Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Employment of priority categories (Lisbon Strategy)
Date: 2007-07-12
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU employment policy, European Employment Strategy, disabled person, elderly person, integration into employment, migrant worker, unemployment, woman, young person

27.10.2007

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 256/93

the

(Joint

Under

JEREMIE

initiative

tailored market-driven financial

3.5.3.2
European
Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises), national and
regional authorities can opt to deploy resources from the ERDF
instruments,
in the form of
such as equity, venture capital, guarantees or loans. JEREMIE has
been designed in a way that optimises ERDF funding by lever-
aging additional resources while its implementation is facilitated
by a more flexible regulatory framework. In 2007, EIF capital
increase should complement CIP and JEREMIE resources, and it
is estimated that by 2013, over one million SMEs will have
benefited from EIF financial instruments.

3.5.3.3 With a high leverage (e.g. EUR 1 from the Com-
munity budget leverages up to EUR 50 for SMEs by means of
guarantees), and a strong catalytic role vis-à-vis the financial
community (particularly in the case of venture capital funds),

Brussels, 11 July 2007.

the Community financial
instruments should be seen as an
example of best practice in the context of the Lisbon agenda. To
ensure wider take-up of technological applications under the
CIP, universities and SMEs should be targeted, with greater
emphasis on financing projects, on publicity to assist in identi-
fying intellectual capital, on approvals and issuing approvals, on
cooperation agreements and on the resulting benefits; b) to
ensure successful
JEREMIE, on
similar lines to rules for financing and state aids.

implementation by means of

3.5.4
In 2006 the EIB and EIF signed a cooperation agree-
ment, enabling in particular combinations of EIB credit lines
and EIF guarantees for innovative SMEs. Such operations are
likely to be further developed, in particular in the context of
JEREMIE.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of

the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Employment of priority

categories (Lisbon Strategy)’

(2007/C 256/18)

On 14 September 2006 (confirmed on 26 October 2006) the European Economic and Social Committee
decided, in accordance with Rule 31 of its Rules of Procedure and in the framework of its work initiated at
the request of the European Council of 23-24 March 2006, to draw up an information report on Employ-
ment of priority categories (Lisbon Strategy).

On 15 March 2007 the European Economic and Social Committee decided, in accordance with Rule 29(2)
of its Rules of Procedure, to convert this information report into an own-initiative opinion.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 18 June 2007. The rapporteur was Mr Greif.

At its 437th plenary session of 11-12 July 2007 (meeting of 12 July 2007), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 122 votes to none, with two abstentions:

1. Conclusions and recommendations

— Although standard jobs continue to be the predominant
form of employment throughout the EU, many of the new
jobs created in recent years — particularly for women —
have been part-time. There continues to be a manifest
shortage of suitable jobs for older workers. And for young
people in particular there has been a sharp increase in
atypical (non-standard) forms of employment, in some cases
without proper legal and social safeguards.

This opinion argues that in quantitative terms the ambi-
1.1
tious Lisbon employment objectives have been achieved only to
a limited extent and with clear differences between countries
which should always be borne in mind. The picture is also
contradictory as far as the quality of employment is concerned:
welcome examples of good practice in the employment policies
of individual Member States, which the EESC believes should be
identified and evaluated more systematically in future, are coun-
terbalanced throughout the EU by sobering facts:

— There has been little improvement in the labour market inte-
gration opportunities of disadvantaged groups (which can be
long-term
seen from the persistently high levels of

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the relatively high unemployment

unemployment,
rate
among young people and the low-skilled and the low level
of employment among older people in particular). The
labour market situation of socially marginalised groups also
remains extremely difficult.

that,

Against

this background,

in the context of

the Committee considers it
1.2
important
the ongoing debate on
flexicurity, any general definition and all measures designed to
increase
should
always be associated with a high degree of social security, active
labour-market policy, education and training and access to
social services.

adaptability of

and workers

firms

the

1.3
The EESC calls for greater prominence to be given to the
following points in the context of national social and employ-
ment policies aimed at the priority groups referred to in this
opinion in the labour market:

— measures to promote the integration of young people into
the labour market, aimed at offering them initial employ-
ment with prospects for the future;

