Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Improving quality in work: a review of recent progress
Date: 2003-11-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU employment policy, continuing education, equal treatment, job security, organisation of work, social dialogue, social policy, working conditions

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 26.11.2003
COM(2003) 728 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Improving quality in work: a review of recent progress

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Improving quality in work: a review of recent progress

CONTENTS

1.

1.1.

1.2.

1.3.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

2.4.

2.5.

2.6.

2.7.

2.8.

2.9.

Quality in work and the European Employment Strategy objectives .......................... 6

Quality in work and full employment .......................................................................... 6

Quality in work and productivity ................................................................................. 6

Quality in work, social inclusion and cohesion ........................................................... 7

Review of progress achieved under the different dimensions of quality..................... 8

Intrinsic job quality ...................................................................................................... 8

Skills, lifelong learning and career development....................................................... 10

Gender equality .......................................................................................................... 11

Health and safety at work........................................................................................... 12

Flexibility and security............................................................................................... 14

Inclusion and access to the labour market.................................................................. 15

Work organisation and work-life balance. ................................................................. 16

Social dialogue and worker involvement................................................................... 17

Diversity and non-discrimination............................................................................... 18

2.10.

Overall work performance ......................................................................................... 20

Annexes

Annex 1. Indicators of quality in work: list approuved by the Council …………………….23

Annex 2. Indicators of quality in work (data) ………………………………………………28

2

Summary and Conclusions

Quality  promotion  is  a  guiding  principle  in  the  modernisation  of  Europe's  social  model  as
initiated in the Social Policy Agenda. Following the Lisbon and the Nice European Councils,
improving quality and productivity in work is one of the three overarching objectives in the
Employment Guidelines for the period 2003-2005  together with  full employment and  social
cohesion.

Quality  in  work  goes  hand  in  hand  with  progress  towards  full  employment,  higher
productivity growth and better social cohesion

There  is  a  positive  link  between  employment  growth  and  quality  in  work.  Sustainable
employment growth needs all of the following: an improved access to employment in general;
an  improved  balance  between  flexibility  and  security  and  real  opportunities  for  upward
occupational  mobility  for  those  in  low  quality  jobs,  without  making  access  to  the  labour
market  more  difficult  for  those  on  the  margins;  a  reduction  of  long-term  unemployment
without  creating  a  situation  based  on  repetitive  spells  in  unemployment  and  low  quality
employment; and improved upward quality dynamics, helping people in low quality jobs and
high risk of unemployment to gain employment stability and to improve employability.

There  is  also  a  positive  link  between  quality  in  work  and  productivity.  In  particular,
improvements  in  work  organisation  and  in  working  conditions,  as  well  as,  increase  in  the
quality  and  efficiency  of  investment  in  human  capital  and  training  are  essential  for
productivity gains.

Quality in work is also essential for both social inclusion and regional cohesion. A high risk
of  unemployment,  social  exclusion  and  poverty  go  hand  in  hand  with  poor  education,  low-
skilled, low paid, non- permanent jobs.

Progress under the different dimensions of quality is unequal

Quality  is  a  multidimensional  concept  and  depends  on  a  number  of  components  which
interact  with  one  another.  In  2001,  the  Council  agreed  to  assess  progress  using  a  set  of
indicators  on  quality  built  on  the  ten  dimensions  of  quality  in  work  identified  by  the
Commission.

The analysis of recent trends and performances around these ten dimensions is encouraging in
some  respects.  Consistent  improvements  are  achieved  in  the  EU  in  terms  of  education  and
skills: the level of educational attainments is rising, as well as, the rate of adult participation
in  training  or  the  investment  by  firms  in  training.  Overall,  employment  rates  are  increasing
and the gender gaps in employment and unemployment are narrowing even though they still
remain considerable. The incidence rate of accidents at work is decreasing, although it is still
very high in certain activity sectors and new forms of occupational disorders and diseases are
developing.

However,  overall,  there  is  scope  for  considerable  improvement  under  each  of  the  ten
dimensions of quality. The employment rate of older workers, while slowly increasing, is still
far from the Stockholm target of 50%. Youth unemployment is generally twice that of adults
and young people face increasing difficulties in a number of Member States to find jobs with
reasonable career prospects.

3

Futhermore,  non  EU-nationals  are  at  a  clear  disadvantage  in  terms  of  employment  and
unemployment while integration of disabled people in the labour market remains problematic.
Regarding gender equality, while the employment rates of women are constantly improving,
the  lack  of  adequate  facilities  for  childcare  and  care  for  other  dependants  is  a  constraint  to
higher female participation. At the same time, gender pay gaps have shown little tendency to
decline. Sectoral and occupational segregation also remain. Finally, the trend in productivity
growth is disappointing and the gap with the US is increasing.

The  above  trends  reveal  major  differences  between  Member  States.  While  a  few  of  them
perform well under most indicators of quality (Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria),
others  display  consistently  much  less  favourable  performances  (Italy,  Greece,  Spain,
Portugal). The picture is more mixed for the remaining Member States.

Assessment of policy response and policy implications

There has been considerable progress over recent years in several policies supporting quality
in work.  Activation  and  prevention  policies  have  been  reinforced  since  1997  in  response  to
the employment guidelines, aiming at smoother transitions from unemployment and inactivity
to employment.

Steps  have  been  taken  in  most  Member  States  to  reduce  unemployment  and  poverty  traps
through changes in the tax/benefit systems, in particular for the young, older and low-skilled
workers, who are at a higher risk of unemployment or inactivity.

Efforts to promote a culture of lifelong learning and to increase the incentives for enterprises
to invest in the skills of their workforce have been reinforced.

Efforts have been made to reduce employment and unemployment gender gaps by means of
training,  the  review  of  tax,  benefit  and  pensions  systems  combined  with  incentives  for
enterprises,  the  promotion  of  women  entrepreneurship  and  the  provision  of  better  care
services  for  children  and  other  dependants.  In  order  to  reduce  the  gender  pay  gap,  anti-
discrimination  legislation  has  been  strengthened  and  social  partner's  involvement  has  been
reinforced.

Some  progress  has  been  achieved  for  better  balancing  flexibility  and  security,  notably  by
introducing more flexibility in the permanent contracts or more security in fix-term contracts.
The  involvement  of  social  partners  in  promoting  quality  in  work  with  regard  to  training  or
health and safety at work has increased.

While  the  above  steps  go  in  the  right  direction,  more  determined  policy  action  is  needed
especially with respect to encouraging investment  of  firms  in  training  and  promoting  active
ageing through better adapted working conditions and greater financial incentives to remain in
work. At the same time, wider access to care services for children and other dependants must
be  provided  while  efforts  should  be  made  in  substantially  reducing  accidents  at  work  and
occupational diseases.

A strong involvement and commitment of the social partners is a necessary condition and key
factor of success for improving quality in work.

4

INTRODUCTION

Quality  promotion  is  a  guiding  principle  in  the  modernisation  of  Europe's  social  model  as
initiated in the Social Policy Agenda. Such modernisation is becoming urgent in the light of
the profound changes affecting our societies in the medium-term. These include ageing of the
European population, with consequences in terms of financing social protection systems and
responding  to  the  needs  of  an  older  population  in  terms  of  working  conditions,  health  or
quality  of  life.  The  move  towards  a  knowledge  society  leads  to  important  and  continuous
restructuring  of  our  economies  and  requires  changes  in  our  approach  to  education,  training
and  work  organisation.  In  a  context  of  increased  globalisation,  and  in  the  face  of  the
upcoming  enlargement,  social  policies  have  to  support  the  constant  adaptation  of  people  to
change.

Following the Lisbon and the Nice European Councils, improving quality and productivity in
work appeared as a key priority in the 2001 and 2002 Employment Guidelines and is one of
the  three  overarching  objectives  in  the  Employment  Guidelines  for  the  period  2003-2005,
together  with  full  employment  and  social  cohesion.  Among  the  ten  specific  guidelines
supporting these objectives, some are particularly relevant for quality at work, notably those
on  lifelong  learning,  gender  equality,  adaptability,  making  work  pay,  inclusion  and
undeclared  work.  The  emphasis  placed  by  the  Employment  Guidelines  on  improved
governance  is  also  strongly  related  to  quality  improvements  in  the  design  of  employment
policies.

The  2001  Commission  Communication  provides  a  robust  analytical  basis  as  well  as  a  clear
operational  procedure,  including  the  development  of  quality  in  work  indicators,  to  help  in
refining policies in ways that will further benefit Europe's workforce as well as its economy.
The  Commission  identified  10  ‘dimensions’  of  job  quality  in  a  Communication  in  2001,
recognising  that  quality  is  a  multifaceted  concept1.  The  Employment  Committee  (EMCO)
discussed and agreed a list of indicators on quality in work under the 10 dimensions.  These
indicators were approved by the Council and communicated to the Laeken European Council
in December 2001.2

The  purpose  of  this  Communication  is  to  review  ongoing  efforts  to  improve  the  quality  in
work,  in  response  to  the  Brussels  Spring  European  Council  of  2003.  Section  1  reviews  the
role  of  quality  in  work  for  sustainable  employment  performance,  productivity  growth  and
social inclusion. In Section 2, quality in work is analysed along the 10 dimensions retained by
the  Council,  looking  both  at  performances  and  at  recent  policy  developments.  A  detailed
overview of quality indicators as endorsed by the Council is presented in annex.

This  Communication  focuses  on  the  EU-15,  given  the  difficulties  to  collect  relevant
information and evaluation data with respect to the new Member States at this stage.

