Amended proposal for a Council Decision on Guidelines for Member States' employment policies for the year 2001 (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC-Treaty)
Date: 2000-11-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, employment policy, manpower planning, social policy

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Amended proposal for a Council Decision on Guidelines for Member States’ employment policies
for the year 2001 (1)

(2001/C 62 E/21)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2000) 735 final (cid:16) 2000/0225(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty on 14 November 2000)

(1) OJ C 29 E, 30.1.2001.

INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Unchanged

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 128(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Having regard to the opinion of the Employment Committee,

Whereas:

by

the

(1) The Luxembourg process, based on the implementation of
the coordinated European Employment Strategy, was
launched
European Council
extraordinary
meeting on Employment on 20 and 21 November 1997.
The Council Resolution of 15 December 1997 on the
the
1998
European Council, has launched a process with high visi-
bility, strong political commitment and a wide-ranging
acceptance by all parties concerned.

Employment Guidelines,

confirmed

by

(2) The Council Decision of 13 March 2000 on the 2000
Employment Guidelines has allowed consolidation of the
Luxembourg process
through compliance with those
Guidelines.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

the most

(3) The Lisbon European Council on 23 and 24 March 2000
for the European Union to
set a new strategic goal
dynamic
and
competitive
become
knowledge-based economy in the world capable of
sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs
and greater social cohesion. The attainment of this goal
will enable the Union to regain the conditions of
full
employment.

(4) Consistency

and synergy between the Employment
Guidelines and the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines
must be ensured.

(5) In implementing the employment guidelines, Member
States should aim at a high degree of consistency with
two other priorities highlighted by the Lisbon Summit,
modernising social protection and the promotion of
social inclusion, while ensuring that work pays, and the
long-term sustainability of social protection systems is
secured.

(6) The Lisbon European Council stressed the need to adapt
European education and training systems both to the
demands of the knowledge society and to the need for
an improved level and quality of employment, and called
upon Member States, the Council and the Commission to
pursue a substantial annual
capita
investment in human resources.

increase

in per

(7) The Santa Maria da Feira European Council on 19 and 20
June 2000 invited the social partners to play a more
prominent role in defining, implementing and evaluating
the employment guidelines which depend on them,
focusing particularly on modernising work organisation,
lifelong learning and increasing the employment rate,
particularly for women.

(8) The 2000 Joint Employment Report, drawn up by the
Council and the Commission, describes the employment
situation in the Community and examines the action
taken by the Member States
in implementing their
employment policy in line with the 2000 Employment
recommendation of 14
Guidelines, and the Council
February 2000 on the
implementation of Member
States’ employment policies.

(9) On [. . .] the Council adopted a further recommendation
on the implementation of Member States’ employment
policies.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

the Luxembourg Process
(10) The mid-term Review of
the Lisbon
conducted in 2000 at
in
European Council
revising the Employment Guidelines 2001, without
changing
in
and
four pillar
improving the efficiency of the Luxembourg Process.

request of
should be taken into account

structure,

basic

the

the

(11) The Member States should strengthen their efforts to
include and make visible a gender perspective across all
the pillars.

(12) The implementation of the guidelines may vary according
to their nature, the parties to whom they are addressed
and the different situations in the Member States. They
should respect the principle of subsidiarity and Member
States’ responsibilities with regard to employment.

(13) In implementing the Employment Guidelines, Member
States should be able to take regional situations into
attainment of
respecting
account, while
national targets and the principle of equal treatment.

fully

the

(14) At all

levels (Community, national and local) checks
should be made to ensure that
the budget policies
adopted are consistent with the strategies and priorities
laid down by the employment Guidelines,
in order to
translate agreed targets, commitments and the measures
into appropriate budget allocations, possibly on a multi-
annual basis.