— greater efforts to combat the many continuing forms of
discrimination and disadvantage suffered on grounds of age,
gender, disability or ethnic background, particularly with
regard to access to education, access to the labour market
and continuing employment;

— increasing employment security and preventing ‘insecure
employment traps’,
inter alia by ensuring that the unem-
ployed are not obliged to take on jobs offering no security,
by combating undeclared work and by preventing the
exploitation of workers employed on short-term contracts;

— measures to improve the quality of jobs and protect workers

against discrimination;

— more investment in the quality of

jobs and in working

conditions favourable to older workers;

— investment

in initial and further education and lifelong
learning and dismantling of existing discrepancies between
the skills on offer and those in demand on the labour
market;

— measures to modernise and improve, wherever necessary,
the social safeguards attached to non-standard forms of
employment;

— reducing the gender-specific segmentation of

the labour
market, especially effective measures for reconciling career

and family (in particular development of comprehensive
childcare facilities and various forms of support for those in
need of care and their families, including 24-hour facilities);

— dismantling obstacles facing people with care obligations
when (re-)entering the labour market and seeking to remain
in employment (and incentives for greater participation of
fathers in care responsibilities);

— development of appropriate incentives and support for firms
to employ more young people and older workers experien-
cing particular difficulties in finding employment.

1.4

Special measures are needed for socially excluded groups:

— the development of transitional labour markets with appro-
priate incentives for companies to take on more workers,
with simultaneous support for workers in overcoming the
problems which are the source of
their social exclusion
(undesirable exploitation of these arrangements as well as
distortions of competition will need to be guarded against);

— non-profit employment initiatives, especially in the social
economy, have a particular role to play here. Provision
should be made in labour-market policy budgets for appro-
priate support.

1.5
The EESC stresses that in many EU Member States imple-
mentation of the priorities sketched out in this opinion will
require renewed employment-policy efforts and that appropriate
budgetary funding must be provided.

— Thus,

active

labour-market measures

and
European level will have little success, unless appropriate
attention is paid to these in the budgetary planning of the
Member States.

at national

— The EESC notes that in many countries there is a wide
disparity between proposals for labour-market-policy initia-
tives — e.g. in the framework of their national reform plans
— and budgetary funding (1).

— Closer attention should be paid in the national action
programmes to positive experiences from various countries
and appropriate use must be made of the ESF 2007-2013.

In this connection the EESC has on a number of occa-
1.6
sions pointed out
this budgetary funding requires a
favourable macroeconomic backdrop, with the emphasis on a
growth-orientated economic policy to overcome persistent
cyclical weaknesses (2).

that

(1) See the EESC opinion of 17.5.2006 on the Proposal for a Council Decision
on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, rapporteur:
Mr Greif (OJ C 195, 18.8.2006).

(2) See the Report of the high-level group on the future of social policy in an

enlarged European Union of May 2004.

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1.7
In many Member States social levies which are tied to
labour costs have risen to a level which may act as a disincen-
tive to the creation of jobs.
In some cases the insignificant
difference between after-tax earnings and benefits may make
working unattractive. These ‘unemployment traps’ need to be
prevented, without however endangering social security systems.
In this connection the EESC endorses the recommendation of
the high-level group on the future of social policy in an enlarged
European Union that the basis for the financing of the social
security systems be broadened and the fiscal charge distributed
more evenly across the production factors so that the charges
are not disproportionately put on labour (3).

1.8 With regard to the forthcoming review of the employ-
ment policy guidelines in 2008, the EESC considers that in
several of the areas discussed in this opinion more priorities
need to be set and policy needs to be spelt out more clearly.

— In this connection the EESC advocates more binding objec-
tives at European level, giving the Member States a clear
framework with unambiguous obligations. The EESC
considers that the Commission should play a greater role in
monitoring the implementation of the employment strategy
in the Member States.

— The EESC also calls for further improvements to the objec-
tives, particularly for youth employment and in order to
(e.g. a reduction in the
combat youth unemployment
maximum six-month period of seeking employment/training
places after which young people are offered a new start), for
the promotion of
for people with
disabilities and the integration of immigrants.

equality,

support

— In this way the EESC would like to see the national reform
programmes becoming more ambitious in future in the area
of employment policy and a noticeable qualitative improve-
ment with regard to timing, responsibility, commitment of
resources and financing.
In this connection the EESC
proposes that ways be investigated of laying down specific
objectives for
the earmarking of appropriate budgetary
resources for active labour-market policy in the individual
Member States.

A separate EESC opinion will look in detail at the adjustments
to the employment policy guidelines required from 2009 which
have been sketched out here.

2. Background

partnership for growth and employment with a particular focus
on the employment of priority categories. The EESC is now
submitting the following own-initiative opinion on the subject,
which draws on the expertise of the national economic and
social councils.

The EESC has always stressed that improving competi-
2.2
tiveness and achieving sustainable economic growth in the
framework of the Lisbon Strategy are not ends in themselves,
but, rather, are intended to lead to a reduction in the high rate
of unemployment
in the EU, aiming for full employment,
placing social security schemes on a more stable foundation and
providing protection against social exclusion (4).

To this end the Lisbon Strategy was intended to give a
2.3
new impetus to the European employment strategy, thus raising
the employment rate and the quality of work. Lisbon aimed not
only at more jobs, but also better jobs. Investment in human
capital, research, technology and innovation are therefore logi-
cally given equally high priority alongside labour-market and
structural-policy measures (5).

In this opinion the EESC will focus its analysis of trends
2.4
on the European labour market and its policy recommendations
on those target groups in respect of which the Council has
repeatedly called on the Member States to provide measures in
order to:

— improve the situation of young people in the labour market

and significantly reduce youth unemployment;

— implement active ageing strategies to make it possible for

older people to remain at work longer;

— promote the employment of women effectively and make it
possible for both women and men to reconcile work and
family life;

— integrate people with disabilities

and promote

their

long-term employment;

— increase the employment rate and labour-market opportu-

nities of migrants and ethnic minorities.

for each of

integration measures

The EESC will propose a package of preventive and
2.5
active (re-)
these target
groups which should be given more careful consideration in the
labour-market and employment policies of the Member States.
Socially marginalised groups, which are often excluded from the
labour market, will also be covered. Building on this, policy
recommendations will be formulated, inter alia with a view to
the review of the employment-policy guidelines to be carried
out before the 2008 Spring Summit.

2.1
In its Conclusions of 23-24 March 2006 the European
Council asked the EESC, with a view to the 2008 Spring
the
Summit,

to draw up a summary report

in support of

(3) Ibid.

(4) See the EESC exploratory opinion of 13.9.2006 on the Quality of
working life, productivity and employment in the context of globalisation and
demographic
challenges, rapporteur: Ms Engelen-Kefer, OJ C 318,
23.12.2006.

(5) See the EESC own-initiative opinion of 9.2.2005 on Employment policy:
the role of the EESC following the enlargement of the EU and from the point of
view of the Lisbon Process, rapporteur: Mr Greif (OJ C 221, 8.9.2005).

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3. Rate of employment,
current situation (6)

jobs and unemployment —

— the labour-market situation of socially marginalised groups

remains extremely problematic.

the first

In 2005 and 2006,

3.1
time since 2001,
for
employment in the EU grew and there was a noticeable fall in
the unemployment rate (from 9,0 % in 2004 to 7,9 % in 2006).
The growth of
the employment rate of women, at 0,6 %,
contrasts more clearly with the stagnation of recent years than
the corresponding rate for men. This welcome trend has
continued in 2007 (7).

Against the background of these changes in the labour market,
there is, despite progress in some areas, still a long way to go to
meet the ambitious Lisbon employment objectives.