1

2

Employment and social policies: A framework for investing in quality", Communication from the Commission to
the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions,
COM(2001) 313 final, 20.06.2001.
Indicators of Quality in Work, Report by the Employment Committee to  the  Council, 14263/01, 23.11.2001,  see
annex 1

5

                                                
1. 

QUALITY IN WORK AND THE EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY OBJECTIVES

In  line  with  the  Lisbon  strategy,  improving  job  quality  is  important  for  the  well  being  of
workers and for the promotion of social inclusion, as well as for an increase in productivity
and  in  employment  growth.  It  is  thus  related  to  all  three  overarching  and  interrelated
objectives:  full  employment,  quality  and  productivity  at  work,  and  social  cohesion  and
inclusion.

1.1. 

 Quality in work and full employment

In the EU, a clear positive link can be observed between overall employment performance, on
the  one  hand,  and  job  quality  on  the  other.  There  is  in  particular  a  negative  correlation
between  the  share  of  low  quality  jobs  and  the  employment  rate,  notably  for  women  and
medium to high skilled people.3It is a fact that those who move from unemployment to jobs of
low  quality  -  in  particular  jobs  without  training  opportunities  -  often  remain  at  high  risk  of
becoming unemployed  again.  Almost a  third  of  these  workers  are  unemployed  again  a  year
later,  in  comparison  to  around  10%  for  those  in  jobs  of  high  quality.  Nevertheless  the
availability  of  low  quality  jobs  can,  in  some  cases,  act  as  a  stepping  stone  to  stable
employment.  Actually,  more  than  a  third  of  those  in  low  quality  employment  manage  to
improve job quality over a period of 2-3 years.

Job quality is also crucial to re-attract in the labour market older people and people with care
responsibilities. At the same time, the withdrawal from the labour market of older workers in
low quality jobs is up to four times higher than that of older workers in jobs of higher quality.

The  inter-relation  between  the  quality  and  quantity  of  employment  was  corroborated  by
dynamic simulations, which showed that without further quality improvements, employment
creation remains below its potential. The best result arises when quality improvements match
improved  labour  market  transitions  into  and  out  of  low  quality  jobs.  Consequently,  the
employment  rate  increases  and  the  share  of  employed  in  jobs  of  high  quality  rises  and
underpins a strong productivity level.4

In  some  Member  States  recent  increases  in  employment  rates  were  accompanied  by
improvements  in  labour  market  transitions  out  of  low  quality  jobs,  particularly  for  women.
Withdrawal from the labour force, on the other hand, is more than twice as high for women
than for men in jobs of low quality (10% in 1997-98, 17% in 1995-98), whereas labour force
participation of men and women in high quality jobs is similar.

1.2. 

 Quality in work and productivity

A  comparison  between  sectors  throughout  the  EU  and  in  various  Member  States  shows  a
positive relationship between job quality and labour productivity.

3

4

The  empirical  results  summarised  in  this  section  are  based  on  the  classification  of  jobs  suggested  in
Employment  in  Europe  2001.  This  classification  referred  –  in  particular  –  to  some  of  the  quality
dimensions identified in this Communication: intrinsic job quality; skills, lifelong learning and  career
development;  inclusion  and  access  to  the  labour  market;  and  overall  work  performance.  For  more
details  on  the  underlying  definition,  see  Employment  in  Europe  2001,  pp.  65-80,  and  Employment  in
Europe 2002, pp. 79-97.
For more details see Employment in Europe 2002, pp. 101-106.

6

                                                
In  addition,  work-related  health  problems  and  accidents  at  work  generate  a  production  loss
estimated at  3-4%  of  EU  GNP.  Health  expenditure  and  costs  related  to  the  loss  of  working
days in the EU are estimated at €20 billion a year.

The gains in productivity from investment in human capital and training.

It  is  estimated  that  an  increase  by  1%  in  the  share  of  employees  in  training  leads  to  an
increase of 0.3% in a firm's productivity. In the UK, raising the proportion of workers trained
in a sector by 5 percentage points generates a 4% increase in the value added per worker, and
a 1.6% wage rise.5

However, more than half of European employees have no access to training at the workplace
nor participation in any training programmes. Low skilled individuals tend to remain in low
productivity jobs with higher risk of unemployment and social exclusion.

Productivity growth depends on the level of human capital but also on the sectoral distribution
of skills in the economy6. The concentration of high-skilled people in innovative industries is
beneficial per se and through knowledge spillovers particularly in the services sector. There is
also  evidence  that  low-  and  medium-skilled  people  might  benefit  from  the  mobility  across
sectors of those with higher levels of education.

The impact of workplace organisation on motivation and productivity

Qualitative and quantitative studies show that new forms of work organisation, including new
organisational  structures,  more  flexible  and  less  hierarchical  working  methods,  stronger
involvement  of  employees  and  new  reward  and  performance  measurement  systems,  tend  to
increase productivity  and  employment.7 Social  dialogue  and  industrial  relations  can  play  an
important role for improving quality in work and productivity.

1.3. 

 Quality in work, social inclusion and cohesion

There is a strong link between low quality in work and social exclusion and poverty. This is
due to the strong impact of the previous labour market status - unemployment in particular -
and  of  the  characteristics  of  the  job  held  one  year  ago  on  the  current  job  status.8  While  in
some cases giving an opportunity to vulnerable groups to re-integrate into the labour market,
previous employment in part-time work or on a fixed-term contract (rather than in a full-time,
permanent job) reduces the probability of current full-time work substantially (twice as much
for  men  as  for  women).  In  the  presence  of  unfavourable  transitions  out  of  flexible  working
arrangements,  it  increases  the  probability  of,  often  permanent,  unemployment  and  labour
market exclusion. Previous inactivity also strongly reduces the likelihood of transitions back
into the labour market, particularly among women and older workers.

5

6

7

8

Lorraine  Dearden,  Howard  Reed  and  John  Van  Reenen  (2000),  Who  gains  when  workers  train?
Training and corporate productivity in a panel of British industries, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Working
Paper No. 00/04, London.
See Employment in Europe 2003, chapter 2.
See  e.g.  European  Commission  (1999),  New  forms  of  work  organisation  and  productivity,  study
prepared by Business Decisions Ltd., DG Employment and Social Affairs, and European Commission
(2002), New forms of work organisation, The benefits and impact on performance, CE-V/6-02-001-EN-
C, and Thomas K. Bauer (2003), Flexible  workplace practices and  labour  productivity,  IZA  Working
Paper No. 700, Bonn.
For  further  detail,  see  the  report  "Labour  market  dynamics  and  social  exclusion"  prepared  for  the  European
Commission  by  Mark  Taylor  from  the  University  of  Essex.  The  full  report  is  available  on  line  at  the  DG
Employment and Social Affairs website.

7

                                                
In several Member States, it are mainly low skilled women who are at relatively high risk of
becoming  trapped  in  a  sequence  of  unemployment,  followed  by  non-permanent,  low  paid,
part time employment.

The  regions  that  have  the  highest  shares  of  skilled  workers  and  participation  rates  in
continuous  training  are  those  with  the  strongest  increases  in  productivity,  while  sustaining
high levels of  employment. The group of best-performing regions in the EU has a GDP per
capita (in PPS)  more than  twice  as  high  as  that  of  the  worst  performing  regions,  an  overall
employment rate of 66.5% as compared to 54%, a female employment rate of 61.2% versus
41.9%. It also has an almost twice as high a share of high skilled (25.4%) in the population,
and  a  relatively  small  share  of  low  skilled  (27.4%  as  compared  to  59.7%  in  the  worst
performing regions).9

About  a  quarter  of  working  Europeans  still  remain  in  jobs  of  relatively  low  quality.  The
increase in national employment rates observed since the mid-fifties has been accompanied by
quality improvements in some Member States but not in others. The effect of these diverging
evolutions  on  overall  employment  performance,  productivity,  social  inclusion  and  cohesion
during the recent economic slowdown needs further study, the outcome of which should help
understand which role quality in work could play in the expected economic recovery.

2. 

REVIEW OF PROGRESS ACHIEVED UNDER THE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF QUALITY

Quality  cannot  be  expressed  in  a  single  parameter.  The  concept  of  quality  is  multi-
dimensional and is built on a wide range of components which interact with one another. It is
the  balance  -  and  the  relative  weight  of  each  component  in  a  given  situation  -  which
determines the degree of quality. Hence, it is not simple to measure. On the other hand, the
multi-dimensional  nature  ensures  that  the  diversity  across  the  European  Union  can  be  fully
taken into account.

In this section, quality in work is analysed along the 10 agreed dimensions. It focuses on an
assessment of quality in work in the European Union and its recent evolution on the basis of
available data and in particular the agreed quality indicators (Annex 1). In addition, it reviews
policy efforts undertaken by policy-makers, social partners and other partners involved. Some
policy implications are derived for each dimension.

2.1. 

 Intrinsic job quality

This dimension refers to the characteristics of a particular job, which make it satisfying for the
worker and compatible with career prospects in terms of wages and status. Although not easy
to measure, notably due its subjectivity, it is an important factor in achieving the EES goals.
The attractiveness of jobs is a condition for an increase of labour market participation. While
it may be necessary for new entrants or people at a disadvantage to accept jobs with low pay
and low security, the possibility to make career progress is essential to remain at work in the
labour market.

Main facts and trends

Despite  the  strong  employment  performance  observed  in  European  labour  markets  in  the
second  half  of  the  1990s,  recent  data  on  the  evolution  of  self-reported  job  satisfaction  over

9

For further detail see Employment in Europe 2002, chapter 5.

