24. 10. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 286/9 
with other countries; to secure Japan's willing­
ness to open up its markets more to international 
trade and capital transactions. show imagination in determining the most suitable 
kind of reduction of working time in each indivi­
dual case. 
7. Specific employment policy 
At present it is impossible to discern any growth 
strategies which could by themselves achieve and 
sustain a sufficiently high level of employment. 
Thus, if any successes are to be won in the fight 
against unemployment, we need not only a policy to 
promote investment and growth, but also specific 
measures to boost employment, including shorter 
working hours. As an integral part of the 'policy-
mix' on growth and employment, shorter working 
hours can lead to a fairer distribution of work. At 
the same time more leisure-time will create new 
needs and these needs will also have to be satisfied 
— in other words the policy on shorter working 
hours can also be regarded as part of the policy on 
growth. 
The scale of the possible impact on employment, 
however, will vary greatly according to the nature 
and size of the reduction in working hours and 
according to the special circumstances prevailing in 
each country, sector and firm. It is therefore up to 
the two sides of industry in the Member States to The Committee also notes the Commission's efforts 
to find out whether and how it can persuade the two 
sides of industry at European level to move closer 
together on shorter working hours and the reorgani­
zation of working time. The Committee considers 
that such efforts are in the interests of a viable 
domestic market and would help to preserve the 
international competitiveness of all EEC countries. 
The Committee would also emphasize that measures 
to reduce working hours can only have a positive 
impact on employment if they do not lead to an 
increase in unit costs and hence an impairment of 
international competitiveness. To this extent, the 
value of shorter working hours depends on the con­
ditions under which they are introduced. 
If shorter working hours are to have the desired 
effects, they must not be sabotaged by an increase in 
overtime. 
In order to prevent bottlenecks on the labour mar­
ket, these measures must be accompanied by steps 
to promote occupational and geographical mobility. 
Done at Brussels, 6 July 1983. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois CEYRAC 
Opinion on social developments in the Community in 1982 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 4 July 1983 the Commission referred the abovementioned subject to the Economic 
and Social Committee in accordance with Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community (•). 
(') Having noted the Commission report on the social situation in the Community in 1982 the 
Committee singled out a few of the large number of problems for detailed discussion. The 
Committee has already issued separate opinions on other topics including: 
— review of the European Social Fund (plenary session of March 1983) (OJ No C 124 of 
9 May 1983, page 4) 
— vocational training and new information technologies: new Community initiatives during 
the period 1983-1987 (plenary session of January 1983) (OJ No C 77 of 21 March 1983, 
Page 7) 
— draft Council resolution concerning vocational training policies in the European Com­
munities in the 1980s (plenary session of March 1983) (OJ No C 124 of 9 May 1983, 
page 9) 
— youth employment (plenary session of June 1983) (OJ No C211 of 8 August 1983, 
page 50). 
No C 286/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 24. 10. 83 
Procedure 
The matter was referred to the Section for Social Questions and Mr P. H. Noordwal 
was apointed rapporteur. 
The Section opinion was adopted by 19 votes to 12 on 16 June 1983. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee opinion was adopted on 6 July during the 209th 
plenary session held on 6 and 7 July 1983. 
There were no votes against but six members abstained. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
1. Introduction: Long-term unemployment — a 
chronic social problem of the '80s 
1.1. Throughout 1982, economic growth remained 
sluggish with the result that the number of persons 
in employment dropped some 1,1 %. There was also 
a further sharp rise in the potential labour force for 
demographic reasons. These two factors led to a 
considerable deterioration in unemployment and 
the jobless total climbed from around 9 million in 
1981 to almost 11 million. The unemployment ratio 
rose from 7,9 to 9,6%. Although these are record 
figures, the upward trend shows no sign of slacken­
ing and the Commission expects unemployment to 
rise to 10,6 % in 1983 (approximately 12 million job­
less). 
In its report on the economic situation in the Com­
munity in mid-1983 the Section for Economic and 
Financial Questions paints a detailed picture of the 
economic situation last year and this year and sets 
but the key features of the current economic situa­
tion in the Community. 
1.2. The Committee is particularly concerned that 
the continuing upward trend in general unemploy­
ment is accompanied by a hardening of the struc­
tural core of unemployment and an increase in 
long-term joblessness. In 1982 30% of those unem­
ployed had been out of work for over 12 months (as 
against 25,9% in 1980 and 26,6% in 1981). Certain 
categories of ex-employees in ailing industries, 
inhabitants of underdeveloped regions and — in 
general — job-seekers with little or no vocational 
training are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain 
work. Particular causes for alarm are (a) the high 
proportion of young people in the ranks of the 
unemployed (41,6% in October 1982); (b) the fact that young people account for almost one-quarter of 
all the long-term unemployed (24,2 % in October 
1982). Nor should we forget the plight of older 
unemployed people who have no prospects what­
soever of regaining a job. 
