Proposal for a Council Decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States

The Treaty on the functioning of the EU provides that Member States are to regard their economic policies and promoting employment as matters of common concern and coordinate them within the Council. In two distinct articles, it provides that the Council is to adopt broad economic policy guidelines (Article 121) and employment guidelines (Article 148), specifying that the latter must be consistent with the former.

Given this legal basis, the guidelines for employment and economic policies are presented as two distinct — but intrinsically interconnected — legal instruments:
– A Council Recommendation on broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States and of the Union (Part I of the Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines);
– A Council Decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (Part II of the Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines).

These guidelines implemented by the above mentioned legal instruments form together the integrated guidelines for implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. The employment guidelines were adopted on 5 October 2015, and as provided by the adoption decision should ensure a focus on policy implementation.

The overall objectives and priorities expressed in the guidelines for the employment policies remain valid. By virtue of Article 148(2), their validity for 2016 needs to be confirmed by a Council decision, following consultation of the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of Regions and the Employment Committee.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)71: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:071:FIN

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