All

the more so as employment

3.3
the
following characteristics and tendencies, which vary greatly in
their extent from one country and sector to another:

trends

reveal

3.2

It is nonetheless sobering to consider that:

— progress on the Lisbon and Stockholm interim objectives for
the employment rate is slow and they were not achieved in
2005, either as regards the general rate, 67 % (2005: 63,8 %),
or that for women, 57 % (2005: 56,3 %). It is becoming
increasingly clear that the objectives for 2010 cannot be
met in many Member States or in the Community as a
whole;

— although full-time jobs continue to be the predominant
form of employment throughout the EU, many of the new
jobs created in recent years — particularly for women —
have been part-time (which is shown by the much lower
growth in full-time equivalents — in some Member States
these have actually fallen);

— the most significant rise in employment in recent years has
been among older workers. Nevertheless, the employment
rate for older people is also well below the target level
(55-64 age group only 42,5 % on average in 2005). Only
nine EU countries achieved the target of 50 % (major differ-
ence between men and women: target achieved for men in
17 countries but for women in only four, Scandinavia and
Estonia);

— in 2005 the EU-25 average youth unemployment rate, at
18,5 %, remained about twice as high as the general unem-
ployment rate;

— Chances of entering the labour market have hardly improved
for disadvantaged groups (this can be seen, for example,
from persistently high long-term unemployment, relatively
high unemployment rates, particularly among young people
and the low-skilled and low employment rates, especially
among older workers).

(non-standard)
in some cases without sufficient
the proportion of

— Although standard jobs continue to be the predominant
form of employment throughout the EU, the data points to
forms of
an sharp increase in atypical
legal and
employment,
social safeguards. Overall,
fixed-term
employment contracts is increasing, which affects young
people disproportionately. There has also been a rise in
contract work, temporary work, pseudo-self-employment (8)
and short-term employment and employment contracts
offering few social benefits, although the situation varies
greatly between Member States. Overall,
insecurity is
increasing, particularly among disadvantaged groups. Such
jobs can be regarded as a ‘bridge’ to the standard labour
market only if they are freely chosen and offer safeguards.

— In many Member States job uncertainties have increased,
especially among low-skilled workers, school drop-outs and
people without vocational
the
imbalance between the demand for and supply of skills,
entering the labour market and returning to work after
unemployment are particularly difficult.

training. As a result of

— despite general

improvements in several Member States,
particularly in those with very high unemployment rates,
unemployment EU-wide, at just under 8 %, persists at a high
level and in some countries it has even risen;

— People with care responsibilities are continuing to find it

difficult to find stable and satisfactory jobs.

— major regional differences in employment rates persist in a
number of Member States (particularly considered in terms
of full-time equivalents). The number of people today living
in regions of the EU 27 with an unemployment rate of
more than 15 % has risen noticeably with the enlargements;

— People with disabilities continue to figure prominently
among those excluded from the labour market. According
to the latest European data only 40 % of people with
disabilities work. Figures are even more worrying when it
comes to severely disabled people.

(6) See various graphs in the appendix.
(7) Employment in Europe 2006.

(8) See Green Paper entitled Modernising labour law to meet the challenges of

the 21st century, COM(2006) 708 final.

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— There are also a large number of people whose marginalisa-
tion derives from causes such as addictions, over-indebted-
ness or homelessness, and whose integration into the labour
market requires special social measures.

weaknesses and consolidating growth (9). A commitment
is
therefore needed to an expansive, growth-orientated economic
policy at national and EU level, with appropriate monetary,
fiscal and economic conditions:

— The working conditions and labour market opportunities of
migrants and people from migrant backgrounds are in most
Member States less favourable than those of the rest of the
population. Particular attention should be paid here to the
Roma who, with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria,
have become Europe's largest minority and whose employ-
ment situation (with unemployment rates in some cases
reaching 70-90 %) is for a variety of reasons a source of
considerable concern. The EESC will be returning to the
subject in a separate own-initiative opinion.

3.4
The growth of the informal sector, with insecure employ-
ment conditions and often low wages, entails the risk that
groups unable to make the transition to the standard labour
market will be forced to accept work on a long-term basis
which does not enable them to use their skills. This trend
to quantify) not only means considerable
(which is difficult
uncertainty for those affected but also leads to loss of
tax
revenues and ultimately poses a threat to the sustainability of
production capacity in the EU.

4. Creating a framework for growth and more and better

jobs

in

the

For

years

thinking

4.1
European
dominant
policy-making has been that labour-market problems are struc-
tural
in origin. In many EU countries the one-sided focus of
employment policy has been on dismantling general labour law
standards, making entitlements more difficult to acquire and
cutting social services, while making employment conditions
more flexible.