8

                                                
this period do not indicate significant changes. In the year 2000 in the EU as a whole, around
20% of all employees declared themselves dissatisfied with their job. Relatively high degrees
of dissatisfaction in Greece, Italy, Spain and the UK contrast with very high shares (90% or
more) of satisfied employees in Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and, most notably,
Austria. A positive trend can be noted in Greece and Portugal while a deterioration took place
in Italy.

As regards transitions between non-employment and employment and within employment by
pay  level, between 1999 and  2000  (last  available  data),  more  than  half  of  employees  in  the
lowest earnings decile in the EU remained at the same level, while  a quarter improved their
relative situation and the rest moved into unemployment. In Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Spain
and Portugal  more than 30%  of  the employees  in  the  lowest  earnings  decile  improved  their
relative earnings position.

Transitions  by  type  of  contract  show  significant  differences  between  fixed-term  and
permanent  contracts.  In  particular,  22%  of  those  employed  in  fixed  term  contracts  in  1999
became  unemployed  one  year  later,  35%  had  a  permanent  contract  and  39%  were  still  in
fixed-term  contract.  However,  when  comparing  to  1997-1998  figures  a  slight  improvement
is/can  be  observed,  notably  in  Belgium,  Ireland,  Austria,  the  Netherlands  and  Spain.10
Transitions  out  of  temporary  employment  vary  strongly  across  the  EU.  More  than  half  of
temporary employees in 1999 were in a permanent job a year later in Ireland, the Netherlands
and Austria against less than a third in Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Finland and Portugal.

Ongoing efforts and implications

Progress under this  dimension depends  on  a  broad  spectrum  of  policies,  some  of  which  are
reviewed  under  other  parts  of  this  report.  They  include  education  and  training  policies  (2.2
below) as well as preventive and active policies (2.6 below).

Making work pay policies can provide effective work incentives to mobilise people to return
to employment or move from inactivity to employment. The Employment Guidelines call on
Member States to develop appropriate policies with a view to reducing the number of working
poor  and  removing  disincentives  arising  from  the  interaction  of  tax–benefits  and  thus
reducing  unemployment  and  poverty  traps  affecting  mainly  the  low  skilled.  Most  Member
States  show  commitment  to  this  objective,  mainly  through  reductions  in  social  security
contributions,  or  through  in-work  benefit  schemes.  These  measures  should  be  seen  in
conjunction  with  the  level  and  coverage  of  minimum  wages,  which  are  being  significantly
increased  in  France,  Ireland  and  the  United  Kingdom11.  In  addition,  more  effective
enforcement  of  eligibility  and  duration  criteria  for  social  benefits  including  though  better
interaction with active policies can contribute in reducing work disincentives and eliminating
the unemployment trap.

Better involvement and firm commitment of the  social partners is  a  necessary  condition  for
the  success  of  policies  aiming  at  improving  labour  market  transitions  for  employees,  in
particular moving  from temporary to  permanent  contracts,  and  for  better  income  and  career
development.  New  flexible  forms  of  work  organisation  in  firms,  giving  workers  room  for
autonomy  in  carrying  out  their  task  and  a  perspective  for  their  further  career,  are  crucial
elements in this respect.

10

11

24% of those employed in fixed term contracts in 1997 became unemployed one year later, 34% had a
permanent contract and 42% were still in fixed-term contracts.
+5% in France (mid 2003) ; + 10 % in Ireland (as of 2004) ; in the UK + 7 % in October 2003 (+ 14 %
for young people in October 2004).

9

                                                
2.2. 

 Skills, lifelong learning and career development

The  2003  Employment  Guidelines  place  particular  emphasis  on  the  need  to  increase  the
investment  in  human  resources  from  all  sources  –  public  authorities,  individuals  and
enterprises - and to improve the quality and efficiency of education and training systems with
a view to promote productivity, competitiveness and active ageing. The participation of adults
in  education  and  training  is  an  important  issue  and  a  matter  of  concern  for  most  Member
States, but the critical issue is ensuring that everyone has access to training. The groups most
in need of training - the low skilled, older workers, people on temporary contracts or part-time
workers, and workers in small firms – are also the groups least likely to receive training.

Main facts and trends

Since  1998  there  has  been  a  significant  increase  in  adults  participation  in  education  and
training  in  the  EU.  Women's  participation  is  higher  than  men's  at  EU  level  and  in  most
Member  States.  However,  important  differences  exist  between  Member  States.  The
participation  rate  in  2002  was  under  5%  in  Greece,  France,  Portugal,  Italy  and  Spain  but
above 16% in UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and The Netherlands, against an EU average of
8.5%.

The participation rates vary considerably according to age  and education level.  It is low for
the 45-54 aged group and particularly so for the 55-64 year olds (3.3%). Only 2.3% of people
with less than upper secondary education participate in education and training, compared with
9.9% of those who had completed upper secondary education, and  15.8% of those who had
completed upper tertiary education.

Collective  agreements  on  the  provision  of  continuing  vocational  training  contribute  to
reducing the large  discrepancies in the provision of training.  In  enterprises  with  agreements
more than half of all employees participated in CVT courses in 2000, compared with about a
third  in  firms  without  agreements.  Average  hours  spent  in  CVT  courses  by  the  participants
throughout  the  year  were  twice  as  high  in  firms  with  agreements  (53  hours)  as  in  firms
without agreements (35 hours).

Discrepancies  in  the  provision  of  training  by  firm  size  exist  in  all  Member  States,  both  in
terms of proportion of employees involved in training and of length of training provided. In
Italy,  Greece,  Spain  and  Portugal,  less  than  10%  of  employees  in  small  firms  without
agreement receive CVT, against 40% in the three Nordic Member States.

Ongoing efforts and implications

To increase participation in education and training there is a need to promote a culture of life-
long  learning  and  raise  awareness  amongst  individuals  and  employers  of  the  benefits  of
learning.  This  demands  a  significant  increase  in  investment  in  human  resources,  notably
through  the  creation  of  incentives  for  enterprises  and  individuals  to  pay  for  additional
training;  improving  information,  advice  and  guidance;  better  co-ordination  of  learning
systems;  and  improving  quality  management,  evaluation,  accreditation  and  certification  of
continuous vocational training.

The 2003 Employment Guidelines ask Member States to implement policies to ensure in the
EU by 2010 a level of participation in lifelong learning of at least 12.5% of the adult working-
age  population  and  to  ensure  that  a  least  85%  of  22  years  old  in  the  EU  should  have
completed upper secondary education. Member States have to demonstrate a commitment to
lifelong learning by translating these benchmarks into national targets, and by  backing them

10

up  with  appropriate  measures.  It  is  particularly  important  that  Member  States  who  lag  well
behind set ambitious targets.

Particular attention should be paid to older workers and the low skilled and more particularly
to those people facing a risk of unemployment and long-term unemployment. In this context
enterprises  should  be  encouraged  to  significantly  increase  in  investment  in  the  training,
particularly  of  groups  most  in  need  of  training.  This  demands  that  Governments  create  a
climate providing the right incentives for employers to invest.

Ensuring basic ICT skills should become an integral part of enhancing employability, as the
lack of ICT literacy represents a fundamental barrier for (re)-entering employment.  In some
Member states basic ICT literacy has already become mainstreamed in activation measures.

Closer partnerships between business, social partners, the public sector and private providers
are critical to identifying training needs and improving access to training for all groups.

2.3. 

 Gender equality

Gender equality is a dimension of quality in itself and is also strongly dependant on progress
under  other  dimensions  of  quality  such  as  lifelong  learning,  work-life  balance  or  flexibility
and security. The Lisbon strategy calls for an employment rate of more than 60% for women
by 2010, and 57% by 2005. This calls not only for the creation of more jobs for women, but
also better jobs for them. A number of gender gaps are to be reduced in the EU, in terms of
employment, unemployment, pay, or occupational and sectoral distribution.

Main facts and trends

Although the differences in employment and  unemployment  rates between  women and  men
have decreased in recent years, the gaps remain important. In 2002 the employment rate for
women was still 17 p.p. below the male rate. The largest gender gaps (above 20 p.p.) can be
found in Greece, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Ireland and the narrowest in Sweden, Finland
and Denmark. The unemployment gender gap decreased from 2.5 p.p. in 1998 to 1.8 p.p. in
2002. The largest gaps are found in Greece, Spain, Italy and France. The female employment
rate in the EU as a whole is still 4.4 p.p. below the target of 60% for 2010.

Women  are  under-represented  in  high-income  levels  and  over-represented  in  low-income
levels. While in the EU, on average, women accounted for only 32% of all employed in the
highest  earnings  quintile,  they  made  up  almost  60%  of  all  employed  in  the  lowest  quintile.
Notably in Austria and the UK, two thirds of those employed with the 20% lowest earnings
were women. In 2000 (latest available data) women's average gross hourly earnings in the EU
were  16%  below  those  of  men.  This  difference  was  generally  smaller  in  the  public  sector
(11%)  than  in  the  private  sector  (22%).  The  lowest  pay  gaps  in  both  public  and  private
sectors, were in Italy and Belgium and the highest in United Kingdom, Austria, Germany and
Ireland.

Gender segregation in sectors and occupations remains high  (at 18%  and 25% respectively)
and  there  is  no  trend  towards  any  reduction.  Typically,  in  countries  with  high  female
employment rates, such in the Nordic countries, there are high levels of gender segregation.

11

Ongoing efforts and implications

As stressed by the Employment Guidelines 2003, gender  gaps  (employment,  unemployment
and  pay)  in  the  labour  market  need  to  be  substantially  reduced  through  an  integrated
mainstreaming  approach  and  specific  policy  actions.  Member  States  should  pursue  policies
with the aim to achieve by 2010 a substantial reduction in the gender pay gap through a multi-
faceted approach addressing the underlying factors of the gender pay gap, including sectoral
and  occupational  segregation,  education  and  training,  job  classifications  and  pay  systems,
awareness raising and transparency. The Guidelines also highlight that attention needs to be
given to reconciling work and family life and more in particular to the extension of childcare
provision.