Given the predicted demographic trend and the 
economic growth and productivity gains to be 
expected over the next few years, long-term unem­
ployment is likely to worsen not only within the 
Community but throughout the world. 
1.3. Long-term unemployment thus presents a 
medium- and long-term challenge to the economic 
and social institutions, the two sides of industry 
and, last but not least, to the actual victims. In its 
opinion on social developments in 1981, the Com­
mittee referred to the increasing consolidation of the 
structural core of unemployment and expressed its 
concern at the emergence of long-term unemploy­
ment as a widespread phenomenon (l). In view of 
the rise in unemployment in general and long-term 
unemployment in particular and given the impact of 
this trend on the future work prospects and social 
integration of the workers concerned, the stability ot 
social security systems, not to mention the economic 
and social fabric and the socio-political consensus 
in the Member States, the Community must respond 
to this challenge and must frame an economic and 
social policy strategy to overcome these problems. 
2. Social consequences of long-term unemployment 
2.1. The long-term unemployed have to cope not 
only with a substantial drop in income but also with 
(') OJ No C 252, 27. 9. 1982, p. 39. 
24. 10. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 286/11 
a significant impairment of their employment pros­
pects. The longer they are out of work, the greater 
the erosion of their skills, their work motivation and 
finally, their very ability to work. And the greater the 
reluctance of employers to give them jobs. 
Long-term unemployment not only adversely affects 
the quality of the potential labour force. It also 
influences the personal and social sphere, and 
changes the life style and social behaviour of its vic­
tims. Many experts believe that long-term unem­
ployment coupled with other factors (mistakes in 
town planning and creation of congested urban 
areas, inadequate social amenities, weakening of 
family and social ties, etc.) has contributed to the 
rise in alcoholism and crime. The physical and men­
tal health of the long-term unemployed and their 
families is also impaired. The growth in hardcore 
unemployment, especially among young people, 
can also lead to alienation and a drift towards anti­
democratic extremist political activity. 
2.2. Long-term unemployment is high among 
disadvantaged groups in the lower income brackets, 
many of whom have received little or no voca­
tional training. There is therefore a risk that social 
deprivation will increase. The social security sys­
tems of the Member States have been put in a 
serious financial crisis by the rise in unemployment 
and are not geared to high, sustained unemploy­
ment levels and a rise in long-term unemployment. 
2.3. Overall, there is an increasing tendency in the 
Member States for society to polarize between those 
who have jobs and those who do not, between dif­
ferent levels of income and different life styles and 
social behaviour. In societies where, despite the 
increasing shortage of work, social status still 
depends on one's position in the world of work, the 
long-term unemployed are isolated socially from 
their neighbours and from society at large and their 
personal dignity is eroded. 
2.4. Individuals and social groups react in varying 
ways to long-term unemployment. One of the more 
deplorable reactions is the spread of undeclared 
work, although not all moonlighters are unemployed 
and long-term unemployment is by no means the 
only factor. The emergence of self-organized employment in 
various schemes and firms is another reaction, 
increasingly common in many Member States, to 
the lack of jobs in the private and public sectors and 
in particular to long-term unemployment. Most of 
these schemes represent an attempt to develop new 
forms of social coexistence on a small human scale, 
to integrate the workplace and the home, to use 
socially beneficial and non-pollutant production 
methods and to provide 'self-help' social services. 
These schemes have revitalized personal initiative 
and the cooperative movement. Apart from these 
'alternative' schemes, producer cooperatives are 
also undergoing a revival — especially in the Com­
munity's ailing industries. In addition, the creation 
of jobs in new and existing small businesses, includ­
ing the crafts sector, has of course an important role 
to play in the fight against long-term unemploy­
ment. 
3. A social strategy for combating the consequences 
of long-term unemployment 
3.1. As the Committee pointed out in its opinion 
on social developments in the Community in 1981, 
the economy is unlikely to grow enough to solve the 
unemployment problem this decade (')• Assuming 
that economic growth will remain sluggish, that 
unemployment will remain high, that long-term 
unemployment in particular will increase and that 
national exchequers will experience increasing 
financial difficulties, the thrust of social policy will 
have to shift from greater aggregate expenditure on 
social security to a qualitative expansion. 