4.2
for
Active labour market policy measures, such as,
example, promoting employability, eliminating skills shortages
and programmes for the integration of disadvantaged groups
into the labour market have, on the other hand, been insuffi-
ciently implemented in many countries, although some of these
countries have increased their spending in this area since 1995.
In most countries for which data are available, active expendi-
ture on labour market measures (active and passive support) has
actually fallen in recent years as a proportion of total spending.
It is very important that resources earmarked for active labour
market policy be provided on a scale commensurate with the
challenges and, at the same time, the effectiveness of
labour
market policy measures increased and focused on the relevant
target groups.

— The European Central Bank should, in accordance with its
Treaty mandate, where price stability is assured, help to
increase growth and employment. A high rate of employ-
ment growth can only be achieved if
there is steady
economic growth at a rate higher than the medium-term
rate of productivity growth.

— Thus, for example, the greater room for manoeuvre offered
by the reformed stability and growth pact must be used in
order to give the EU countries an opportunity for counter-
cyclical policies and fiscal scope for socially acceptable struc-
tural reforms as well as an appropriate level of public invest-
ment.

The Lisbon objectives determine the direction in which invest-
ment must flow: development of communications and transport
infrastructure, climate protection, a research and development
initiative, comprehensive childcare, support for education and
training, active labour-market policy and job quality. The
national reform programmes must be designed to result in a
coordinated, Europe-wide programme to strengthen economic
growth, to which all players at national and EU level can make
their contribution.

5. Effective combating of youth unemployment

to be one of

Youth unemployment continues

the
5.1
burning issues for employment policy in the EU. In all EU coun-
tries the unemployment rate among young people is above the
overall rate and in most countries at least twice as high as for
the general population. In some of the EU 15 Member States
and in a number of the new Member States the situation is even
worse.
In a number of Member States job insecurity has
increased even in the higher-skilled segment of the market.

Increasingly entry into employment

5.2
is via alternative
forms of employment, sometimes with much more insecure
working and social conditions. The boundary between the
formal and informal employment sectors is becoming increas-
ingly blurred. For certain groups of young people, such as the
low-skilled, those from a migrant background or those from the
disadvantaged population groups,
the transition to regular
employment
is becoming increasingly difficult. The risk of
remaining trapped on the margin of the working population is
rising, particularly when there is a combination of any of the
above characteristics.

In this context the EESC has on a number of occasions
4.3
pointed out that labour-market measures and structural reforms
can ultimately only succeed against a favourable macroeconomic
backdrop, with the emphasis on overcoming persistent cyclical

(9) See also the EESC opinion of 11.12.2003 on the Broad economic policy
guidelines 2003-2005, rapporteur: Mr Delapina (OJ C 80, 30.3.2004)
and the EESC opinion of 17.5.2006 on the Proposal for a Council Decision
on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, rapporteur:
Mr Greif (OJ C 195, 18.8.2006).

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5.3
The aim is as far as possible to give all young people
secure prospects for the future. The question also has demo-
graphic aspects: the economic situation of young people signifi-
cantly influences their willingness to start a family. In this sense
in its spring report
it
the
is a welcome development
European Commission calls for
the strengthening of active
labour-market policy measures, in addition to improvement of
skills, and in particular urges the much earlier deployment of
support for young jobseekers and the elimination of structural
problems affecting the transition from training to employment.

that

increasing the opportunities for moving between initial
vocational and further
training; gradual elimination of
gender-specific segregation in careers counselling;

— implementation of measures to ensure that short-term and
is only a temporary solution for

insecure employment
young people.

5.4
Positive examples of this are the tried and tested models
which exist in some Member States (Germany, Austria and to
some extent the Netherlands) for combining vocationally orien-
tated training systems geared to companies' needs with teaching
in school. Numerous studies have highlighted the quality of this
‘dual vocational training’ system and they ascribe to it a vital
role in easing the transition from school to work and in redu-
cing the disparity between the youth and general unemployment
rates.