Unchanged

(15) Council Directive 1999/85/EC (1), which provides for the
possibility of applying a reduced VAT rate on labour-
intensive services on an experimental basis, should be
followed up in order
the
impact of national initiatives in terms of job potential.

in particular,

to examine,

(16) The contribution of the Structural Funds, and in particular
the European Social Fund to the European Employment
Strategy in the new programming period should be high-
lighted.

(16) The contribution of the Structural Funds, and in particular
the European Social Fund and the Community Initiative
EQUAL to the European Employment Strategy in the new
programming period should be highlighted, as well as the
role of the EIB.

(17) Greater engagement of civil society and great opportunity
for informed participation by citizens should be ensured
at all levels.

___________
(1) OJ L 277, 28.10.1999, p. 34.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

(18) There is a need to further develop comparable indicators,
to ensure an effective assessment of progress as well as to
set benchmarks and facilitate the identification and
exchange of best practice.

Unchanged

(19) Sustainable development and the integration of environ-
into other Community policies are
the Treaty. Member States are invited to
to such integration within their national
employment

mental concerns
objectives of
give effect
employment
creation in the environmental field,

promoting

strategies

by

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The guidelines for Member States’ employment policies for the
year 2001, annexed hereto, are hereby adopted. They shall be
taken into account by the Member States in their employment
policies.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

ANNEX

THE EMPLOYMENT GUIDELINES FOR 2001

Unchanged

Horizontal objectives 0 building conditions for full employment
in a knowledge-based society

The careful build-up, over
the last decade, of a macroeconomic
framework for stability and growth coupled with consistent efforts to
reform labour, capital and services markets, as well as favourable
prospects in the world economy, has created a favourable economic
outlook for the European Union which will bring the attainment of
some of its key fundamental objectives within reach. Further progress,
however,
it requires leadership, commitment and
concerted action.

is not automatic:

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

This is why the European Council embraced full employment as an
overarching objective of the EU’s employment and social policy.
It
committed the Member States to reach the strategic goal of making
the Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with
more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. The achievement of
these objectives requires simultaneous efforts by the Community and
the Member States. It also requires a continued implementation of an
effective and well balanced and mutually supportive policy mix, based
on macroeconomic policy, structural reforms promoting adaptable and
flexible labour markets, innovation and competitiveness, and an active
welfare state promoting human resources development, participation,
inclusion and solidarity.

the

information and

Preparing the transition to a knowledge-based economy, reaping the
benefits of
communication technologies,
modernising the European social model by investing in people and
combating social exclusion and promoting equal opportunities are
key challenges for the Luxembourg process. In order to achieve the
goal of
the Member States should
articulate their response to the guidelines under the four pillars in a
coherent overall strategy which incorporates the following horizontal
objectives:

full employment set at Lisbon,

(A) Enhancing job opportunities and providing adequate incentives for
all those willing to take up gainful employment with the aim of
moving towards full employment. To this end, Member States
should set national targets for raising the rate of employment, in
order to contribute to the overall European objectives of reaching
by 2010 an overall employment rate of 70 per cent and an
employment rate of more than 60 per cent
In
pursuing these targets, the aim of increasing the quality of jobs
should also be taken into consideration.

for women.

(B) Member

and

skills,

States

as well

and coherent
shall develop comprehensive
strategies for Lifelong Learning, in order to help people acquire
and update the skills needed to cope with economic and social
changes throughout the entire life cycle. In particular, the strategies
should cover the development of systems for initial, secondary and
tertiary education, further education and vocational training for
young people and adults to improve their employability, adapta-
bility
participation in the
as
should articulate the
knowledge-based society. Such strategies
shared responsibility of public authorities, enterprises, the social
partners and individuals, with relevant contribution from civil
society,
to contribute to the realisation of a Knowledge-Based
Society. In this context, the Social Partners should negotiate and
agree on measures to improve further education and training of
adults to enhance the adaptability of workers and competitiveness
of business. To this end, Member States should set national targets
for an increase in investment in human resources as well as in
participation in further education and training (whether formal or
informal) and monitor regularly progress towards such targets.

their

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

(C) The Member States shall develop a comprehensive partnership
with the Social Partners for the implementation, the monitoring
and the follow-up of the Employment Strategy. The Social Partners
at all levels are invited to step up their action in support of the
Luxembourg process. Within the overall
framework and the
objectives set by these guidelines, the Social Partners are invited
to develop,
traditions and
practices, their own process of implementing the guidelines for
which they have the key responsibility, identify the issues upon
which they will negotiate, and report regularly on progress as well
as the impact of their actions on employment and labour market
functioning. The Social Partners at European level are invited to
define their own contribution and to monitor, encourage and
support efforts undertaken at national level.

in accordance with their national

(D) In translating the Employment Guidelines into national policies,
Member States will give due attention to all four pillars and the
horizontal objectives by setting their priorities in a balanced
manner, so as to respect the integrated nature and equal value of
the guidelines. The National Action Plans will develop the strategy
for employment, comprising an identification of the policy mix
based on the four pillars and the horizontal objectives which
should make explicit how policy initiatives under different
guidelines are structured in order to reach long term goals.

(E) The Member States and the Commission should strengthen the
to
development of quantitative common indicators
four pillars and to
evaluate adequately progress under all
underpin the setting of benchmarks and the identification of
good practice. The Social Partners should develop appropriate
indicators and benchmarks and supporting statistical databases to
measure progress in the actions for which they are responsible.

in order

I. IMPROVING EMPLOYABILITY

Tackling youth unemployment and preventing long-term unem-
ployment

In order to influence the trend in youth and long-term unemployment,
the Member States will intensify their efforts to develop preventive and
employability-oriented strategies, building on the early identification of
individual needs; within a period to be determined by each Member
State which may not exceed two years and which may be longer in
Member States with particularly high unemployment, Member States
will ensure that:

In order to influence the trend in youth and long-term unemployment,
the Member States will intensify their efforts to develop preventive and
employability-oriented strategies, building on the early identification of
individual needs; within a period to be determined by each Member
State which may not exceed two years, Member States will ensure that:

Every unemployed person is offered a new start before reaching
1.
six months of unemployment in the case of young people, and twelve
months of unemployment in the case of adults, in the form of training,
retraining, work practice, a job, or other employability measure, and, if
necessary, with accompanying individual vocational guidance and
counselling with a view to effective integration into the labour market.

Unchanged

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

These preventive and employability measures should be combined with
measures to reduce the stock of long term unemployed by promoting
their reinsertion in the labour market.

In this context, Member States should pursue the modernisation of
their Public Employment Services and their partnership with other
service providers so as to make that they can deal with the strategy
of prevention and activation in the more st effective way.

In this context, Member States should pursue the modernisation of
their Public Employment Services by monitoring progress, setting
clear deadlines and providing adequate retraining. Member States
should encourage cooperation with other service providers so as to
make the strategy of prevention and activation more effective.

A more employment
training systems

friendly approach: benefits,

taxes and

Unchanged

Benefit, tax and training systems I where that proves necessary I
must be reviewed and adapted to ensure that they actively support the
employability of unemployed persons. Moreover, these systems should
interact appropriately to encourage the return to the labour market of
those inactive persons willing and able to take up a job. Particular
attention should be given to promoting incentives for unemployed or
inactive people to seek and take up work, as well as measures to
upgrade their skills and enhance job opportunities, in particular for
those with greatest difficulties.

2.

Each Member State will

I review and, where appropriate, reform its benefit and tax system to
remove poverty traps, and provide incentives for unemployed or
inactive people to seek and take up work

I endeavour to increase significantly the proportion of persons bene-
fiting from active measures to improve their employability with a
view to effective integration into the labour market, and will
increase, in the light of its starting situation, its per capita expen-
diture on active measures, taking into account cost effectiveness
and the overall budgetary balance.

Developing a policy for active ageing

In-depth changes in the prevailing social attitudes towards older
workers, as well as a revision of tax-benefit systems are called for, in
order to reach full employment, to help ensure the long-term fairness
and sustainability of social security systems, and to make the best use
of older workers’ experience.

