it * COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 15.10.1997 
COM(97)517 final 
THE COMMISSION'S WORK PROGRAMME FOR 1998 
The political priorities 

The "Agenda 2000" package recently unveiled by the Commission marked a 
turning-point in this legislature. Coming midway through the Commission's term of 
office and hard on the heels of the Intergovernmental Conference which led to the 
Amsterdam Treaty, Agenda 2000 lays the foundations for an enlarged Community 
and sketches the way forward beyond the end of the present decade, up to the year 
2006. It is an unprecedented programme of measures and reforms designed to 
strengthen the Union and give it the wherewithal to face the future with confidence. 
The Commission's work programme for 1998 follows on directly from this blueprint, 
taking up the broad lines of Agenda 2000 and putting them into practice. Nonetheless, 
the programme is also a continuation of the Commission's work since 1995, in line 
with the priorities it set itself for its entire term of office. Continuity and renewal are 
thus the two basic strands running through the Commission's plans to build 
tomorrow's Europe. 
The Commission intends to concentrate its activities in 1998 on five political 
priorities: 
- Employment: follow up promises with real action and bold measures. The 
Commission will go on pressing for an integrated, coherent approach directed 
at the medium term. It will not let up in its appeals to all concerned, at 
whatever level, to assume their responsibilities. In accordance with the 
conclusions of the European Council, the employment title in the Amsterdam 
Treaty will be actively implemented ahead of the Treaty's ratification; this 
should at last make for closer coordination of national employment policies. 
The Commission also intends to give practical effect to the objective of 
taking a high level of employment into consideration when formulating and 
implementing Community policies and initiatives. The special European 
Council on employment will generate a new dynamic in which the 
Commission intends to play an active part. 
- The euro: complete the preparations for the introduction of the single 
currency by the agreed date, in accordance with the Treaty. In 1998 a 
decision will be taken on which countries will participate in the initial 
transition to the euro and parities will be fixed between the currencies of 
those which are to take part. The Commission will lay the groundwork for 
this decision and for the introduction of stage III of economic and monetary 
union. 
- Make a start on the reforms proposed in Agenda 2000. The Union must be 
ready in good time to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Major initiatives 
will have to be launched in a number of fields, which the Commission has 
2 clearly identified in the three sections of Agenda 2000, on the Union's 
o policies, the enlargement process and the future financial framework. 
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g - Encourage collective and coherent Union action in the world at large. The 
°- presence of a strong Europe on the international scene is a factor for peace, 
stability and prosperity and an objective that must be pursued, not least 
because of the scale of the Union's outside interests. 
Finally, continue efforts to make the management of European affairs more 
efficient and to place it at the service of the citizens, with special emphasis 
on public health and quality of life. 
1. EMPLOYMENT: ACTING TOGETHER 
The special European Council on employment on 21 November 1997 should 
strengthen the framework for action at both national and Community level. 
The Commission, working within its prescribed powers, intends to make full 
use of the possibilities opened up by the new title on employment in the 
Amsterdam Treaty. 
As the Commission has repeatedly pointed out, particularly in its confidence 
pact and again in its recent proposed guidelines for employment, the key to 
improving the situation is to look at the problem in its entirety and to pool the 
efforts of the fifteen Member States and the Union. The Commission is 
therefore calling for a general mobilisation of resources. 
In this context, special attention will be paid to the following points: 
• Sound macro-economic policy is a must if growth is to be translated into 
jobs. The Commission will ensure that efforts are kept up to achieve 
convergence and coordination of the Member States' economic policies. 
The changeover to the euro will have a positive impact on growth, 
investment and the efficiency of markets and hence on the creation of new 
jobs. 
• Maximum benefit must be derived from the advantages Europe can offer 
with a fully operational single market and the general development of 
Union policies. For example, employment considerations must be taken 
into account in fields relating to small and medium-sized businesses, tax 
regimes and administrative rules applied to businesses, key sectors such as 
the information society, research and policies aimed at fostering skills and 
knowledge. Commission initiatives such as the territorial pacts for 
employment will be continued and evaluated with a view to possible 
expansion. 