3.2. The social strategy of the Community and the 
Member States must take account of the following 
requirements: 
— first of all: every effort must be made to exploit 
opportunities for economic growth and the asso­
ciated scope for boosting employment, 
— the fight against social disintegration, resulting 
from joblessness in general and long-term unem­
ployment in particular, must be stepped up, 
(') OJ No C 252, 27. 9. 1983, p. 39. 
No C 286/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 24. 10. 83 
— the long-term jobless must be given an oppor­
tunity to preserve their skills, in particular by 
training; continuous training and, where neces­
sary, retraining will enhance their job prospects, 
— steps must be taken to give a new qualitative arid 
quantitative slant to social security schemes for 
the purpose of (a) monitoring and curbing 
expenditure trends and (b) improving the social 
efficiency of the system and meeting new social 
needs, 
— steps must be taken to create new jobs by shor­
tening and reorganizing working-time, 
— economic and social policymakers must realize 
that, in a period of economic stagnation, new 
kinds of life style and work must be tested and 
considered for incorporation in a social policy 
strategy, which is an important instrument for 
achieving a social consensus, 
— the Community must deploy its organizational 
and financial resources to the full so as to find a 
social policy solution to unemployment in gen­
eral and long-term unemployment in particular. 
In doing so it must support and complete the 
measures taken by the Member States. 
3.3. It is primarily up to the private sector to seize 
all opportunities for socially acceptable economic 
growth, in particular the implementation of invest­
ment. The report on the economic situation in the 
Community — mid-1983, details what the member 
governments and the Community can do to improve 
supply conditions, promote investment, support and 
strengthen the demand side, use the Community 
market, prevent international economic disintegra­
tion (and above all combat protectionism) and reor­
ganize available work. In this connection, effective 
convergence of national economic policies has a 
role to play in solving unemployment. The responsi­
bility of governments of the Member States must be 
stressed here. It is also important in this connection 
to increase aid to, and step up commercial ties with, 
the developing nations, in order to stimulate their 
purchasing power and growth in world trade. 3.4. More and more money has to be pumped in to 
supporting the long-term jobless, and treating their 
physical and mental illnesses. 
In last year's opinion the Committee gave some 
examples of the slump in public revenue caused by 
the loss of social security contributions and taxes ('). 
To counter this, the Member States should within 
their financial limitations therefore promote job-
creating investment schemes which reduce social 
costs and improve living conditions (training, 
environmental protection, energy conservation, 
housing, urban renewal). These schemes could be 
funded from the savings on unemployment benefits. 
3.5. Measures to prevent long-term unemployment 
from generating social disintegration cannot be 
effective or credible if necessary cutbacks in social 
expenditure are made primarily or exclusively at the 
expense of the lower income brackets or even the 
unemployed themselves. This does not however pre­
clude a review of the social services of the Member 
States from the aspects of rationalizing their 
finances, boosting their efficiency and preventing 
abuses. Nor should programmes to combat poverty 
and the psycho-social consequences of long-term 
unemployment be starved of finance. It is however 
necessary to ensure that the limited and in some 
cases increasingly scarce financial resources of the 
Member States and the Community (in particular 
the Social and Regional Funds) (2) are more concen­
trated and coordinated on those regions and social 
groups hardest hit by unemployment so as to be 
able to combat effectively the worst consequences 
of unemployment, and in particular long-term 
unemployment. Particular emphasis must be placed 
on measures to combat youth unemployment. 
3.6. Mass unemployment, with a hardening struc­
tural core, creates additional training requirements. 
Those responsible for training have to ensure that 
the unemployed (especially the young unemployed) 
can find jobs if demographic trends start operating 
in their favour and economic growth picks up. This 
requires constant training of the unemployed, espe­
cially those who have been laid off for a long time; 
above all, they must be kept abreast of technological 
(') OJ No C 252, 27. 9, 1982, p. 39. 
(2) Cf. the Committee opinion on the review of the Social 
Fund (OJ No C 124, 9. 5. 1983, p. 4). 
24.10.83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 286/13 
change (e.g. new techniques). In planning and 
implementing specific training programmes for the 
young long-term unemployed, special consideration 
should be given to the objective of increasing their 
mobility (l). 
3.7. Over the last 100 years, the reduction and reor­
ganization of working time (early retirement, shorter 
working time, limitation of overtime, increase in 
part-time work, longer annual holidays, shorter 
shifts and longer training, etc.) have become major 
instruments of social policy. Apart from their contri­
bution to the quality of life and working conditions, 
such measures can be used in a sustained period of 
low growth to improve the employment ratio. This is 
equally the case as regards key potential growth sec­
tors, which in the wake of rapid technological 
change will not initially be labour intensive. In 1982 
and 1983 a wide range of measures with an employ­
ment component were taken to shorten working 
hours. 