3. Member States will therefore develop policies for active ageing
with the aim of enhancing the capacity of and incentives for older
workers to remain in the labour force as long as possible, in particular
by:

I adopting positive measures to maintain working capacity and skills
of older workers, to introduce flexible working arrangements and
to raise employers’ awareness of the potential of older workers,

I adopting positive measures to maintain working capacity and skills
to introduce flexible working arrangements,
retirement on a
the

of older workers,
including part-time work to enable gradual
voluntary basis, and to raise
potential of older workers,

employers’ awareness of

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

I ensuring that older workers have sufficient access to further
education and training to allow them to participate on an equal
footing in a knowledge-based labour market; and

Unchanged

I reviewing tax and social protection systems with the aim of
removing disincentives and creating new incentives for older
workers to remain active in the labour market.

Developing skills for the new labour market in the context of
Lifelong Learning

Effective and well
functioning educational and training systems
responsive to labour market needs are key to the development of the
knowledge-based economy and to the improvement of the level and
quality of employment. They are also crucial to the delivery of lifelong
learning to allow for a smooth transition from school to work, lay the
foundations for productive human resources equipped with core and
specific skills and enable people to adapt positively to social and
economic change. The development of an employable labour force
involves providing people with the capacity to access and reap the
the knowledge-based society, addressing skill gaps and
benefits of
preventing the
resulting from unemployment,
non-participation and exclusion throughout the lifecycle.

erosion of

skills

4. Member States will
their
education and training systems, as well as the relevant curricula,
including the modernisation of apprenticeship systems, and the devel-
opment of multi-purpose local learning centres, in order to:

therefore improve the quality of

4. Member States will therefore increase per capita investment in
their education and
human resources and improve the quality of
training systems, as well as the relevant curricula,
including the
modernisation and greater effectiveness of apprenticeship systems
and of in-work-training, and the development of multi-purpose local
learning centres, in order to:

I Equip young people with the basic skills, including IT and language
skills, relevant to the labour market and needed to participate in
lifelong learning.

Unchanged

I Eradicate illiteracy and reduce substantially the number of young
people who drop out of the school system early, in particular by
developing appropriate support for young people with learning
difficulties. Member States will in this context develop measures
aimed at halving by 2010 the number of 18 to 24 year olds with
only lower-secondary level education who are not
in further
education and training.

I Promote conditions to facilitate better access of adults, including
to
those with atypical contracts,
approach gradually the proportion of adult working-age popu-
lation (25-64 year olds) participating at any given time in
education and training in the best performing Member States,
doubling the existing levels by 2005, to reach at least 10 % by
2010.

to lifelong learning,

so as

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

I Ensure that their education systems deliver a continuously updated

package of core skills.

In order to facilitate mobility and encourage lifelong learning, Member
should improve the recognition of qualifications, acquired
States
knowledge and skills.

5. Member States will aim at developing e-learning for all citizens.
In particular, Member States will ensure that all education and training
institutions have access to the internet and multimedia resources by the
end of 2001 and that all the teachers and trainers concerned are skilled
in the use of these technologies by the end of 2002 in order to provide
all pupils with a broad digital literacy.

6. Member States will promote measures for unemployed people to
acquire or upgrade skills including IT and communication skills,
thereby facilitating their access to the labour market and reducing
skills gaps. To this end, each Member State will fix a target for active
measures involving training offered to the unemployed, thereby aiming
at gradually achieving the average of the three most advanced Member
States, and at least 20 per cent.