Member  States'  efforts  to  reduce  gender  employment  and  unemployment  gaps  vary  from
training  (Ireland,  Austria,  the  Netherlands  and  Luxembourg),  review  of  tax,  benefit  and
pensions systems and incentives for enterprises (Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands,
Spain  and  France),  encouraging  entrepreneurship  (Greece,  Sweden  and  Luxembourg)  and
better care services for children and other dependants (Ireland, Greece,  Italy and  the United
Kingdom).

Some  of  these  efforts  seem  to  have  had  a  certain  effect  on  reducing  the  gender  gaps.
However,  there  is  clearly  still  insufficient  attention  given  to  adequate  care  provision  for
children  and  other  dependant  in  order  to  fully  utilise  the  labour  supply  of  women  in
particular12. Moreover, tax and benefit systems still include disincentives for women wishing
to take up employment.

With  regard  to  the  gender  pay  gap,  efforts  made  by  Member  States  concern  mainly  the
strengthening of anti-discrimination legislation (Denmark, Sweden and United Kingdom) and
in some cases of social partners' involvement (Denmark, Ireland and Spain). However, policy
efforts  have  failed  to  address  in  an  adequate  way  the  underlying  factors,  mainly  gender
segregation.  In  recent  analysis  by  the  Commission,  it  has  appeared  that  the  main  factors
related  to  gender  pay  gaps  are:13  the  differences  in  male  and  female  labour  market
participation  and  career  structures;  the  differences  in  male  and  female  wage  structures  and
gender  effects  of  pay  and  promotion  policies;  the  horizontal  segregation  in  general  and  the
concentration of women in low paying sectors and occupations in particular.

All actors concerned, including social partners, need to be involved in this process.

2.4. 

 Health and safety at work

The  high  absenteeism  due  to  accidents  at  work  and  work-related  illnesses  and  occupational
diseases  as  well  as  the  high  number  of  permanent  disabilities  from  occupational  origin  are
some  illustration  of  the  most  visible  consequences  that  poor  health  and  safety  at  work  can
have on the labour  market.  In  the  European  Union,  in  the  year  2000,  a  total  of  158  million
days'  work  was  lost,  corresponding  to  an  average  of  20  days  per  accident.  Around  350.000
workers  were  obliged  to  change  their  job  as  a  consequence  of  an  accident.  Nearly  300.000
workers have various degrees of permanent disabilities and 15.000 are entirely excluded from

12

13

See Work organisation and work-life balance (point 3.7).
For further detail see also Working Paper of the Commission Services, "Gender pay gaps in European
labour markets.", SEC (2003)937 of 4.9.2003

12

                                                
the labour market14. In view of the need to attract and keep more people on the labour market,
and in the context of an ageing - and therefore more vulnerable - workforce, better health and
safety at work must be promoted.

Main facts and trends

With nearly 5 million accidents in 200015 resulting in more than 3 days of absence from work
in  the  EU,  the  Commission  considers  the  number  of  accidents  too  high,  even  though  the
incidence  rate  (defined  as  the  number  of  accidents  at  work  per  100.000  persons  in
employment) has decreased between 1994 and 2000. The incidence rate was of 4016 resulting
in accidents of more than 3 days' absence of work for the EU average in 2000, against 4539 in
1994  and  4088  in  1999.  During  this  period  the  incidence  rate  has  decreased  in  all  Member
States except in Spain, Ireland and Sweden.

There  are  also  important  sectoral  difference  in  the  distribution  of  the  number  of  accidents,
with  the  highest  incidence  rate  observed  in  construction,  agriculture,  fishing  and  services
(hotels and restaurants) sectors, in particular in those sectors with a high number of temporary
workers or irregular employment contracts.

illnesses  are  among 

the  most  significant
Occupational  diseases  and  work-related 
consequences  of  poor  health  and  safety  at  work  conditions.  According  to  the  1999  Ad-Hoc
module on "Work-related health problems" of the Labour Force Survey and to the survey of
the  European  Foundation  for  the  Improvement  of  Living  Conditions  on  the  perception  of
workers  and  employers  of  the  working  conditions,  more  and  more  workers  suffer  from
musculo-skeletal disorders such as back  pain and  disorders caused  by repetitive  movements
(52%),  from  stress,  depression  and  anxiety  (18%)  as  well  as  general  tiredness,  hearing
disorders and cardiovascular diseases.

Ongoing efforts and implications

The 2003 Employment Guidelines, in line with the  new  Community  Strategy  on health and
safety  at  work  2002-200616,  call  on  Member  States  to  undertake  appropriate  measures  to
improve  heath  and  safety  and  to  achieve  a  substantial  reduction  of  the  incidence  rate  of
accidents at work  and  of occupational diseases.  In response to the  Guidelines,  five  Member
States  (Denmark,  Greece,  France,  Portugal  and  UK)  have  set  quantitative  targets  in  the
reduction of accidents.

The new Community strategy on health and safety at work focuses on the need to consolidate
a  culture  of  risk  prevention,  to  combine  a  variety  of  policy  instruments  (legislation,  social
dialogue,  progressive  measures  and  best  practices,  corporate  social  responsibility  and
economic  incentives)  and  to  develop  partnerships  between  all  the  actors  involved.  This
strategy  adopts  a  global  approach  of  this  issue,  taking  into  account  the  changes  in  the
organisation of work and the newly emerging risks such as musculo-skeletal disorders, stress
and others risk of psycho-social nature.

14

15

16

Source Eurostat.
See New Cronos data base from EUROSTAT, collected on the basis of ESAW methodology (European
Statistics on Accidents at Work)
COM(2002) 118, "Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy on health and
safety at work 2002-2006"

13

                                                
The  European  Health  and  Safety  Directives  have  given  new  impetus  and  encouraged  the
development  of  occupational  safety  and  health  with  a  significant  reduction  of  occupational
accidents.  However,  this  progress  has  not  been  as  big  as  expected.  As  highlighted  in  the
strategy, the efforts made for the implementation of the provisions of the health and Safety at
Work  Directives  should  be  intensified,  in  order  to  make  health  and  safety  protection  a
tangible reality contributing to the improvement of productivity and quality in work.

Environmental  policies  also  a  have  a  role  to  play  in  improving  quality  in  work,  notably  in
relation to health and safety. For example, the REACH proposal relating to chemicals allow
risk reduction measures to be implemented.

2.5. 

 Flexibility and security

In  the  context  of  globalisation,  ongoing  restructuring  and  the  move  towards  a  knowledge
based economy,  European  labour  markets  need  to  be  more  responsive  to  change.  This  calls
for  flexibility  on  the  part  of  the  firms  and  of  workers  with  regard  notably  to  work
organisation, working time, contractual arrangements and  national or  geographical mobility.
At  the  same  time  quality  requires  adequate  security  for  the  workers  to  ensure  sustainable
integration and progress on the labour market, and to foster a wider acceptance of change.

Main facts and trends

Part-time  employment  is  one  form  of  internal  flexibility  within  firms.  It  has  developed
moderately since 2000 (from 18.6% to 18.9% in 2002). The highest, still increasing, rates are
found  in  the  Netherlands,  the  United  Kingdom,  Germany,  Denmark  and  Belgium.  In  the
Netherlands,  three  quarters  of  all  part-time  workers  declare  not  to  want  a  full-time  job.  In
Germany and the UK around half of the part-time workers choose this form of  work due to
care  of  children  or  other  dependants.  The  lowest  rates  of  part-time  work  are  observed  in
Greece, Portugal and Spain. Important gender differences in part-time rates remain: more than
one third of women, against 6.3% of men, work part-time.

The proportion of employees working under fixed term contracts has stagnated since 2000, at
around a 13% rate. Important differences among Member States should be noted. The share
was  highest  in  Spain  (31%),  Portugal  (22%)  and  Finland  (16%).  Unlike  for  part-time
employment, women's employment share in temporary work is only slightly higher than that
of men.

The security dimension is difficult to measure. In a dynamic perspective, security refers to an
individual's ability to remain and progress on the labour market. It includes decent pay, access
to lifelong learning, good working conditions, appropriate protection against discrimination or
unfair dismissal, support in the case of job loss and the right to transfer acquired social rights
in  the  case  of  job  mobility.  While  part-time  and  temporary  jobs  can  function  as  stepping
stones  into  the  labour  market  and  facilitate  labour  market  participation  for  certain  types  of
persons,  the  evidence  so  far  is  that  employees  under  these  forms  of  contracts  risk
discrimination  in  pay  and  pension  and  have  less  opportunities  to  participate  in  continuous
training and to improve their career prospects.

Ongoing efforts and implications

There  is  a  role  both  for  public  authorities  to  encourage  part-time  work  where  it  is  under-
developed, in particular through changes in the legislation, and for social partners to promote
the quality of part-time jobs through collective agreements.

14

In order to enhance the contribution of fixed-term contracts to  the functioning of the labour
market,  Member  States  and  social  partners  should  eliminate  elements  in  the  contractual
framework which could lead to the emergence of a two-tier labour market, whereby insiders
benefit from a  high level of protection  and  an  increasing  number  of  outsiders  remain  under
precarious  employment  conditions.  Implementation of the EU Directives  on  Temporary  and
Part-time work is essential to promote a more equal treatment among workers under different
working  statutes.  It  should  be  complemented  by  an  EU  Directive  on  Temporary  Agency
Work, in order to promote new forms of flexibility for firms while securing adequate security
for workers concerned.17

Ensuring equal access to training, to health care and to social protection rights for employees
under atypical forms of contract is particularly important to promote a good balance between
flexibility and security.

