Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Strengthening the local dimension of the European Employment Strategy" (COM(2001) 629 final)
Date: 2002-04-24
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European Union, cooperation policy, employment policy, regional policy

C 149/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21.6.2002

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the Commission
to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee
of the Regions — Strengthening the local dimension of the European Employment Strategy’

(COM(2001) 629 final)

(2002/C 149/08)

On 17 January 2002, the Economic and Social Committee decided, under Rule 23(3) of its Rules of
Procedure, to draw up an opinion on the above-mentioned communication.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 10 April 2002. The rapporteur was Mr Vinay.

At its 390th plenary session (meeting of 24 April 2002) the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion by 97 votes to 0, with 2 abstentions.

1.

Introduction and presentation of the proposal

1.1.
The Communication under consideration forms part
of the ever increasing attention given by the Commission to
the local dimension in the European
the importance of
Employment Strategy (EES), and follows on from a Communi-
cation in April 2000; an extremely wide-ranging consultation
took place in that year on that Communication, and the
synthesis of the consultation — presented at the Strasbourg
Conference — has enriched the new phase of proposals.

The Committee,

in the opinion it gave on the
1.1.1.
previous Communication (1), had made a number of obser-
vations: on the local players, among whom it included the
social partners, and their roles; on the importance of full
information and adequate training for local players; on the
problems involved in finding a common definition for the
social economy sector; on the need to act at local level in a
consistently targeted way for all four pillars of the employment
strategy. It notes with satisfaction that some of these subjects
have been taken up in the new document.

1.2.
The Communication in question, after briefly sketching
the background to the subject from the launching of the
Luxembourg process onwards, stresses that in the employment
guidelines in 2002 the Member States were called upon to
support regional and local bodies in drawing up employment
strategies, and notes that in nearly all the countries of the
Union there is a tendency to decentralisation, to support for
the social economy and to the setting up of partnerships.
The NAPs for 2001 also show the development of closer
cooperation between national governments and local and
regional authorities.

1.3.
The Commission emphasises the crucial problem of
the clearly inadequate information and the lack of systematic
involvement of the local level in the NAPs’ formulation process
and the implementation of the ESF, and expresses the view
that the development of a local dimension of the EES would
make a decisive contribution both to achieving Community
objectives on employment and to combating social mar-
ginalisation.

that, subject

The Commission points out

1.4.
to the
principle of subsidiarity, it is necessary, in developing a local
dimension of the EES, for there to be a consistent political will
at Community, national, regional and local level. It is essential
to establish a constant exchange of best practice, and wide-
spread awareness at local level of the EES and related national
action plans, of the NAPs for social
inclusion and of the
structural fund programmes.

1.5. While suggesting the criteria for the drawing up of local
strategies for employment, the Commission also advocates
building on experience and making fuller use of the existing
instruments, mentioning in particular, apart from the Structur-
al Funds, EURES, Urban and Equal. A specific reference relates
to the innovative actions promoted on the basis of Article 6 of
the ESF and to the budget heading allocated for 2000 and
2001 to support preparatory actions for local employment
initiatives.

(1) Opinion on the Commission Communication ‘Acting locally for
employment — a local dimension for the European Employment
Strategy’, OJ C 14, 16.1.2001.

1.6.
The document envisages a series of deadlines for
assessment of the initiatives and programmes in progress, with
specific reference to the local dimension, and makes clear that
the Commission will regard local development as a priority in
assessing the planning period.

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2. General comments

2.1.
The European Economic and Social Committee wel-
comes the Communication, as it welcomed its predecessor,
endorsing the increase in the attention paid by the Commission
to developing an authentic local employment strategy, which
the Committee has advocated for many years.

2.2.
It particularly welcomes the way in which the consul-
tation phase which took place in 2000 has been put to good
use. While that phase brought to light many problems which
limit the development of local initiatives, the Commission has
nonetheless used the document under consideration to identify
actions and instruments which would make it possible to
tackle these problems realistically, pointing out the practical
scope for players at local level and at the same time encourag-
ing greater awareness on the part of Member States of the need
to create a two-way flow in the drawing-up of the NAPs.

2.3.
The choice of assessing all current planning primarily
in terms of its impact on development at local level has an
importance which, on the one hand, almost
transcends
the subject under consideration, but which, on the other,
strengthens the need for the employment strategy defined at
the Lisbon Summit to be developed to the full, giving precise
attention to the local employment plans which are an essential
operational part of it.

2.4.
The document points out that the role for the local
level in the EES was explicitly acknowledged in the Guidelines
for employment policies for 2002, and gives a verbatim
quotation of guideline 11. However, this guideline appears
in the section devoted to the second pillar (‘Developing
entrepreneurship and job creation’). In its earlier opinion, the
Committee had already expressed the conviction that creating
employment development strategies at local level should make
it possible — not least because of the many subjects and
functions which could contribute to it — to achieve the aims
set down in all four pillars of the European strategy. It reaffirms
this view and expresses the hope that the Commission may
adopt it, as the Communication itself frequently relates to the
fourth pillar (equal opportunities).

