implemented in a way that would put the services and staff of local and regional authorities at a disadvantage compared with other players;

2.23 considers it important to develop and strengthen measures to settle immigrants and integrate them into society and working life, and recommends that more information be made available on the results of studies relating to integration and on good practice;

2.24 urges that ways be sought of enabling employers who recruit staff from abroad to take part in designing and funding measures to promote integration, and of developing cooperation in this area between local and regional authorities;

2.25 highlights the need for measures to improve capacity to forecast the impact of globalisation on regional business activity and to develop measures that help companies to adapt and remain competitive and also measures which facilitate rapid retraining and re-employment of workers in case of closure or relocation.