Active, pre-emptive initial and further training measures

5.5
to improve young people's chances of finding employment (10):

— guaranteeing quality from initial training to vocational and
in-service training so as to enable workers to find their place
in the labour market with as few problems as possible and
stay in employment, with industry involved here alongside
government;

— early active support

for young people seeking training
course places or jobs (possibly after four months), special
programmes and individual support and coaching for the
integration of problem groups and long-term unemployed
young people and for school and training course drop-outs,
e.g. via community employment projects and promotion of
training;

— development of generally available, easily accessible careers
advice and information facilities for young men and women
in
at all
quality and human resources for job centres);

training; corresponding improvement

levels of

6. Improved integration prospects for migrants

6.1
In most EU countries there has been little change in the
discrimination against migrants and their families in the labour
market. They continue to be overrepresented in sectors with low
pay and poor working conditions; they have a far higher risk of
becoming unemployed and often they remain in jobs with little
security, significant health risks, poor safety and (in some coun-
tries) little regulation of wage rates.

A particular worry is the extent to which this precarious
6.2
labour market position is
‘inherited’ by second-generation
migrants as a result of massive disadvantages in schooling. In
most Member States young people from migrant backgrounds
belong to the groups with the highest levels of job insecurity
and the highest risk of being pushed to the margin of the stand-
ard labour market.

6.3
The EESC has stated on a number of occasions that it
considers labour migration necessary given the demographic
trends in the EU and has pointed to positive examples in several
Member States, such as Spain and Ireland. This must, however,
always be reconciled with the prospects for integration policy in
the Member States, in particular with regard to employment (11).
The migration situation varies greatly from one Member
State to another, as do the integration policy measures adopted,
e.g. in labour market and education policy. The Member States
should pay particular attention to the situation of asylum-
seekers, who often suffer particular disadvantages.

— reduction of existing discrepancies between qualifications
offered and those in demand on the labour market; raising
the effectiveness of primary education systems (e.g. reduc-
literacy campaigns) and
rate,
tion of

school drop-out

(10) See also the EESC opinion on the Communication from the Commission to
the Council on European policies concerning youth — Addressing the concerns
of young people in Europe — Implementing the European Youth Pact and
promoting active citizenship (26.10.2005), rapporteur: Ms van Turnhout
(OJ C 28, 3.2.2006); Communication from the Commission on the
Social Agenda (13.7.2005), rapporteur Ms Engelen-Kefer (OJ C 294,
25.11.2005); Proposal for a Council Decision on guidelines for the
employment policies of
the Member States in accordance with
Article 128 of the EC Treaty (31.5.2005), rapporteur Mr Malosse
(OJ C 286, 17.11.2005).

6.4

Priorities for improving the integration of migrants:

— Particular attention should be paid to individual (pre-)school
support and early investment in language and vocation-
related skills; prevention of disadvantages arising in finding
first jobs (e.g. by overcoming language barriers as early as
possible) and facilitating the recognition of foreign qualifica-
tions of migrants.

(11) See the EESC opinion of 10.12.2003 on the Communication from the
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on immigration,
integration and employment, rapporteur Mr Pariza Castanos (OJ C 80,
30.3.2004).

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— Integration mainstreaming throughout social and labour-
market policy (e.g. by enhancing intercultural
skills in
government offices and job centres and offering support to
businesses, especially SMEs); appropriate European and
national funding for integration support measures.

on alterations to pension systems, which boil down to less
favourable access conditions and entitlements, are wide of the
mark.

— Elimination

of

to

access

obstacles

institutional

and
discrimination regarding labour market
in the
Member States (e.g. shortening the waiting time for work
permits — particularly for asylum-seekers (12)) and preven-
tion of wage dumping while strengthening integration
prospects as a component of European migration policy
(ensuring that migration policy does not place obstacles in
the way of integration by encouraging temporary migration,
insecure forms of employment and marginalisation).

‘active ageing’,

Only a conscious policy of

including
7.4
comprehensive opportunities
for participation in further
training measures and lifelong learning, can produce a sustain-
able rise in the employment rate of older people. Successful
models, in the Nordic states (especially the integrated package of
measures adopted in the framework of Finland's national action
programme for older people) point to a socially acceptable way
in which, by closely involving the social partners, a functioning
labour market with a high rate of employment stability can be
created for older people.

— Improving data on the link between a migrant background
and segregation or discrimination in the labour market (13).

— Preventive measures and sanctions as well as partnerships
between social partners and public authorities at national
level to combat black economy working in order to prevent
social dumping and distortions of competition, particularly
in connection with cross-border movements of workers.