2.4.1.
The attention which the document gives to policies
on equal opportunities for women and men is consistent with
the entirely realistic belief that it is precisely at local level that
the conditions which can limit or encourage gender equality
are determined, not only through specific active and targeted
training measures but also through a growth in cultural and
social awareness. In this last respect, the call to local authorities
through ‘measures to
to promote women’s employment
reconcile work and family life’ seems inappropriate, since they
should be reconciled in the equal interest of women and men.

This is taken into account in the Guidelines for employment
policies in 2002, where the chapter entitled ‘Reconciling work
and family life’ confirms that policies implemented to this end
‘are of particular importance to women and men’ (1).

2.5.
The role of the social partners is given greater import-
ance in the present document than in the previous one, and it
is emphasised that they should be increasingly involved in
developing the implementation of local strategies.

2.5.1.
However, as already stressed in the earlier opinion,
this role is not just important in the context of joint social
planning — on the development of which an important
decision was taken at the recent Laeken Summit — but also as
an active element in the partnerships; the latter role has already
been played in a positive and creative way in the territorial
pacts and in the cross-frontier partnerships operating on the
basis of EURES. If, in addition, as already laid down at the Feira
Summit, the social partners must play a prominent role
in defining, implementing and assessing the guidelines for
employment, this acquires even greater emphasis at local level.

The Commission acknowledges

2.6.
the difficulty —
already fully documented by the Committee — which arises
from the different ways in which the social economy is
understood in the Member States, but stresses that this sector
in local
— however it is classified — has great potential
development
the idea of
partnerships at local level is maturing under the impetus of
the political priorities of the European Employment Strategy.
It would, however, be desirable for the Commission to work,
within the limits of the possible and of subsidiarity, towards a
joint definition of principle, not least with a view to the forum
on local development planned for the beginning of 2003.

initiatives, and points out

that

2.7.
Although subsidiarity must of course be safeguarded,
the Committee appreciates the Commission’s reference to the
White Paper on European governance which calls, in general
terms but also specifically with regard to employment and
cohesion matters, for a strong interaction among the various
levels of government of the Union and individual countries
and regional and local levels. Such interaction is necessary not
only to give the maximum impetus to effective unitary policies,
but also to rebuild a relationship between European institutions
and the citizen and to enable the latter to be able to make a
contribution to the formulation and the quality of political
and economic decisions.

(1) Proposal for a Council Decision on Guidelines for Member States’
employment policies for the year 2002 — COM(2001) 511 final.

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3. Specific comments

it

in view of

its potential

is strange that

Among the various effective European initiatives for
3.1.
developing employment at local level the Commission men-
tions EURES, an instrument created in 1993: this has been
continually renewed because of its acknowledged importance,
and a reform of its legal basis is currently under consideration.
However,
the
Commission is not proposing a complete reform of it, nor
suggesting that it be fully integrated in the EES, and that it
proposes a range of criteria and sources of funding rather than
incorporating it in the budget of the Structural Funds. As is
well-known, the EURES network includes the public services
dealing with employment, and the social partners — two
groups whose role is identified in the Communication under
consideration as being among the actors in an employment
strategy at local level. This is a further factor for rationality
and consistency which should guide the Commission towards
a reform model as suggested above.

3.2.
The Commission points out the positive employment
impact of Urban, another Community initiative, which covers
social and environmental action in extremely problematic
districts of city centres. In its opinion on the renewal of this
initiative (1), the Committee had underlined that, although it
was not one of its primary aims, Urban had the potential of
benefiting employment. Moreover,
the initiative had the
important advantage of encouraging strong involvement of
the whole of civil society in the planning of activities to be
funded. The Committee would hope that in the analysis which
the Commission plans of the results of Urban and any other
initiative, attention would also be paid to the spin-off effect of
the spreading of best practice which is always included in
them.

3.2.1.
In the Commission’s reminder of the potential of
programmes and initiatives already in progress to boost
the Committee suggests the
employment at
inclusion of Interreg III, which mentions this specific theme
among the planning criteria.

level,

local

3.3.
In presenting the criteria for implementation of innova-
tive actions funded on the basis of Article 6 of the ESF
the Commission had already indicated (2) an
Regulation,
explicit link — a natural one in view of earlier experience —
with the development of employment at local level. Moreover,
it was pointed out that priority would be given to proposals
based on the principle of partnership among the various
actors, mentioning public authorities,
the private sector,
the social partners, the third system etc. The Commission
communication recalls this background, and entitles one

(1) Opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the
Member States laying down guidelines for a Community initiative
concerning economic and social regeneration of cities and of
neighbourhoods in crisis in order to promote sustainable urban
development — Urban — OJ C 51, 23.2.2000.