3.8. A reduction in working time can help to 
improve living and working conditions and mitigate 
the unemployment problem. It is however necessary 
to find economically and socially acceptable ways 
of distributing the cost between the parties con­
cerned in the light of production and profitability 
conditions. Above all, shorter working time must 
not be allowed to damage the competitiveness of 
Community industry, since otherwise the short-term 
beneficial impact on unemployment will be offset, 
or more than offset, by the medium-term reduction 
in jobs consequent on slower growth rates and the 
increase in unit costs. 
3.9. The employers and unions should be primarily 
responsible for deciding how working time should 
be reduced and organized in a manner consistent 
(') In this connection, the Section would refer to the two 
opinions which it adopted this year on vocational 
training policy and the comments which they con­
tained on the scope for using specific Community 
instruments. Cf. opinion on training and new informa­
tion technologies: new Community initiatives for the 
period 1983-1987 (OJ No C 77, 21.3. 1983, p. 7); 
opinion on training policy in the European Communi­
ties in the eighties (OJ No C 124,9. 5. 1983, p. 9). with economic and social aims. In so doing, the 
social partners should in principle steer clear of 
blanket measures which fail to take adequate 
account of the major differences between produc­
tion conditions, especially in sectors where there is a 
high proportion of small firms. 
3.10. A strategy on shorter working time, as part of 
a policy mix designed to boost growth and employ­
ment, can lead to a fairer distribution of work, 
recognition of the right to a job, and progress 
towards wider and better opportunities on the 
labour market, above all for the young. Such a 
development would be a first step towards satisfying 
the new social needs for more leisure and creative 
work, without boosting inflation. In other words, 
shorter working time can be part of a qualitative 
growth policy designed to satisfy both economic 
and social needs. 
Shorter working time also" has a Community-wide 
dimension. The Committee notes the Commission's 
efforts to determine whether and to what extent the 
Community, by adopting an outline legal instru­
ment, can help to reconcile the views of employers 
and workers on reduction and reorganization of 
working time. 
3.11. Every effort should be made, especially in 
the financial sphere, to provide young people with 
worthwhile employment. Businesses could, for 
example, be given State or local authority incentives 
to employ more young people and central govern­
ments could launch job creation schemes. 
To enable the number of jobs to be increased and in 
particular to help the young long-term unemployed, 
consideration should also be given to the creation of 
special labour markets in some sectors. First-time 
job-seekers could be offered 'short time' employ­
ment and such schemes could be funded from 
national and Community savings on unemployment 
benefits and social security payments. This type of 
special State intervention on the labour market, 
involving shorter working hours and commensurate 
wages, would mean an increase in leisure time and 
could thus be coupled with vocational training 
measures. In the event of changes in the demo­
graphic situation and higher growth rates, the 
workers concerned could be transferred to normal 
employment. 
No C 286/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 24. 10. 83 
Employment schemes for the long-term unem­
ployed, particularly young people, should concen­
trate in particular on social services at local 
authority level. Persons employed on such schemes 
would be paid a wage instead of social security ben­
efits. 
3.12. In reaction to the spread of unemployment in 
general and long-term unemployment in particular, 
and in the light of the emergence of new social 
needs, a number of self-organized local employment 
campaigns have been launched in the Member 
States. Their job creation and training roles should 
be integrated into the social policy strategy for com­
bating unemployment. The Member States should 
therefore, in particular, implement the relatively 
inexpensive measures needed to support these types of employment. At local and regional level in parti­
cular, they should provide services to advise on the 
feasibility of setting up new businesses and of inte­
grating these schemes into State job creation 
schemes, as has already been successfully done in 
some Member States. In addition, the red tape sur­
rounding the creation of jobs should also be 
reduced. The Committee welcomes the fact that the 
Commission is currently drafting measures to 
promote and create employment in the small busi­
ness and crafts sectors, in cooperatives, in the local 
employment schemes, in the welfare associations 
and in the public sector. The Committee also notes 
with satisfaction that the Commission is investi­
gating the job-creation role of local employment 
initiatives and holding meetings with the interested 
parties. 
Done at Brussels, 6 July 1983. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois CEYRAC 
APPENDIX 
to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee 
Defeated amendment 
The following amendment, tabled in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, was rejected by the 
Committee during plenary session discussions: 
Paragraph 3.12 — penultimate sentence 
After 'in cooperatives', add: 
'(for which a special promotion fund should be set up)'. 
Voting 
For: 38, against: 69, abstentions: 12.