7. Making use of opportunities for employment of older

workers

Key aspects of a systematic move towards a world of

7.5
employment more favourable to older people (14):

— Comprehensive advice and support

jobseekers and
for
proactive support
for employment mediation (including
subsidised employment, support on taking up employment,
charitable social projects) and where necessary rehabilitation
measures for long-term reintegration; appropriate funding
for active labour-market policies and long-term planning for
job centres.

7.1
The key response to the demographic challenge has to be
targeted growth policy and increasing employment. The neces-
sary labour potential is available in sufficient quantity. And yet
throughout the EU the employment potential of older workers
continues to be under-exploited.

— Establishment of socially acceptable incentives for

later
retirement and, where possible or desirable, development of
attractive models for a flexible transition from working life
to retirement within the public pension system (including
further development of part-time working for older people).

7.2
The risk of long-term unemployment rises rapidly with
age. The EU-25 average long-term unemployment rate of older
workers (50-64) is over 60 %. Against this background it has to
be ensured that older workers have a real chance of finding
employment and being able to work in the longer term.

7.3
The main reasons for older workers giving up work early
are health problems caused by difficult working conditions, the
intensity of work, early dismissal of older workers,
lack of
ongoing training and lack of
(re-)employment opportunities.
Efforts to increase the employment rate of older people based

(12) See the EESC opinion of 28.11.2001 on the Proposal for a Council
Directive laying down minimum standards on the reception of appli-
cants for asylum in Member States, rapporteur Mr Mengozzi (OJ C 48,
21.2.2002).

(13) Eurostat is currently working on an ad hoc module on the labour situa-
tion of migrants and their immediate descendants that will be imple-
mented in the 2008 data collection. It has the objective of improving
the EU-Labour Force Survey coverage of foreign-born persons.

— Measures aimed at making workers physically and mentally
capable of remaining longer in active employment, above all
by reducing pressures at work and by adapting working
conditions (e.g.
incentives to develop health protection in
the workplace, generally available company health promo-
tion, preventative medicine
and employee protection
programmes).

— Encouraging older workers to be involved more in further
improving
training (40 + skills initiative,
participation in in-house further training, particularly for
lower-skilled).

incentives for

(14) See the EESC opinion of 15.12.2004 on the Communication from the
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on increasing the
employment of older workers and delaying the exit from the labour market,
rapporteur: Mr Dantin (OJ C 157, 28.6.2005).

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— Awareness-raising measures for older workers (appreciation
of the value of experience and transfer of skills acquired in
the course of a working life to younger workers) and advice
in forward
for companies, especially SMEs,
and support
personnel planning and the development of forms of organi-
sation of work favourable to older workers.

8. Improvements in the employment of women

Although women have caught up significantly over the
8.1
last 30 years in terms of formal qualifications,
inequality of
opportunity in the labour market continues to be widespread.
Women continue to work mostly in the traditional service
sectors and industrial sectors which have traditionally have had
a high proportion of female workers. Women have much fewer
opportunities to make use of their educational qualifications in
their work. Reconciling career and family continues to be
incomparably more difficult for women than for men.

8.2
The proportion of part-time workers is much higher in all
age groups for women than for men. The increase in part-time
if freely chosen and not a dead end in
employment, which,
terms of wages and prospects,
is actually something to be
welcomed, continues to be a major factor in gender-specific
labour market segmentation.

8.3
In almost all areas of employment major income dispari-
ties persist, independently of labour-market status. Long career
interruptions as a result of care obligations have a particularly
negative impact on career advancement opportunities, incomes
and social entitlements. Whilst men can expect progressive pay
rises with increasing age, women's incomes tend to stagnate in
the age groups in which they interrupt their careers or often
switch to part-time working in order to bring up children.

8.4
Examples from Denmark and Sweden show that things
can be different and that gender mainstreaming in labour
market policy can be more than a slogan. In these countries
income disparities are much smaller, and the employment rate
of women and the availability of day-care facilities for children
(especially children under two) are much greater than in other
EU Member States. The Netherlands offers another positive
example. Here there is a high rate of employment of women
together with a very high rate of part-time employment, which
is in most cases chosen freely.

Key measures to tackle structural problems affecting

8.5
women's employment (15):

of

the

social

especially

ties,
safeguards
promotion
for women, especially via measures to reduce short-term,
insecure part-time work and to improve the regulation of
part-time working (e.g. extension of the right to part-time
working for parents, with the right to return to full-time
working later;
improved involvement in in-house further
training programmes).

— Massive

of

generally

development

and
affordable care, with high-quality care facilities for infants
and school-aged children outside the home, making it
possible to reconcile work and family; contributions to the
effective promotion of shared parenting (especially incen-
tives for increasing the father's contribution to parenting).

available

— Elimination of family-policy measures with strong incentives
for stopping work or for long career interruptions, with
reduced opportunities for starting work under acceptable
conditions; parental
leave allowances should not adversely
affect income, create incentives for women leaving work or
create new obstacles to the sharing of childcare by both
partners.

— Labour-market policy measures to encourage parents to
begin work again after a career break (including support for
starting up own businesses) and to protect women against
having to do work for which they are overqualified and loss
of
flexible further training models available
during the career pause or continued employment with
reduced hours).

income (e.g.

— Family-friendly organisation of working time (including
opportunities for parents of infants or school-aged children
to arrange their working time accordingly,
teleworking
agreements and legal entitlements to variable working time
for persons with care obligations).

9. Improving labour-market opportunities for people with

disabilities

— Measures to eliminate existing labour-market discrimination
and the structural causes of gender-specific income dispari-

(15) See the EESC opinion of 13.9.2006 on the Communication from the
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions A Roadmap for
equality between women and men 2006-2010, rapporteur: Ms Attard
(OJ C 318, 23.12.2006) and the EESC opinion of 29.9.2005 on
Poverty among women in Europe, rapporteur: Ms King (OJ C 24,
31.1.2006).

People with disabilities continue to figure prominently
9.1
among those who are excluded from the labour market.
Disabled workers are more likely to be in low paid jobs and are
often discriminated against
in access to training and career
promotion. As 15 % of the EU working-age population has a
disability of some sort and given the low employment rate of
this group, increasing the employment rate of disabled people
would significantly contribute to the goals of
the Lisbon
Strategy.

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— Development, implementation and support for active labour
market programmes (in particular rehabilitation measures)
specifically aimed at people with disabilities as well as
measures facilitating the transition from sheltered employ-
ment to mainstream employment (e.g. adaptation of infor-
mation and communication actions to disabled jobseekers).

— Making workplaces more suitable for disabled people and
supporting positive actions specifically addressed at workers
that acquire their disability during their working life; Periods
of leave combined with further training, adoption of their
job description or alternative assignments should be consid-
ered.

— Provisions of

additional

to workers with
disabilities as well as of care services for people with
disabilities in order
to allow workers having a family
member with a disability to continue to work.

assistance

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

In this context

9.2
the EESC welcomes the Commission
document on ‘Disability Mainstreaming in the European
Employment Strategy’ (16), which is a positive starting point to
advance in the labour integration of people with disabilities and
recalls that labour integration is the best weapon to fight social
exclusion. The EESC recalls that most people acquire the
disability during their working lives but very few are offered the
opportunity to return to work adapted to their disability. Posi-
tive examples here are Great Britain's strict anti-discrimination
laws, which provide for complaints mechanisms, and the Danish
model of combining labour market flexibility with sufficient
social guarantees and a high level of education and training.

Priority measures to promote the employment of people

9.3
with disabilities (17):

— Adjustment of tax and benefit systems in a way that make
work and transitions to work attractive by for example
returning to
providing in-work benefits;
disability pensions should be possible after a trial work
period.

In addition,

Brussels, 12 July 2007.

(16) EMCO/II/290605.
(17) See the EESC opinion of 20.4.2006 on the Communication from the
Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Situation of
disabled people in the enlarged European Union: the European Action Plan
2006-2007, rapporteur Mr Greif (OJ C 185, 8.8.2006) and the EESC
exploratory opinion of 17.1.2007 on Equal opportunities for people with
disabilities, rapporteur: Mr Joost (OJ C 93, 27.4.2007).