(2) Communication from the Commission on the implementation of
innovative measures under Article 6 of the European Social
Fund Regulation for the programming period 2000-2006 —
COM(2000) 894 final.

of
the priority themes ‘local employment strategies and
innovation’. The Committee obviously agrees with all the
above, but points out that the invitation to present proposals
is for the moment confined to relevant public authorities or
territorial administrations.

3.3.1.
This creates a sort of implicit hierarchy among local
actors, which could also be followed in the field of the
Communication in question, while both in the first Com-
mission document and in the current one, a wide range of
participants are mentioned under the ‘local actors’ heading. It
is not clear whether an initiative for a local employment
strategy can be drawn up, proposed and presented by any of
these actors organising a targeted partnership, or whether the
prime mover of any initiative must always be a public or
administrative authority at local level.

3.4.
The document emphasises the need to activate a strong
flow of information to the local actors on EU and national
policies — something which is obviously essential to encour-
age initiatives and strategies which are not only practicable
through instruments and resources activated at Community
level, but also consistent with the policies defined at European
and national levels. However, in sketching out the constituent
elements of a local strategy for employment, it neglects one
point which the Committee regards as essential and which it
had already stressed in the earlier opinion: that of training.

3.4.1.
The key procedural sequence proposed by the Com-
mission is as follows: defining the area; diagnosing the points
of strength and weakness;
identifying the potential actors;
analysing the opportunities and threats for employment in
the territory concerned; involving the regional and national
authorities. It is important to emphasise that points of strength
and weakness, and opportunities and threats for employment,
can lie not only in the socio-economic, infrastructural, pro-
ductive or organisational conditions of a territory, but also —
to a large extent — in the need for training to facilitate
employability, support the development of entrepreneurial
skills, encourage the adaptability of workers and enterprises,
and promote steps towards gender equality, both in terms of
professional skills and in terms of socio-cultural awareness.

3.4.2.
The Committee wishes to emphasise that training,
alongside education and lifelong learning, are essential com-
ponents of any initiative to develop employment at local level.
Of course there can and will be projects which have training
(specific, albeit diffuse training) as an objective for a local
strategy, but Annex 2 to the document takes up the proposal,
put forward by the Committee in its earlier opinion, to
encourage ‘territorial training initiatives and agreements’. This
is still the need which the Commission should take into
account, as part of a wider strategic approach which is essential
in formulating any initiative.

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3.5.
The Committee endorses the Commission’s decision to
organise a Forum on local development next year, and declares
even now that it is interested and prepared to make its
contribution at a time of wide-ranging reflection. The docu-
ment would suggest that this event is planned for the beginning
of 2003, and it is stated that around the middle of that year an
assessment of the 89 territorial pacts launched as pilot projects
in 1997 will at last be available. Since the two deadlines are
only a few months apart, and the Forum is intended to be a
place for exchanging experience and information, it would
perhaps be better to make them coincide.

3.6.
As indicated above, successful transposition of the EES
to the local level and active participation of civil society in
identifying strategies and courses of action constitute a strong
instrument for promoting a sense of belonging in European
citizens and for rebuilding a link between them and the
institutions. Nonetheless,
is necessary for employment
policies to remain faithful to the principles laid down in Lisbon
and further enriched by the recent Laeken summit. Thus
on the one hand lasting, high-quality jobs must be created
(incidentally, it is worrying that the Commission acknowledged
in a recent document that the concept of ‘high-quality work’
lacked definite, effective points of reference); on the other
hand, the European social model should be defined, supported
and promoted: these two aspects are essential to maintain

it

Brussels, 24 April 2002.

social cohesion within the Union and strengthen it with a view
to enlargement.

However, the European economy is showing clear
3.6.1.
signs of slowing down, and expectations of a recovery are very
cautious. The local level cannot be treated separately from the
national and Community levels. Decisions are therefore needed
to revive economic and employment growth decisively, as a
matter of priority.

3.6.2.
There is scope for manoeuvre, which should be used
decisively, and at the same time there should be measures
in both
to consolidate a sustainable development model
environmental and social terms; both aspects require guaran-
tees and safeguards. At all levels — from Community to local
level — these two basic points of balance must be identified
and respected.

3.6.3.
The local level is a microcosm in which the most
immediate and real opportunity and risk are combined in a
single aspect: the capacity of the individual citizen to verify
directly the effectiveness in practice of political choices. Thus
the success of the choices covered by the Communication in
question will also depend, in the shorter and in the longer
term, not only on the effectiveness of the proposals to which
we have attempted to contribute, but also, fundamentally, on
the choices for progress which will have been made at the
highest level.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS