Public expectations and EU policies – The fight against unemployment

A series of Briefings from the European Parliamentary Research Service which looks at EU actions in a series of policy areas. This follows up a public opinion survey organised by Eurobarometer for the European Parliament in April 2016 which asked the question: Would you like the EU to intervene less than at present or more than at present for the following policy areas?

Terrorism / Unemployment / Tax fraud / Migration / Borders / Democracy / Environment / Security and defence / Health / Gender equality / Energy / Economy / Foreign policy / Agriculture / Industrial policyFighting unemployment is an important part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The European Commission set a target of 75% of 20 to 64 year-olds being employed by 2020. Policies and programmes aimed at fighting unemployment follow various paths: reducing taxes on labour, supporting start-ups, encouraging labour mobility, tackling poverty and social exclusion, improving working conditions and investing in education, vocational training and lifelong learning.

More recent initiatives seek to make better use of available skills and enable rapid recognition of qualifications, but also to assess individual needs.

Despite all the initiatives, EU citizens still expect more EU intervention in the fight against unemployment or expect to see results from the initiatives that have already started.

Authors: Monika Kiss, Martin Svasek, Alina Dobreva