2.6. 

 Inclusion and access to the labour market

The promotion of an inclusive labour market is one of the three overarching objectives of the
new European Employment Strategy. An inclusive labour market implies that it is possible for
all citizens of working age who are willing and capable of work to enter and  remain  on the
labour market.

Main facts and trends

In  2002,  4.4%  of  the  EU  population  of  working  age  were  inactive  and  declared  that  they
wanted to work. Reasons for not working included in particular family responsibility, illness
or disability, other reasons for non-availability for work, and discouragement in job search.

Long-term unemployment entails serious risks of exclusion from the labour market and gives
a  measure  of  the  capacity  of  the  labour  market  institutions  to  reintegrate  workers.  In  2002
long-term  unemployment  decreased  slightly  but  still  affected  around  3%  of  the  EU  labour
force. It remains most common in Greece and Italy, where more than 5% of the labour force is
affected. For the EU as a whole, long-term unemployment rates are higher for women than for
men, although the opposite applies in Finland, Ireland, Sweden and the UK.

Young people face in many Member States important difficulties to access the labour market.
In  2002  youth  unemployment  remained  around  twice  as  high  as  the  overall  unemployment
rate and reached more than 15% in the EU. Youth unemployment is particularly high at 20%
or more in Finland, France, Greece, Italy and Spain.

The  available data show  a relative poor performance  on  transition  from  unemployment  into
employment. Only 40% of people unemployed in 1999 were employed in 2000. The rest were
still  unemployed  or  had  withdrawn  from  the  labour  market.  The  three  best  performing
countries are Portugal (61%), Austria (54%) and the Netherlands (53%).

Ongoing efforts and implications

Ensuring  an  appropriate  transition  from  unemployment  and  inactivity  to  employment  is  the
aim pursued by activation and prevention policies. Much progress has been achieved on both
fronts  in  response  to  the  Employment  Guidelines.  However,  according  to  the  latest  Joint

17

[Commission Proposal for a Directive of European Parliament and the Council on working conditions
for temporary workers - Com(2002) 149 final - and Amended proposal Com(2002)701

15

                                                
Employment  Report,  only  five  Member  States  had  met  the  target  on  prevention,  and  more
efforts  are  needed  to  improve  the  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  active  labour  market
measures.  In  order  to  promote  the  sustainable  integration  into  employment  of  unemployed
and  inactive  people,  the  2003  Employment  Guidelines  ask  Member  States  to  offer  to  every
unemployed  person  a  new  start  before  reaching  6  months  of  unemployment,  in  the  case  of
young people, and 12 months of unemployment in the case of adults, in the form of training,
retraining, work practice,  a job, or  other employment measure; and to ensure that,  by 2010,
25% at least of the long-term unemployed participate in an active measure.

Other  labour  market  tools  to  promote  inclusion  include  Making  work  pay  policies  (see  2.1
above),  life-long  learning  (2.2)  or  the  positive  management  of  company  restructuring.
Facilitating participation in employment for people who are distant from the labour market is
also a major plank of the EU Inclusion Strategy, which covers many other policy fields such
as housing, health care, and social protection systems. The Joint Inclusion Report  2003 will
review and access progress by Member States under this wide agenda for inclusion.

2.7. 

 Work organisation and work-life balance.

Work organisation and work life balance depend on a number of aspects treated under other
dimensions of quality at work: the introduction of more flexible methods and forms of work,
including flexible working time; the availability of  adequate care provision  for  children  and
other  dependants,  a  more  balanced  approach  between  flexibility  and  security;  a  better
application  of  existing  legislation  on  health  and  safety;  and  the  adaptation  of  workers  to
changes at work through lifelong learning at enterprise level.

Main facts and trends

Parenthood has a negative effect on women's employment rates. Average employment rate for
women, aged between 20 and 50, with a child aged 0-6 was 12.7 pp lower than that of women
without children in 2002. By contrast, the employment rate of men tends to increase with the
presence of children. In 2002 it was 9.5 pp higher than the employment rate of men without
children.

The  differences  in  women's  employment  rates  with  and  without  children,  were  particularly
high in Ireland (16.3 pp), in Germany (21.4 pp) and in UK (22.9). In these countries, as well
as in others like Spain or Greece where the differences are relatively smaller, the care services
offered are not sufficient to deal with the scale of demand. In this context, it is noticeable that
throughout  the  EU  women  work  part-time  five  times  as  often  as  men  (33%  and  6%
respectively).

More than 10% of  employees in all EU  Member  States except in Denmark,  Ireland  and the
southern EU Member States, work overtime hours. The share of employees working overtime
is  highest  in  Austria,  the  Netherlands  and  the  UK,  and  almost  30%  of  all  employees  work
overtime. In a  large majority  of  countries,  notably the southern EU Member States, there is
comparatively little flexibility in working time arrangements.

Ongoing efforts and implications.

Flexible work arrangements and adequate care services for children and other dependants are
essential  to  ensure  the  full  participation  of  women  and  men  on  the  labour  market.  Some
efforts  to  reconcile  work  and  family  life  have  been  implemented  in  most  Member  States.
They  include:  more  flexible  work  and  working-time  organisation  (Germany,  Belgium  and
France);  part-time  work  facilities  (Sweden,  Luxembourg  and  Ireland);  development  of

16

parental leave (Denmark, France, UK, Spain and the Netherlands); new measures, quantitative
targets and deadlines on childcare provision (Belgium, France, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Greece, Spain, Portugal and Sweden).

Nevertheless  childcare  provision  is  still  far  from  the  2003  Employment  Guidelines  targets:
childcare should be provided by 2010 to at least 90% of children between three years old and
the mandatory school age and at least 33% of children under three years of age. Therefore a
greater effort should be made in providing more accessible and high-quality care services for
children  and  other  dependants,  and  to  facilitate  the  choice  between  part  time  and  full  time
work,. Social partners implication is a necessary condition to achieve this objective.

The  Knowledge  Society  opens  new  perspectives  for  the  quality  of  work18:  creating  the
conditions  for  change  in  existing  jobs;  generating  new  working  methods  and  new  ways  of
organizing work; allowing greater flexibility in the workplace. Telework represents a specific
case  of  ICT  driven  flexibility,  enabling  new  forms  of  work  organization  and  work-life
balance,  removing  barriers  to  mobility  and  opening  thus  new  job  opportunities  for  people
excluded so far from the labour market.

2.8. 

 Social dialogue and worker involvement

Social dialogue is a key factor for improving quality in work and for ensuring the success of
the European Employment Strategy. Collective agreements in particular are an important tool
in the hands of the social partners to both shape industrial relations as well as improve quality
in  work.  But  other  forms  of  worker  involvement,  notably  information  and  consultation
mechanisms,  participation  in  works  councils  and  other  staff  committees,  such  as  those
ensuring health and safety standards, should also be enhanced19.

Main facts and trends

In  2000  (last  available  data),  the  European  social  partners  signed  collective  agreements
covering directly 70 million employees. Taking into account the procedures extending these
agreements, the rate of coverage (number of employees covered by a collective agreement as
a proportion of the  number of  employees) is  in  fact  around  80%.  With  the  exception  of  the
United Kingdom (where the rate of coverage is just under 30%), this rate is relatively high in
the  other  Member  States,  as  more  than  two  thirds  of  employees  are  covered  by  collective
agreements.  The  highest rates (more  than  90%)  can  be  found  in  Austria,  Belgium,  Sweden,
France and Greece.

Concerning the days lost by industrial disputes, the figures vary among countries and in years.
Recent evolution shows that low conflicting years (1997, 1999 and 2001 with respective 37,
32 and 42 days lost per 1000 workers) are preceded by high conflicting years (54 in 1996, 54
in 1998 and 61 in 2000). The highest average rates  for the period 1997-2001 were found in

18

19

See Information Society jobs - quality for change - Exploiting the Information Society's contribution to
managing  change  and  enhancing  quality  in  employment.  Commission  Staff  Working  Document
SEC(2202)372.
The  Council  did  not  finalise  common  indicators  under  this  dimension  of  quality  in  2001.  Instead  it
proposed to examine several possibilities: measuring employee representation; coverage of employees
by  collective  agreements;  days  lost  in  industrial  disputes;  proportion  of  employees  with  recognised
worker  representation;  coverage  of  works  and  council  and  other  forms  of  representation;  and  trade
union  density.  The  analysis  of  this  section  is  supported  by  the  issues  where,  comparable  data  are
available: collective agreements and days lost in industrial disputes.

17

                                                
Spain, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy and Finland, whereas very low rates were identified in
Austria, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.20

Ongoing efforts and implications

lifelong 

learning  collective  agreements 

A  positive  feature  of  collective  bargaining  over  recent  years  has  been  its  extension  to  new
policy  areas  including  several  related  to  quality.  Four  areas  are  worth  highlighting  in  this
context:  1) 
in  Belgium,  Finland,  Germany
(metalworking  industry  in  Baden-Württemberg),  Italy  and  Portugal;  2)  equal  opportunities
aiming  at  reducing  gender  pay  inequalities  (Belgium,  Finland,  Netherlands  and  Ireland),  at
combating race  discrimination  (France,  Denmark  and  Ireland),  at  increasing  employment  of
disabled persons (Belgium Italy and Ireland) and at preventing age discrimination (Denmark
and  Austria);  3)  health  and  safety  at  work  collective  agreements  on  the  prevention  and
treatment of stress (Belgium) on well-being and psychological work environment (Denmark)
and  against  the  excessive  workload  (the  Netherlands);  4)  flexibility  and  work-life  balance
collective agreements on parental leave (Sweden), on family leave and family-linked working
time  patterns  (Belgium,  Greece,  Italy,  and  the  Netherlands),  on  sabbaticals  (Finland),  on
childcare  arrangements  (Greece,  Ireland  and  the  Netherlands),  on  flexitime  and  teleworking
(Italy,  Austria,  and  Denmark)  and  on  temporary  agency  workers  (Italy  and  Germany).  The
wide  effective  coverage  of  employees  by  collective  agreements  in  most  countries  is  an
important element of the quality of industrial relations, modernising working  conditions and
better articulating economic and social needs.

Also  a  variety  of  forms  to  increase  overall  worker  involvement  ranging  from  tripartite  and
bipartite  national  pacts  in  a  large  number  of  member  states  (such  as  Belgium,  Finland,
Ireland,  Portugal,  and  most  recently  the  Netherlands)  and  consultation  processes  in  Ireland
and  the  UK  on  the  implementation  of  EU  Directive  on  information  and  consultation
(2002/14/EC)  are  underway.  Workplace  partnership  is  also  fostered  in  Ireland  through  the
National Center for Partnership and Performance and generally partnership agreements in the
UK and Ireland are on the increase. In Italy new participatory structures at various levels have
been created by a number of sectoral agreements.

The European social partners have agreed a joint work programme for the period 2003-2005
which lays down a number of issues to be tackled, such as stress at work, equal opportunities
and orientations addressing the social consequences of restructuring as well as the follow-up
to  their  agreement  on  telework  and  the  framework  of  actions  concerning  the  lifelong
development  of  qualifications  and  competencies.  The  sectoral  European  social  dialogue  is
invited to address theses issues as well.

2.9. 

 Diversity and non-discrimination.

The EU Treaty and legislation establish the principle that all workers must be treated equally
without  discrimination  in  terms  of  sex,  age,  disability  or  ethnic  origin.  Beyond  such  legal
obligation, more and more organisations acknowledge that they will only be able to function
properly  if  they  favour  diversity  management.  Diversity  management  can  be  defined  as
meeting the needs of a culturally diverse workforce and of sensitising workers and managers

20

It  must  be  pointed  out  that  the  data  on  industrial  disputes  as  an  indicator  of  the  quality  of  industrial
relations is difficult to assess. In some cases, a low level of industrial disputes can be considered as a
sign of good quality relations linked to a high level of unionism and a better functioning and regulatory
framework of industrial relations. But it can also be a sign of loss of union influences or of the fear from
employees to lose their job in a context a high unemployment or high insecurity

18

                                                
to differences associated with gender, race, age and nationality in an attempt to maximise the
potential productivity of all employees21.

Main facts and trends

The  employment  rate  of  55-64  years  olds  reached  40.1%  in  2002  from  36.6%  in  1998.
Despite  this,  the  gap  with  the  overall  employment  rate  was  only  marginally  reduced  since
1998  (from  24.8  pp  in  1998  to  24.2  in  2002).  The  employment  rate  of  women  for  this  age
group (30.5%) is far below that of men (50.1%). Clear differences exist across countries.

The  position  of  non-EU  nationals  on  the  EU  labour  market  is  considerably  worse  than  the
position  of  EU  nationals22.  In  2002,  the  overall  employment  rate  of  non-EU  nationals  was
nearly 53% compared to 66% for EU nationals. For non-EU national women, the differences
are even larger (41% compared to 59%), with particularly low employment rates in Belgium
(18%)  and  France  (29%).  The  differences  are  more  significant  when  skills  are  taken  into
account: the employment rate for high-skilled EU nationals was about 83% at the EU level,
compared to only 66% for  high  skilled non-EU nationals. The largest  gaps  are  found in the
Nordic countries, in France and in Belgium.

People with disabilities are relatively more vulnerable to exclusion from work. Only 39% of
disabled  people  are  employed  compared  to  almost  60%  of  the  average  population23.  More
than 14 per cent of the working age population report some form of disability, which amounts
to  approximately  26  million  people  of  working  age24  in  the  current  European  Union.  This
figure  will  undoubtedly  rise  following  enlargement  to  25  Member  States25  where  one  in  25
persons  (not  necessarily  of  working  age  but  including  many  older  people)  report  a  form  of
disability  that  limits  their  activities  of  daily  life.  Moreover,  the  number  of  people  with
disabilities in the European Union will continue to increase as a consequence of the ageing of
the population.

Ongoing efforts and implications

Most member States stress the need to continue integration efforts with more emphasis placed
on  recruitment  policies  of  disadvantaged  persons  in  combination  with  anti-discrimination
policies. Some Member States (Austria, Germany, Ireland and UK) have set national targets
for the employment of disabled people. In general, the lack of data makes the assessment of
progress difficult. However, the existing employment gaps make it necessary to reinforce the
preventive  and  active  policy  measures  to  promote  the  integration  of  these  persons  into  the
labour  market,  combined  with  appropriate  working  conditions  and  greater  diversity  of
contractual relations.

In  order  to  raise  the  employment  rates  for  the  55-64  years  olds,  some  Member  States  have
introduced  incentives  for  employers  to  retain  or  to  recruit  older  workers  and  penalties  to
discourage their dismissal. Most Member States have also implemented reforms of pensions

21

22

23

24

25

The criteria of citizinship is used as a proxy.

Ellis,  C.  and  Sonenfield,  J.A.  (1994)  'Diverse  Approaches  to  Managing  Diversity',  Human  Resource
Management, Vol.3, No.1, pp.79-109.
There exist no EU-comparable data on the labour market situation of migrants or ethnic  minorities as
such. 
Disability  and  social  participation  in  Europe",  European  Commission,  Eurostat,  theme  3  "Population
and social conditions", 2001
Excluding Sweden since there is no data for this Member State in the ECHP.
See Candidate Countries EUROBAROMETER 2002.1: Social Situation in the Countries Applying for
EU Membership

19

                                                
and  introduced  stricter  condition  for  pre-retirement.  However,  comprehensive  national
strategies  and  better-targeted policy  actions are  needed in  order  to increase  the  employment
rate  for  older  people,  covering  not  only  financial  incentives  but  also  life-long  learning
strategies and adapted working conditions. Reaching the Lisbon target of an employment rate
of 50% for older workers by 2010, and raising the average effective exit age from the labour
market  by  5  years  by  2010,  as  requested  by  the  Barcelona  European  Council,  will  not  be
achieved without major policy changes.

As  regards  migrants,  it  is  important  to  build  upon  the  experience  acquired  and  the
qualifications already obtained outside the EU by means of recognition and proper assessment
of formal and informal experience of migrants. In spite of the efforts already undertaken by
the social partners, more effective actions should be taken to stop discrimination at the work
place. The improved integration of migrants is particularly necessary in the light of the new
immigration flows.

As underlined in the Communication on disability expected to be adopted by the Commission
by  end  2003,  Member  States  should  increase  their  efforts  to  implement  effective  disability
mainstreaming in their  employment policy in order to  achieve  a  better  integration of people
with disabilities. In particular active labour market policies should take better into account the
heterogeneous needs of disabled.

In  order  to  monitor  progress  of  this  objective,  better  statistics  on  the  situation  of
disadvantaged people are needed from the Member States.

2.10.  Overall work performance

As pointed before, a positive link can be observed between quality in work, productivity and
overall employment performance26.

Main facts and trends

EU  employment  and  productivity  growth  patterns  have  diverged  sharply  over  recent  years.
Compared with the first half of the 1990s, the period 1996-2002 has witnessed  a significant
increase in the contribution of labour to EU GDP growth but this has been partially offset by a
reduction  in  the  contribution  from  labour  productivity.  Productivity  growth  per  person
employed, at about 2% in the 1980s and the second half of the 1990s, fell to 1% in the 1996-
2002 period. In this period the hourly productivity growth stood at 1.4%, one percentage point
lower than in the first half of the 1990s.

While  in  the  short-run  productivity  growth  appears  to  vary  inversely  with  employment
growth,  for  example  due  to  labour  hoarding  during  recessions,  in  the  long-run  productivity
growth depends on the rate of technological progress. Maximising the fraction of  the  active
population  employed  without  sacrificing  productivity  growth  is  a  clear  and  desirable
objective:  more  people  at  work,  working  more  productively.  Pressing  ahead  with  the
necessary  labour  market  reforms  may  entail  a  period  of  productivity  growth  below  full
potential, but this should  not be regarded  as  a trade-off in  any sense. A higher  employment
rate implies an unambiguous increase in GDP per capita with no negative implications for the
long-run  productivity  growth  of  the  existing  workforce.  Furthermore,  progress  on  labour

26

See point 2.2. above. An analysis of the relationship between productivity and quality in work can be found in the
"Employment in Europe, 2002" report.

20

                                                
market reforms does nothing to impede efforts to stimulate investment and technical progress.
Thus, there is no reason why policy makers cannot act on both fronts simultaneously.

EU productivity growth compared to the US has been disappointing in particular in ICT using
services,  which  alone  represent  21%  of  total  employment.  While  the  EU  did  better  in  ICT
using manufacturing, this represents just 6% of total employment27. Technological progress is
influenced  by  investments  (including  physical  assets,  education,  training  and  R&D).
Organisational changes at the firm level that allow a better combination of inputs and a more
educated labour force may increase the efficiency of matching between capital and labour and
thus productivity. Employment in Europe 2003 has shown that the distribution of skills in the
entire  economy  can  affect  productivity  growth.  The  findings  of  the  report  suggest  that
education and training policies that promote a wide diffusion of knowledge are important.As
regards educational attainment, the average proportion of population in the 25-64 age group
having achieved at least the upper secondary education reached 64.6% in 2002 from 62.2 in
1999. Significant differences exist according to sex, age and working status. Men's proportion
(66.9 % in 2002) remains higher than that of women (62.4%). The rate of 55-64 age group is
particularly  low  (49.6%).  This  is  also  the  case  for  the  unemployed  (59.3%)  and  inactive
(45%) compared to  employed  (72.1%).  Clear  differences  exists  across  Member  States,  with
lowest rates, in 2002, in Portugal (20.1%), Spain (46.1%), and Italy (49.6%) and highest rates
in Sweden (87.1%), UK (86.3%) and Finland (84.4%).

Ongoing efforts and implications

The  Lisbon  strategy  has  defined  a  broad  framework  to  increase  the  long  run  productivity
growth using all the available instruments to stimulate technical progress, whilst at the same
time  encouraging  the  labour-intensive  growth  in  the  medium  term  that  is  needed  to  move
towards full employment. In a globalised world competitiveness can be strengthened through
the creation and diffusion of knowledge, which together with innovation and skills are among
the factors driving growth.

These factors depend on the level and persuasiveness of  education, training, learning on the
job  and  R&D.  A  high-skilled  workforce  contributes  to  reducing  the  costs  of  implementing
new  technologies  and  helps  the  less  well  educated  to  work  with  new  technology.  Skills
upgrading  improves  competitiveness  directly  through  an  increase  in  the  skills  content  of
production  processes  and  indirectly  through  knowledge  spillovers.  Hence  investment  in
human  capital  and  training  can  contribute  to  reverse  the  slowdown  in  labour  productivity
growth.

Life-long learning for all becomes a central element of a strategy for productivity growth. The
pervasiveness of knowledge is crucial to enhance and diffuse throughout the whole economy
the  use  of  new  technologies  and  to  prevent  segmentation  of  the  labour  market  between
workers with different types of education. In this context an important effort is to be made in
some  Member  States  to  increase  the  level  of  educational  attainment  of  employees  and  to
achieve  the  Employment  Guidelines  target  of  85%  of  22-years  olds  completing  upper
secondary education by 2010.

27

See chapter 2 Employment in Europe 2003

21

                                                
However,  other  quality  in  work  dimensions  contribute  to  improving  productivity  as  well:
improving social dialogue and work relationships; increasing flexibility and adaptation to new
forms of work organisation and better balancing flexibility and security; insuring better career
prospects for employees; improving health and safety at work. Member States' policies should
take  into  account  the  operating  dynamic  of  this  virtuous  circle  and  to  exploit  the  positive
interactions between quality and productivity.    

22

ANNEX 1. INDICATOR OF QUALITY IN WORK: LIST APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL

1. INTRINSIC JOB QUALITY

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

1. Transitions between non-employment and employment and within

employment by pay level

(source: European Community Household Panel – ECHP).

Status at t

Status at (t-1)

1st
decile

2nd
decile

3rd
decile

4th-10th
decile

Non-
Employment
28

Total

100

100

100

100

100

1st decile

2nd decile

3rd decile

4th-10th decile

Non-Employment

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

2. Transitions between non-employment and employment and within

employment by type of contract (source: ECHP)

Situation at t

Permanent
contract

Fixed-term
contract

Non-
Employment

Total

Situation at (t-1)

Permanent
contract

Fixed-term
contract

Non-Employment

100

100

100

3. Satisfaction with type of work in present job (source: ECHP).

28

Non-employment covers both unemployment and inactivity.

23

                                                
2. SKILLS, LIFE-LONG LEARNING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

4. Percentage of working age population participating in education and training
(source: Labour force survey – LFS). 29

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

5. Percentage of working age population participating in education and training by gender, age group
(25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64 and 25-64 years), working status and educational levels achieved (source:
LFS).

6.  Percentage  of  the  workforce  participating  in  job-related  training  by  gender,  age  groups  and
economic activity (source: Continuing Vocational Training Survey - CVTS).

7. Share of the workforce, using computers at home and/or at the workplace for work purpose a) with
and b) without job-related computer training (source: Eurobarometer survey on ICT and employment,
November 2000).

3. GENDER EQUALITY

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

8.  Ratio  of  women's  hourly  earnings  index  to  men's  for  paid  employees  at  work  15+hours
(source: ECHP).

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

9. Ratio of women's hourly earnings index to men's for paid employees at work 15+hours, adjusted for
sector, occupation and age (source: ECHP).

10. Employment rate gap of women compared with men (source: LFS).

11.  Unemployment  rate  gap  of  women  compared  with  men  (source:  Eurostat  harmonised  series  on
unemployment).

12.  Gender  segregation  in  sectors:  The  average  national  share  of  employment  for  women  and  men
applied to each sector. The differences are added to produce a total amount of gender imbalance. This
figure is presented as a proportion of total employment (source: LFS).

13.  Gender  segregation  in  occupations:  The  average  national  share  of  employment  for  women  and
men  applied  to  each  occupation.  The  differences  are  added  to  produce  a  total  amount  of  gender
imbalance. This figure is presented as a proportion of total employment (source: LFS).

4. HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

14. The evolution of the incidence rate, defined as the number of accidents at work per 100.000
persons in employment (source: European Statistics on Accidents at Work – ESAW).

29

Including initial education and continuous vocational training. Excluding leisure training.

24

                                                
5. FLEXIBILITY AND SECURITY

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

15. Number of employees working voluntary and involuntary part-time as % of total number of
employees  and  of  those  with  voluntary  and  involuntary  fixed-term  contracts  as  %  of  total
number of employees (source: LFS).

This should be accompanied by information on the extent to which part-time and fixed-term workers
enjoy equivalent and commensurate entitlements to social protection and legal rights as full-time and
permanent workers

6. INCLUSION AND ACCESS TO THE LABOUR MARKET

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

16. Transitions between employment, unemployment and inactivity (source: LFS).

Status at t

Status at (t-1)

Employment Unemployment

Inactivity Total

Employment

Unemployment

Inactivity

100

100

100

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

17. Transition of unemployed people into employment and training (source: LFS).

Status at t

Training

Non-
Employment

Employment

Total (t-1)

Training

Non-
Employment

Employment

Total (t)

18. Total employment rate (source: LFS).

19. Employment rate by main age group and educational attainment levels (source: LFS).

20. Total long-term unemployment rate by gender (source: Eurostat harmonised series u/e).

25

21. Percentage of 18-24 year olds having achieved lower secondary education (ISCED level 2) or less
and not attending further education or training, by gender and working status (source: LFS).

22. Youth unemployment ratio: unemployment aged 15-24 as a percentage of the population aged 15-
24 (source: Eurostat harmonised series u/e).

7. WORK ORGANISATION AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

23.  Absolute  difference  in  employment  rates  without  the  presence  of  any  children  and  with
presence of a child aged 0-6, by sex (age group 20-50) (source: LFS).

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

24. Children cared for (other than by the family) as a proportion of all children in the same age group.
Broken  down  by  before  non-compulsory  pre-school  system,  in  non-compulsory  or  equivalent  pre-
school  system,  and  compulsory  primary  education  (source:  national  sources  –  at  the  moment,  this
indicator can only measure trends within each Member State).

25. Number of employees who left their last job for family responsibilities or for education purposes
no more than 12 months ago who return later to work but are currently not available for work (for the
same reasons why they left their last job) as a % of all employees by gender (source: LFS).

8. SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND WORKER INVOLVEMENT

Recognising the wide differences in arrangements, practice and traditions between Member States, the
Committee believes that the best approach is to identify a range or menu of indicators and proposes to
examine urgently, inter alia, the following possibilities:

- measuring employee representation and involvement;

- the percentage of employees covered by collective agreements;

-  the  evolution  of  the  number  of  days  lost  per  1000  employees  in  industrial  disputes  by  economic
activity (NACE), measuring trends within each Member State;

- the proportion of employees with recognised worker representation;

- the coverage of works councils and other forms of representation and involvement; and

- trade union density.

9. DIVERSITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

26. Employment rate gap of 55-64 year olds (source: LFS).

27. The gap between the employment and unemployment rates for ethnic minorities and immigrants,
taking  into account the  distinction  between  low  and  high  level  qualifications,  as  compared  with  the
overall rates (source: currently national sources.

28. The gap between the employment and unemployment rates for disabled people, taking into account
the distinction between low and high level qualifications, as compared with the overall rates (source:
currently national sources).

26

10. OVERALL WORK PERFORMANCE

RECOMMENDED KEY INDICATOR

29.Growth  in  labour  productivity,  measured  as  change  in  the  levels  of  GDP  per  capita  of  the
employed population and per hour worked % (source: Eurostat, DG ECFIN).

RECOMMENDED CONTEXT INDICATORS

30. Total annual output divided by the number of occupied population and of hours worked (source:
Eurostat, DG ECFIN, OECD (working time)).

31. Percentage of working age population having achieved at least upper secondary education (ISCED
level  3)  by  gender,  age  group  (25-34,  35-44,  45-54,  55-64  and  25-64  years)  and  working  status
(source: LFS).

27

LU

NL

PT

SE

UK EU15

ANNEX 2 INDICATORS ON QUALITY IN WORK (data)

- Unless other wise indicated, the source of data is the source indicated in the EMCO proposal. Latest available data are provided

From 1st decile into
2nd-10th decile

From 1st decile into
non-employment

From 2nd decile into
3rd -10 decile

From 2nd decile into
non-employment

From 3rd decile into
4th-10th decile

From 3rd decile into
non-employment

From fixed-term
into permanent

Remaining in fixed-
term

From fixed-term
into non-
employment

1.Transitions  between  non-
employment  and  employment
and within employment by pay
level (1999-2000)

2.Transitions  between  non-
employment  and  employment
and  within  employment  by
contract type (1999-2000)

AT

BE

DE

DK

ES

23

17

21

32

27

FI

24

FR

GR

27

23

IE

35

IT

19

13

24

24

21

39

31

19

16

26

21

29

33

24

35

34

33

34

31

35

35

6

5

9

17

15

20

12

13

24

11

19

24

23

31

50

28

39

32

43

37

8

8

9

10

14

6

6

6

12

8

:

:

:

:

:

:

27

32

20

21

32

31

10

4

31

30

5

3

45

24

41

51

27

22

24

31

45

33

54

50

29

39

36

21

49

49

52

45

23

39

34

16

25

15

20

17

22

28

21

20

26

24

8

28

:

:

:

3.Job satisfaction

1999

2000

5.1

5.2

4.7

4.6

4.9

4.9

4.3

4.3

4.5

4.4

4.6

4.7

3.9

4

:

:

4.3

4.2

4.8

4.8

4.2

4.2

28

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

24

24

20

23

25

30

11

11

27

32

7

8

44

35

28

39

24

22

:

:

4.4

4.4

5.2

8.5

:

:

4.Participation 
and training

in  education

1998

2002

:

7.5

4.4

6.5

5.3

5.8

19.8

18.4

AT

BE

DE

DK

ES

4.3

5.0

FI

FR

GR

IE

16.1

18.9

2.7

2.7

1.0

1.2

:

7.7

IT

4.8

4.6

LU

NL

5.1

7.7

12.9

16.4

PT

3.0

2.9

:

:

18.4

22.3

SE

UK EU15

38

28

26

20

20

18

% 

6. 
employees
of 
participating  in  CVT  courses
(1999)

Enterprises with
agreement

Enterprises without
agreement

44

57

48

56

47

64

63

29

55

52

54

47

50

68

52

33

37

28

51

16

45

40

12

30

34

14

54

48

7.  %  of  working  population
aged  (cid:1)15trained  on  job-related
ICT skills

2001

2002

35.5

17.7

35.6

53.2

19.5

45.4

25.3

17.6

40

20

32

56

17

49

25

17

39.2

39.5

11.6

45.5

33.8

29.1

38

38

13

46

31

27

8.Gender pay gap (2000)

difference 

in
10.The 
employment 
rates  between
women and  men  in  percentage
points

difference 

11.The 
in
unemployment  rates  between
women  and  men  percentage
points

12.Gender 
sectors

segregation 

in

13.Gender 
occupations

segregation 

in

2001

2002

2001

2002

2001

2002

2001

2002

Public sector

14% -7% 20% 13%

3%

25%

Private sector

24% 15% 24% 16% 23% 15%

-16

-18

-14

-13

-17

-13

1

1.6

0.1

-8

-8

1

-29

-28

-5

-4

:

:

9%

15%

0%

22% 23% 15%

:

:

:

:

-17%

28%

-14

-30

-21

-27

-24

-18

-16

-13

-29

-20

-27

-24

-16

-15

:

:

-3

-3

18% 12%

26% 21%

-13

-18

-13

-17

7.9

1.1

3.3

8.6

-0.2

5.6

1

0.9

1.9

-0.7

-1.1

2.1

0.4

1.6

-0.4

0.2

8.4

0

2.1

8.4

-0.6

5.2

1.8

0.5

1.9

-0.8

-1.1

1.8

20.3

18.1

18.2

19.0

19.3

17.7

21.9

17.4

15.5

20.7

15.2

19.6

18.1

21.3

21.2

20.3

18.2

18.1

18.5

19.4

17.7

21.6

17.5

15.5

21.0

15.4

19.7

16.7

22.1

21.5

27.2

26.1

27.0

28.1

24.9

25.1

29.6

26.6

21.7

26.7

21.9

26.8

25.0

26.3

28.0

27.7

25.3

26.9

28.3

25.2

25.1

29.4

26.3

21.8

26.9

21.8

27.1

24.5

27.7

27.8

18.7

18.8

26.7

26.4

29

14.Accidents at work ( number
of 
accidents  per  100.000
workers and trend)

15.Part-time  employment  (in
% of employment)l

15.Fixed-term  contracts  (in  %
of employment)

16.Transitions 
employment, 
and inactivity (1999-2000)

between
unemployment

17.Transitions  of  unemployed
people  into  employment  and
training (1999-2000)

18.Total Employment rate

20.Long-term  unemployment
rate by gender (2002)

1998

2000

2001

2002

2001

2002

Unemployment into
employment
Remaining in
unemployment
Unemployment into
inactivity
Non-employment
into employment
Non-employment
into training
Remaining in non-
employment

2001

2002

Men

Women

AT

BE

DE

DK

ES

FI

FR

GR

IE

IT

LU

NL

PT

SE

UK EU15

3321

5112

4958

3203

6546

3435

4920

2936

1433

4105

4719

3309

5505

1329

1512

4094

3056

4213

4757

2866

7052

3046

5030

2595

1027

4049

4891

4095

4863

1475

1607

4021

18.2

18.5

20.9

20.2

7.9

12.2

16.3

4.0

16.4

8.4

10.4

42.2

11.0

21.1

24.6

20.2

19.1

21.4

20.0

7.9

12.8

16.1

4.5

16.5

8.6

10.6

43.9

11.2

21.5

24.9

17.8

18.1

7.8

7.1

54

26

20

45

2

53

8.8

12.4

9.2

31.7

16.4

14.6

12.6

5.2

8.1

11.9

9.1

31.0

16.0

13.9

11.2

5.4

46

29

26

27

7

66

49

33

19

26

5

68

48

15

37

13

11

76

40

36

24

30

1

69

43

36

21

29

5

66

34

36

30

24

2

74

37

47

16

21

2

76

42

32

26

25

16

59

9.8

9.9

25

50

25

17

2

81

5.6

14.3

20.4

15.2

6.7

13.3

5.1

14.4

21.7

15.2

6.3

13.0

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

53

18

30

21

7

72

61

20

20

39

0

61

68.5

59.9

65.8

76.2

57.7

68.1

62.8

55.4

65.7

54.8

63.1

74.1

68.7

74.0

71.7

69.3

59.9

65.3

75.9

58.4

68.1

63.0

56.7

65.3

55.5

63.7

74.4

68.2

73.6

71.7

0.6

1.1

3.1

4.1

3.9

4.1

0.8

1.0

2.3

6.3

2.5

2.0

2.3

3.3

3.0

8.3

1.7

0.7

4.1

7.2

0.6

1.0

0.6

0.8

1.4

2.2

1.2

0.8

1.4

0.7

30

40

36

24

25

4

72

64.1

64.3

2.6

3.6

21.  Percentage  of  18-24  year
olds  having  achieved 
lower
secondary  education  (ISCED
level  2)  or 
less  and  not
attending  further  education  or
training  and  working  status
(2002)

22.Youth unemployment ratio

23.Employment impact of
parenthood: absolute
difference in employment rates
without the presence of any
children and with the presence
of a child aged 0 (2002)

Percentage employed covered
by collective agreements

The evolution of the number of
days  lost  per  1000  employees
in industrial disputes

26.Employment  rate  of  55-64
year olds

30.Growth in labour
productivity per capita

GDP per hour worked *
(EU=100)

AT

8.8

Men

BE

DE

DK

ES

FI

FR

GR

IE

IT

LU

NL

PT

SE

UK EU15

14.9

12.6

13.8

35.4

12.6

14.9

20.1

18.5

27.9

14.4

15.7

52.9

11.4

Women

10.3

9.9

12.6

17

22.3

7.3

11.9

12.3

10.8

20.7

19.6

14.3

38.1

9.3

2001

2002

Men

3.2

3.7

6.1

6.3

4.2

4.9

-5.4

-10.6

-7.9

Women

8.9

3.1

21.4

98

(cid:1)90

42

19

22.9

26.7

-0.6

0.9

28.4

30.0

0.2

1.4

:

1

1

37.7

38.4

0.1

0.8

2001

2001

1997-2001 average

1998

2002

2001

2002

2002

5.7

5.2

:

:

83

24

297

52.0

57.8

1.1

2.3

9.1

9.5

-13.1

8.8

81

142

167

35.1

39.7

0.3

0.7

10.3

10.8

7.0

7.4

10.1

9.6

3.3

3.9

10.2

9.7

2.6

2.8

4.0

3.9

4.6

5.5

:

:

:

29

58

36.2

47.8

-0.6

1.3

-9.9

-14.3

-6.5

-14.2

-8.3

-4.7

-10.6

11.5

5.2

16.3

4.9

5.4

11.5

-1.4

90-95

86

74

28.3

34.8

0.3

0.5

:

:

:

39.0

39.7

4.5

4.2

:

82

85

41.7

48.1

2.6

4.6

:

66

62

27.7

28.9

0.1

58

88

0

2

25.1

28.3

-4.1

6

2

33.9

42.3

-0.5

-0.7

-1.9

-0.3

87

12

19

50.0

50.9

0.3

0.3

5.9

6.4

:

:

(cid:1)90

3

6

63.0

68.0

-0.8

1.7

103

125

108

106

82

96

117

68

117

110

127

115

58

94

87

100

31

:

:

21.4

16.2

7.7

7.8

7.0

7.2

-4.8

-9.5

22.9

12.7

:

21

15

49.0

53.5

1.5

1.1

36.6

40.1

0.4

0.7