• Acting on the basis of guidelines for national employment policies drawn 
up in advance in accordance with the conclusions of the Amsterdam 
European Council, the Commission will play its part in enhancing the 
coordination of national policies and strengthening the linkage between 
g employment policy and economic policy. It is essential that these 
m guidelines be properly followed up. This is why the Commission 
g underlines the importance of the preparation of national action plans and 
LJ the presentation of reports by Member States as stipulated in the Treaty. 
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Wherever necessary the Commission will put forward specific 
recommendations to Member States. 
• A very close look will have to be taken at ways of making substantial 
improvements in the operation of labour markets, so that we can reap the 
expected benefits in terms of lower unemployment. In this respect, we 
must continue to encourage mobility, including cross-border mobility, 
establish new methods of organising work and modernise and adapt our 
social security systems. Special attention will have to be paid to the 
reduction of non-wage costs and to recruitment incentives, by means of a 
lightening of the tax burden on labour. The social dialogue must play a 
crucial role here, following on from initiatives launched in 1997. 
• The Commission will use Community instruments and all appropriate 
forms of cooperation with the Member States to encourage the emergence 
of a more inclusive Europe, particularly in relation to the various forms 
of social exclusion, which are aggravated by high unemployment. In this 
context the Commission will also be alive to the need to promote equality 
of opportunity. 
• The Commission will strive to establish a firmer basis for the social 
dimension of Europe. It will keep a close watch on respect for the 
existing rights of workers to be consulted and kept informed on issues 
relating to their employment situation. It will promote the initiative it has 
put to the two sides of industry concerning information and consultation at 
national level and will support any idea they come up with for agreements 
on the organisation of working time as a way of improving the 
employment situation and the competitiveness of industry. It will propose 
a new social action programme for 1998-2000. 
2. THE EURO: ENTERING THE HOME STRAIGHT 
In accordance with the Treaty, the transition to stage III of economic and 
monetary union (EMU) will take place on 1 January 1999, when the euro will 
be introduced in those Member States which are ready to join in the first 
wave. The decision on membership will be taken very soon - in the spring of 
1998. 
The Commission has done its utmost to stay on course and keep up the pace 
and will continue to do so right up to the finish. It has played its part in 
presenting the basic proposals for Council decisions. The Council, in turn, 
has advanced stage by stage along the road towards the single currency, 
signalling at each turn its political resolve to press ahead. 
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ui The enormous convergence efforts made by the Member States and the actual 
o transition to the euro will guarantee greater stability and effectiveness in the 
S single market, one of the world's biggest integrated markets. Economic and 
g monetary union and the process leading up to it should, in time, have a 
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decisive impact on the Union's economic expansion and consolidate its role 
and position in international relations in both monetary and commercial 
terms. The completion of economic and monetary union will undoubtedly be 
one of the greatest advances in the history of European integration. 
In 1998 the Commission will complete the final technical preparations for the 
introduction of the euro, during which the exchange rates between 
participating currencies will be irrevocably fixed. It will also hold further 
discussions with the Member States on the final practical details of the 
changeover to the euro and continue to support their efforts to make its 
introduction a success, in particular with information for the general public. 
Completion of economic and monetary union will have major external 
implications. The euro can be expected to play an essential role as an 
international currency. The euro will have a positive impact on the 
development of the world economy and will reinforce the stability of the 
international monetary system. 
3. AGENDA 2000 : EMBARKING ON REFORM 
Agenda 2000 contains proposals of immense importance in both qualitative 
and quantitative terms. It is the response to one of the greatest challenges the 
Union has ever faced: how to prepare for enlargement on an unprecedented 
scale - the accession of a large number of countries at stages of development 
that differ both amongst themselves and in comparison with the present 
Member States - while preserving the Union's achievements and methods, 
not to mention its spirit, which have been the keys to successful integration 
so far. In other words, how to enlarge without jeopardising the Union. 