Active policies to develop job matching and to prevent and
combat emerging bottlenecks

In all Member States unemployment and exclusion from the labour
market coexist with labour shortages in certain sectors, occupations
and regions. With the improvement of the employment situation and
accelerating pace of
these bottlenecks are
technological change,
increasing. An insufficiency of active policies to prevent and combat
emerging labour
increase
inflationary pressures and keep structural unemployment high.

shortages will harm competitiveness,

7. Member States will, as appropriate with the social partners, step
up their efforts to identify and prevent emerging bottlenecks,
in
particular by:

I developing the job-matching capacities of employment services,

I developing policies to prevent skills shortages

I promoting occupational and geographical mobility

I enhancing the functioning of

labour markets by improving
databases on jobs and learning opportunities, which should be
interconnected at European level, making use of modern
information technologies and experience already available at
European level.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

Combating discrimination and promoting social
access to employment

inclusion by

Many groups and individuals experience particular difficulties
in
acquiring relevant skills and in gaining access to, and remaining in,
the labour market. This may increase the risk of exclusion. A coherent
set of policies which promote social inclusion by supporting the inte-
gration of disadvantaged groups and individuals into the world of
work, and combat discrimination in access to, and on, the labour
market is called for.

8.

Each Member State will

I Develop pathways consisting of effective preventive and active
policy measures
to promote the integration into the labour
market of groups and individuals at risk or with a disadvantage,
in order to avoid marginalisation, the emergence of Kworking poorL
and a drift into exclusion.

I Identify and combat discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or
ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
in access to the labour market and education and training.

I Implement appropriate measures to meet the needs of the disabled,
ethnic minorities and migrant workers as regards their integration
into the labour market and set national targets for this purpose, in
accordance with the national situation.

II. DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND JOB CREATION

Making it easier to start up and run businesses

The development of new businesses in general, and the contribution to
the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular,
is essential for job creation and for the expansion of training oppor-
tunities
for young people. This process must be promoted by
encouraging greater entrepreneurial awareness across society and in
educational curricula, by providing a clear, stable and predictable set
of rules and regulations by improving the conditions for the devel-
opment of, and access to, risk capital markets. The Member States
should also reduce and simplify the administrative and tax burdens
on SMEs. These policies should strengthen the prevention of unde-
clared work.

The Member States will give particular attention to reducing
9.
significantly the overhead costs and administrative burdens for busi-
in particular when an enterprise is being set up and when
nesses,
hiring additional workers. Also,
the Member States should, when
designing new regulations, assess their eventual impact on such admin-
istrative burdens and overhead costs for businesses.

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

The Member States will encourage the take up of entrepreneurial

10.
activities

I by examining, with the aim of reducing, any obstacles which may
exist, especially those within tax and social security regimes, to
moving to self-employment and the setting up of small businesses.

I by promoting education for entrepreneurship and self-employment,
targeted support services as well as training for entrepreneurs and
would-be entrepreneurs.

I by combating undeclared work and encouraging the trans-
formation of such work into regular employment, making use of
including regulatory measures,
all
incentives and tax and benefit reform,
in partnership with the
Social Partners.

relevant means of action,

New opportunities for employment
society and in services

in the knowledge-based

If the European Union wants to deal successfully with the employment
challenge, all possible sources of jobs and new technologies must be
exploited effectively.
find a supportive
Innovative enterprises must
environment because they can make an essential contribution to mobi-
lising the job creation potential of the knowledge-based society. A
considerable potential exists in particular in the services sector. To
this end:

The Member States will remove barriers to the provision of
11.
to exploit
fully the
services and develop framework conditions
to create more and
employment potential of
the services sector
traditional and non-traditional
better jobs, across the full range of
services, business-related and personal
the
employment potential of the knowledge society and the environmental
sector should be tapped.

In particular,

services.

Local action for employment

the regional and local

levels must be mobilised to
All actors at
implement
the European Employment Strategy by identifying the
potential of job creation at local level and strengthening partnerships
to this end.

12. Member States will

I Encourage local and regional authorities to develop strategies for
employment in order to exploit fully the possibilities offered by job
creation at local level

I Promote partnerships between all actors concerned, including the
in the implementation of such strategies at the

social partners,
local level.

I Promote partnerships between all

local
actors concerned, including the social partners, in the implemen-
tation of such strategies at the local level.

institutional and social

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

I Promote measures to enhance the competitive development and
job creation capacity of
the social economy, especially the
provision of goods and services linked to needs not yet satisfied
by the market, and examine, with the aim of reducing, any
obstacles in the way of such measures.

Unchanged

I Strengthen the role of the Public Employment Services at all levels
in identifying local employment opportunities and improving the
functioning of local labour markets.

Tax reforms for employment and training

It is important to deepen the examination of the employment impact
of the tax burden, and make the taxation system more employment
friendly by reversing the long-term trend towards higher taxes and
charges on labour. Tax reforms must also take into account the need
to increase investment in people, by business, public authorities and
individuals
term impact on
themselves,
employment and competitiveness.

in view of

the longer

13.

Each Member State will

I set a target, if necessary and taking account of its present level, for
gradually reducing the overall tax burden and, where appropriate,
set a target for gradually reducing the fiscal pressure on labour and
non-wage labour costs,
in particular on relatively unskilled and
low-paid labour. Such reforms should be undertaken without jeop-
ardising the recovery of public finances or the financial equilibrium
of social security systems,

I provide incentives and remove tax obstacles to investment

in

human resources,

I examine the desirability of using alternative sources of tax revenue,
taking into account

inter alia energy and pollutant emissions,
current market trends, notably in oil markets.

III. ENCOURAGING ADAPTABILITY OF BUSINESSES AND THEIR
EMPLOYEES

The opportunities created by the knowledge-based economy and the
prospect of an improved level and quality of employment require a
consequent adaptation of work organisation and the contribution to
the implementation of Lifelong Learning strategies by all actors,
including enterprises,
the needs of workers and
employers.

in order to meet

Modernising work organisation

In order to promote the modernisation of work organisation and forms
of work, a strong partnership should be developed at all appropriate
levels (European, national, sectoral, local and enterprise levels).

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14.
The social partners are invited to negotiate and implement at all
appropriate levels agreements to modernise the organisation of work,
including flexible working arrangements, with the aim of making
undertakings productive and competitive, achieving the required
balance between flexibility and security, and increasing the quality of
jobs. Subjects to be covered may, for example, include the introduction
of new technologies, new forms of work (e.g. telework) and working
time issues such as the expression of working time as an annual figure,
the reduction of working hours, the reduction of overtime, the devel-
opment of part-time working, and access to career breaks. Within the
context of the Luxembourg Process, the social partners are invited to
report annually on which aspects of the modernisation of the organi-
sation of work have been covered by the negotiations as well as the
status of their implementation and impact on employment and labour
market functioning.

15. Member States will, where appropriate with the social partners

15. Member States will, where appropriate in partnership with the
social partners or drawing upon agreements negotiated by the social
partners,

I review the existing regulatory framework, and examine proposals
for new provisions and incentives
to make sure they will
contribute to reducing barriers to employment, to facilitate the
introduction of modernised work organisation and to helping the
labour market adapt to structural change in the economy;

Unchanged

I endeavour to ensure a better application at workplace level of
existing health and safety legislation by stepping up and
strengthening enforcement, by providing guidance to help enter-
prises, especially SMEs,
to comply with existing legislation, by
improving training on occupational health and safety, and by
setting target figures for reduction of occupational accidents and
diseases in traditional high risk sectors;

I at

the same time,

taking into account

forms of
employment are increasingly diverse, examine the possibility of
incorporating in national
law more flexible types of contract,
and ensure that
those working under new flexible contracts
enjoy adequate security and higher occupational status, compatible
with the needs of business.

the fact

that

Supporting adaptability in enterprises as a component of Lifelong
Learning

In order to renew skill levels within enterprises as a key component to
lifelong learning:

16.

The Social partners are invited, at all relevant levels, to:

I conclude agreements on lifelong learning to facilitate adaptability
and innovation, particularly in the field of
information and
communication technologies. In this context, the conditions for
giving every worker
the opportunity to achieve information
society literacy by 2003 should be established;

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INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

I encourage companies to identify and disseminate best practices on
lifelong learning and to develop a European award for particularly
progressive firms.

IV. STRENGTHENING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICIES FOR
WOMEN AND MEN

Gender-mainstreaming approach

In order to meet the objective of equal opportunity and reach the
target of an increased employment rate for women in line with the
conclusions of the Lisbon European Council, Member States’ policies
towards gender equality should be strengthened and should address all
relevant
to take up
employment.

influencing women’s decisions

conditions

Women still face particular problems in gaining access to employment,
in career advancement, in earnings and in reconciling professional and
family life. It is therefore important, inter alia:

I to ensure that active labour market policies are made available for

women in proportion to their share of unemployment;

I to pay particular attention to the gender impact of tax and benefit
systems. Wherever tax-benefit structures are identified that impact
negatively on women’s participation in the labour force,
they
should be reviewed;

I to pay particular attention to ensuring the application of

the
principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equivalent value;

I to give particular attention to obstacles which hinder women who

wish to set up new businesses or become self-employed;

I to ensure that women are able to benefit positively from flexible
forms of work organisation, on a voluntary basis and without loss
of job quality.

Therefore, the Member States will adopt a gender-mainstreaming

17.
approach in implementing the Guidelines across all four pillars:

I developing and reinforcing consultative systems with gender

equality bodies

I applying procedures for gender impact assessment under each

guideline

I developing indicators to measure progress in gender equality in

relation to each guideline.

In order meaningfully to evaluate progress, Member States will need to
provide for adequate data collection systems and procedures.

In order meaningfully to evaluate progress, Member States will need to
provide for adequate data collection systems and procedures, and
ensure a gender breakdown of employment statistics.

C 62 E/310

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

INITIAL PROPOSAL

AMENDED PROPOSAL

Tackling gender gaps

Member States and the Social Partners should pay attention to the
imbalance in the representation of women or men in certain
economic sectors and occupations, as well as to the improvement of
female career opportunities.

18. Member States will, where appropriate with the Social Partners:

I strengthen their efforts to reduce the gap in unemployment rates
between women and men by actively supporting the increased
employment of women

I actively support

the increased employment of women and set
national targets to reduce substantially within a period of
five
years the gap in employment and unemployment rates between
women and men.

I take action to bring about a balanced representation of women and

Unchanged

men in all sectors and occupations.

I initiate positive steps to promote equal pay for equal work or work
of equal value and to diminish differentials in incomes between
women and men: actions to address gender pay gaps are necessary
in the public and private sector, and the impact of the policies on
gender pay gaps should be identified and addressed.

I consider an increased use of measures for the advancement of

women in order to reduce gender gaps.

Reconciling work and family life

Policies on career breaks, parental leave and part-time work, as well as
flexible working arrangements which serve the interests of both
employers and employees, are of particular importance to women
and men. Implementation of the various Directives and social-partner
agreements in this area should be accelerated and monitored regularly.
There must be an adequate provision of good quality care for children
and other dependants in order to support women’s and men’s entry
and continued participation in the labour market. An equal sharing of
family responsibilities is crucial in this respect. Those returning to the
labour market after an absence may also have outmoded skills, and
experience difficulty in gaining access to training. Reintegration of
women and men into the labour market after an absence must be
facilitated. In order to strengthen equal opportunities,

19. Member States and the social partners will:

I design, implement and promote family-friendly policies, including
affordable, accessible and high quality care services for children and
other dependants, as well as parental and other leave schemes.

I consider setting a national target, in accordance with their national
situation, a national target for increasing the availability of care
facilities,

I consider setting,

in accordance with their national situation, a
for increasing the availability of care facilities,
the three

national
aimed at gradually reaching the average level of
Member States with the best performance.

target

I give specific attention to women, and men, considering a return to
the paid workforce after an absence and, to that end, they will
examine the means of gradually eliminating the obstacles in the
way of such return.

Unchanged