Big member states taken to task over job creation

Date: 07/09/00

By John Shelley

By John Shelley

A NEW report on the state of the EU's job markets reveals that four of Europe's powerhouse economies have failed to take full advantage of their financial prosperity.

Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou's annual employment report, published this week, shows that France, Germany, Italy and Spain have all performed below average when it comes to reducing unemployment in their countries and modernising their workplace rules.

The report shows that Berlin's performance has been particularly weak, with Germany achieving only a 0.3% decrease in joblessness despite significant growth over the past year. "You could ask whether Germany has made enough hay while the sun is shining," said one Commission official. "The answer would be no."

The record of these four big member states contrasts sharply with that of star performer Ireland, which boasted a 5% drop in unemployment compared with the EU average of 1.5%.

The employment report is one of three elements in Diamantopoulou's jobs package for 2001, adopted by the full Commission this week. It also includes Union-wide guidelines for improving the bloc's record on jobs and, for the second year, specific recommendations to each member state.

Diamantopoulou says governments' responses to last year's country-by-country analysis, the first of its kind, were largely positive but performance was uneven.

This year, the Commissioner's own home country, Greece, fares worst in terms of recommendations, with Diamantopoulou pointing to six areas where it must shape up. France, Germany, Italy and Spain also received harsh verdicts, with each attracting five recommendations.

Officials say that if these nations did as much to create jobs as some of their EU partners, the bloc would be able to match the US' superior employment record. Washington has won plaudits for its approach to sex equality and access to the job market for older people, and its thriving services sector.

The Commission's recommendations, which are not binding on member states, range from requests to cut the cost of working by reducing labour and social security taxes to introducing measures to slash the number of long-term unemployed and improving access to jobs for women.

Most of the guidelines remain the same as last year, with Diamantopoulou sticking to the four-pronged approach of asking governments to improve the employability of their citizens, develop entrepreneurship, encourage employer and employee flexibility, and work on sex equality.

But the guidelines have been updated to include commitments made at the Lisbon summit, including a target of increasing the overall employment rate to 70% by 2010 and measures to promote lifelong learning.