Agenda 2000 clarifies this situation and maps out the path to a stronger and 
larger Union with a series of practical proposals based on three strands: 
strengthening and adapting existing policies, gradually integrating the new 
members and reorganising the Union's financial framework within the 
previously set limits. The Commission proposes implementing the detailed 
proposals in Agenda 2000 as soon as possible and embarking on the 
necessary reforms, in line with this three-pronged strategy. 
3.1 Strengthening and adapting the Union's policies 
Making the single market operate more smoothly 
• The establishment of the single market is one of the Community's great 
achievements. However, its potential is still limited by many barriers to 
trade. A determined effort to implement the Commission's action plan for 
2 the single market should boost growth, competitiveness and employment, 
o The Commission will therefore launch the initiatives and measures it 
g announced, according to the proposed timetable. The aim is to tighten up 
S the rules, smooth out the last distortions affecting the market, remove the 
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the service of all European citizens. The efforts to modernise and simplify 
Community rules will be continued. 
• Taxation will receive special attention. As well as hampering the smooth 
operation of the single market, existing tax arrangements have a negative 
effect on employment. Acting on its communication on taxation in Europe 
and the work of the Tax Policy Group, the Commission will propose a 
series of initiatives aimed at gradually correcting these shortcomings. 
• The Commission will also continue to be strict in its application of the 
rules on competition, which are vital for the market to operate properly. 
The rules on State aid will also receive close attention. In the absence of a 
rigorous regulatory framework, public funds are too often squandered on 
sterile and costly attempts to outbid competitors, thus diverting funds from 
other, more promising sectors. At the same time, the Commission will 
strive to simplify these rules and modernise the machinery for scrutiny. 
A competitive economy as the foundation for growth 
• Steps will be taken to boost the competitiveness of firms, in particular 
small and medium-sized businesses, which have great potential for job 
creation and play a vital role in innovation and creativity. Unfortunately, 
small businesses are held back by all kinds of constraints. The 
Commission will draw conclusions from the second phase of the pilot 
scheme for the simplification of legislation for the internal market (SLIM) 
and the work of the Business Environment Simplification Task Force 
(BEST) with a view to simplifying administrative formalities and easing 
regulatory constraints. It will propose measures designed to improve the 
competitiveness of small firms, including the setting-up of poles of 
research and new forms of access to credit and capital, in particular 
venture capital, a vital ingredient for innovation. The Commission will 
also present initiatives to promote the spirit of enterprise, training, 
modernised structures and new forms of cooperation. 
• The major trans-European infrastructure networks must contribute to 
the effectiveness of the single market. Their development will be a key 
factor in improving the competitiveness of our firms and the cohesion of 
Europe, and hence in boosting employment. The Commission will strive 
to complete the major transport, telecommunications and energy projects 
which have been held up for too long, chiefly for lack of proper funding. 
To achieve this goal it will support partnership schemes between the 
private and public sectors. 
d Promising sectors for the future 
Jo • Intangible investments are now one of the main driving forces behind our 
g economic development. Europe has excellent potential in this field. It 
o must put it to good use by implementing genuine policies aimed at 
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fostering knowledge and skills. 
Education and training will play a vital part. The Commission will 
highlight best practice in a number of fields - the validation of skills, 
language teaching, the development of learning (including lifelong 
learning) and closer links between schools and the workplace. It will 
present a new generation of existing programmes (Socrates, Leonardo and 
Youth) aimed at developing mobility, training for innovation and the 
acquisition of skills, and at fully integrating the new teaching tools and 
material offered by information technology. 
• The goal is to put ourselves in the best possible position for entering the 
information society. The Commission will be particularly attentive to the 
implementation and operation of the new regulatory framework for the 
liberalised telecommunications market. Electronic trading and multimedia 
content will also play a central part in this sea-change. Steps will be taken 
to complete the regulatory framework required for these new services to 
develop harmoniously. 
• Research and innovation have a key role to play in enhancing the 
competitiveness of industry in the Union. Research efforts must also 
produce answers on matters which are of concern to the public: 
employment, qualify of life, health. In 1998 the Commission will give 
effect to the priorities set in its proposal for a fifth framework programme 
(1998-2002) through specific programmes reflecting the new "research by 
objective" approach. This will involve close consultation with the worlds 
of science and industry. The Commission will begin the reforms required 
to achieve greater effectiveness in the implementation of research 
operations. It will also continue implementing the action plan on 
innovation. 
• Taking a broader view, the main source of new jobs will be in services. 
Apart from the new services associated with the emergence of the 
information society, there is a demand in our societies for services in the 
social field, the audiovisual media and the arts. Governments should 
encourage attempts to meet this demand, acting not only with 
determination, but also with imagination. 
Adapting in order to advance 
In a world undergoing rapid change, the ability to adapt is essential. In 
Agenda 2000 the Commission outlined the way ahead to a successful future. 
Major reforms must be undertaken, particularly in two important areas of 
Community activity: cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy. 
^ The Commission will present detailed proposals during the first half of 19%, 
g based on the following guidelines: 
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m • The prospect of enlargement makes the task of increasing the degree of 
° economic and social cohesion in the Union even more important. One 
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political priority is to reduce regional development disparities within the 
Union. This will go a long way towards encouraging lasting growth and 
job creation. The solidarity that will be required for this is a decisive 
factor in the integration process. The amounts involved are considerable 
(ECU 275 billion over seven years) but are within the financial framework 
laid down by the Interinstitutional Agreement. 
The Commission will start work on the details of decisions concerning the 
management of the Structural Funds, to be taken at the end of the 1994-99 
programming period. Its objective will be to respond to the need for 
greater targeting of funding on particular geographical areas and particular 
objectives. Current programming must be studied with a view to making 
the Funds more effective, particularly where job creation is concerned, 
while making it easier to accommodate new Member States within the 
confines of the financial perspective. The Commission has already 
announced that it will propose a reduction in the number of objectives 
from seven to three. High priority will also be given to simplifying the 
way the funds are managed, making them more flexible and decentralising 
implementation. Monitoring, assessment and control systems will be 
strengthened. 
• The common agricultural policy must be adapted so that it is better able 
to withstand globalisation and the next enlargement, at the same time as 
providing farmers with a fair standard of living. The Commission wants to 
carry on from where the 1992 reforms left off, as the new changes are 
simply an extension of the old ones. The World Trade Organisation's 
rules, and the prospect of international WTO negotiations in 1999, mean 
that the Union must be in a position to defend its interests from a position 
of strength. Accordingly, the Commission will propose in 1998 that the 
guidelines spelled out in Agenda 2000 be put into effect. They will be 
needed even if there/ is no enlargement. On this basis, the Commission 
will propose draft legislation on cereals, oilseed and protein crops, beef 
and veal, milk products, tobacco, olive oil and wine. A pricing policy 
aimed at bringing prices closer to those on the world market will also be 
proposed. Direct aid will replace the old price-support mechanisms. Care 
will be taken not to over-compensate. The reforms must be accompanied 
by a reorganisation of the instruments currently in place for rural policy 
and should lead to an agricultural industry that cares about quality and 
respects the environment. 
3.2 Preparing for the arrival of new Member States 
In July 1997 the Commission gave its opinion on the applications for 
membership from ten countries in central and eastern Europe. It 
LU recommended that accession negotiations be opened with five of them: 
8 Hungary, Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. On the basis of 
g the earlier Commission opinion, accession negotiations with Cyprus are due 
g to start six months after the date of the Intergovernmental Conference. 
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The Commission proposes an approach which is at once inclusive and 
evolutive, allowing the countries not concerned initially by the opening of 
negotiations to take part in the process so that they can join when the time is 
right, provided they meet the criteria. An ongoing European conference, open 
to all the associated countries seeking to join the Union, would be a useful 
addition to the proposed approach, providing a forum for a constructive 
discussion on matters of common interest. 
In order to support the efforts being made by the countries concerned to 
prepare for accession, and in particular to take over the full body of 
Community legislation, the Commission plans to strengthen the present 
pre-accession strategy. Its proposals cover: 
- the establishment of an individualised "partnership for accession" with 
each of the applicant countries from Central and Eastern Europe, 
addressing the specific difficulties identified in the opinions; 
- doubling of pre-accession aid in 2000, within the confines of the 
financial perspective; 
- participation of the applicant countries in Community programmes. 
The Commission also envisages preparing an annual report - the first at the 
end of 1998- assessing the progress made by each applicant country, in 
particular the ability to apply the whole range of Union law. On this basis the 
Commission should be in a position to recommend to the Council that 
negotiations be opened as soon as the conditions of accession are satisfied. 
3.3 Designing a suitable financial framework 
A new financial framework will be needed when the current one expires in 
1999, in order to cope with all the changes that are likely to be made in the 
medium and long term to the way the Union is run. The new framework 
should: 
- run for a sufficiently long period (until 2006); 
- cover all essential financial requirements in the lead-up to the next 
enlargement; 
- ensure sound management of public finances. 
As the Commission explained in Agenda 2000, it believes that, with tight 
budget discipline, it is possible to strengthen and adapt the Union's policies 
as well as taking in new members, without exceeding the current own 
9 resources ceiling of 1.27% of GNP. Analysis has shown that some room for 
manoeuvre can be found within this limit. o o m 
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2006. In the course of the year it will prepare a report on the operation of the 
own resources system. It is in the Union's interests to sort these matters out 
as soon as possible, not only so that it can take in the new members when the 
time comes, but also to give it the resources for coping effectively with any 
internal changes that prove necessary. 
4. THE UNION IN THE WORLD: A POSITION AND A ROLE TO 
ASSERT 
The problem is well known: despite its position as the leading trade power 
and the biggest donor of international aid, Europe needs to enhance its 
capacity for collective action in the field of external relations and meet the 
growing demand from the public for greater unity, coherence and 
effectiveness in its efforts to bring peace, stability and prosperity to the 
continent of Europe and the world at large. The European Union must 
continue to promote values such as democracy and human rights, give 
assistance to the least developed areas of the world, respond to humanitarian 
crises, make its presence felt on the international scene and the world 
markets. 
The next enlargement of the European Union will be an unprecedented 
challenge. It will give Europe greater weight in the world and enable the 
continent to become a united and stable whole. The task now is to bring the 
prospective new members into the basic integration framework. 
The Commission will also be seeking to deepen relations between the 
European Union and Turkey. 
It is also important for the Union to develop deeper relations with Russia, 
Ukraine and the other new independent states. 
The Commission will continue its action and support to bring peace to the 
Balkans, in particular through the reconstruction efforts in Bosnia and the 
regional approach advocated by the Union. 
The Union must also continue actively to strengthen its relations with its 
Mediterranean partners. The full potential of the Barcelona process must be 
exploited to that end. The Union must step up its presence in the Middle 
East, pushing for economic integration and cementing its role as one of the 
principal promoters of peace in the region. 
The Union will have to boost relations with the United States through 
implementation of the New Transatlantic Agenda. 
Development cooperation is another of the Union's main priorities for 
Jj external relations. This will be demonstrated by the new partnership to be set 
g up between the EU and the ACP states, which should not blind the Union to 
m the fact that political and economic situations differ from country to country. 
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Asia and Latin America are two more regions that call for special attention, 
in Asia's case through the ASEM process and relations with ASEAN, and in 
the case of Latin America through the development of association 
instruments. 
The European Union has a global role to play. It must bolster its ability to 
take political decisions and ensure that all its various activities form a 
cohesive whole. For this, an integrated approach to external relations is 
essential and there needs to be greater coordination between what the Union 
does and the national action by the Member States. 
The Union will continue to be a prime player in multilateral trade 
negotiations, particularly in the WTO. It will continue to support the 
accession of Russia and China to the WTO. Europe must take full advantage 
of the multilateral trade system to obtain better access for its products and 
services to foreign markets and to settle the economic and commercial 
differences that can sometimes arise with its partners, while giving due 
attention to other considerations including the environment and public health. 
The Union must also combine internal and external policies to produce the 
greatest effect, maximising the external potential of the single market and 
EMU. 
The Union has to find ways of dealing more effectively with cross-border 
problems such as drug-trafficking, organised crime and environmental 
threats. 
Lastly, the Union is the world's biggest donor of development aid and the 
leading donor of humanitarian aid. As such, the Union needs to raise the 
profile of its international activities, to explain more clearly and demonstrate 
the value of what it does. 
5. SERVING THE PUBLIC FOR A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE 
Improving the quality of life for the European public continues to be one of 
the Commission's priorities. The implications of this objective for the 
formulation and implementation of the Union's policies must be given even 
more attention than at present. Both at national and Union level, European 
affairs must be handled with maximum effectiveness, openness and 
competence. The Commission intends to take a number of measures with this 
goal in mind. 
© In view of the growing concern about improving public health, the 
Commission will ensure that all its initiatives incorporate high standards 
of protection. 
o • In recent years, Europeans have quite rightly been demanding better 
g standards of consumer health. Higher standards of protection will be 
S demanded when products for human consumption are placed on the 
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market. Rules on labelling, testing for potential health risks and pre -sales 
checks on production procedures will all be strictly applied by the 
Commission, in the interests of strict consumer protection. To this end, the 
Commission will propose amendments to a number of existing directives 
relating to the environment and agriculture. 
Respect for basic values and human dignity is also a priority. 
Technological progress, particularly in the field of genetic engineering, 
raises certain ethical questions. The Commission intends to address these 
concerns, relying for guidance on the opinions of the Group of Advisers 
on the Ethical Implications of Biotechnology, an independent group of 
experts set up to consider these matters. 
The development of the Union should not jeopardise high environmental 
standards. The European public rightly attaches great importance to 
ecological issues. The Commission will be at pains to respond to public 
concern. The environment policy should be a help rather than a hindrance: 
a healthy environment is not incompatible with the imperative of 
economic growth. Environmental standards must be enforced in such a 
way as to make Europe more competitive and reduce unemployment, as 
the Commission communication on the environment and employment 
made clear. The Commission's activities in 1998 will be geared towards 
achieving this objective. In particular, the environmental implications will 
be taken into consideration in the implementation of other Union policies 
(especially agriculture and the single market) and through the achievement 
of the priorities set out in the mid-term review of the 5th environmental 
action programme. Particular attention will be paid to environmental 
issues in relation to enlargement, especially on the matter of nuclear 
safety. 
One of the ways for European citizens to find better living conditions lies 
in the unrestricted right to move freely inside the Union and settle in the 
country of their choice. On the basis of the recommendations contained in 
the Veil report, the Commission will work towards making the principle 
of free movement of people a reality. Achievement of this will go hand in 
hand with that of an area of security and justice. 
The new possibilities opened up by the Amsterdam Treaty in the area of 
justice and home affairs will make it possible to provide an appropriate 
response to the challenges we face: organised crime, fraud, corruption, 
trafficking in human beings and drugs. 
• The changes in the Union's policies will call for parallel changes in the 
methods of administration. Consequently there is a need for the 
fjj Community institutions to adapt and modernise their administrative 
g structures and decision-making machinery. 
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g The Commission is currently in the process of implementing a major 
yj internal reform programme, consisting of two projects known as 
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SEM 2000 and MAP 2000. The Commission is looking at ways of going 
beyond these two projects, its ultimate goal being to transform the way it 
works to create a modern administration. 
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ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(97) 517 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 01 06 11 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-532-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-25889-X 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg