Partners urge boost for jobs

Date: 21/11/1996

By Michael Mann

BUSINESS and trade union leaders will gather in Dublin at the end of this month to try to give renewed impetus to the European Commission's 'confidence pact' on employment.

But union leaders are warning that unless EU governments make concrete commitments on Commission President Jacques Santer's initiative by next month's EU summit in Dublin, his drive to create jobs will run out of steam.

In the run-up to their 29 November meeting as guests of the Irish government and the Commission, the employers' federation UNICE and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) will attempt to draw up a joint stance on the pact for presentation to Union leaders in December.

The two sides will concentrate on the macroeconomic situation, the role of the structural funds in job creation, how to build on the concept of 'lifelong learning' and ways of getting young people into the job market.

Following talks last week within the social dialogue committee, officials denied the two organisations would have problems agreeing a joint approach.

“On several occasions in the past, we have come to common views on macroeconomic pol-icies,” said a UNICE official.

But a difference in their basic approaches to the Santer pact clearly exists. While admitting that it is not the answer to the problems of all Europe's 18 million unemployed, the ETUC believes genuine Union involvement could act as a motor for change across the member states.

“If we do not see a genuine outcome in Dublin, we might as well bury the confidence pact. We have been discussing it for months and made no progress. We can find a common approach among the social partners but, above all, politicians must take their responsibilities,” said an ETUC official.

For its part, UNICE says that many of its initial fears about the pact have been allayed.

“Generally speaking, we are supportive. But we always had a reticence about the notion of a pact. We felt it could lead people to believe that a signature on a piece of paper would necessarily create new jobs. But we are happier now that some of the ambiguity has been lifted,” said one official.

For employers, the most crucial part of the pact is Santer's call for the completion of the single market. UNICE is pressing for a new White Paper listing the measures needed to complete the process and a suggested completion date.

Both sides are also backing Santer's call for more effective use of the EU's structural funds. The ETUC believes the social partners should have a central role in determining the use of social fund money from the early stages of project development.

The two groups will also stress the central role to be played by improved vocational training and the concept of lifelong learning as a way of keeping workers' skills up to date with technological developments.

UNICE officials claim, however, that there is little business can do to improve workers' training opportunities without agreement on an overall approach. “The success of lifelong learning depends on having efficient education systems, encouraging people to be motivated to look for training and changing cultural attitudes,” said one.

UNICE wants the young unemployed to be a primary target of the pact. But it warns that it cannot accept permanent tax or social security rebates to encourage firms to take on young people as this would result in employers discriminating against other groups.

Both sides in the employment debate continue to support the goal of economic and monetary union, but accept that progress towards the euro “follows its own rhythm”.