Fears rise over Lisbon’s jobs summit plan

Date: 03/02/2000

By Simon Coss

CONCERN is growing that the Portuguese presidency will use next month's special EU summit on job creation to complicate the Union's already tortuous employment strategy still further.

Fears about the planned scope of the meeting have been sparked by a report published by Lisbon last month which calls for the Union to adopt a new series of job-creation targets. "The Portuguese document on the summit has been described as a bit of a Christmas tree," said one European Commission expert.

Lisbon insists it has no intention of adding yet another strand - or 'process' - to the strategy first agreed at the Luxembourg jobs summit in 1997. But critics say the proposals outlined in the report would effectively do just that and argue that this is the last thing the EU needs.

They point out that since the employment strategy was launched three years ago, it has already been modified on three separate occasions. New processes were added to the initiative at the 1998 Union summits in Cardiff and Vienna, and at the 1999 meeting of Union leaders in Cologne. Many social affairs experts warn that adding a Lisbon process to the mix would only complicate matters even further.

The Portuguese themselves hotly dispute any suggestion that they are preparing a new process and stated explicitly in last month's document that they felt this would not be useful. "What we want to do is to ensure the existing processes are better coordinated," insisted one diplomat.

But these protestations cut little ice with critics, who say the report contains a range of specific policy suggestions and targets which are highly reminiscent of the type of initiatives adopted in Luxembourg.

In its paper, the presidency states that the EU should work towards a goal of full employment and aim to become the world's most dynamic and competitive region within a decade.

It argues that Union governments should work together to ensure the EU has an annual economic growth rate of at least 3%, calls on governments to draw up national information society plans similar to those they already produce on job creation, and says member states should agree to set up a series of Union-wide data transmission networks to stimulate scientific research within the bloc.

It also calls on governments to make it easier for teachers from one member state to work in another by introducing clearer agreements on mutual recognition of qualifications.

Finally, it argues that social inclusion - caring for those on the margins of society - should form a central plank of all EU policy initiatives and that the Union should pledge to eradicate child poverty by 2010.

EU social affairs ministers will discuss the document for the first time at an informal meeting in Lisbon next Friday (11 February).

Concern is growing that the Portuguese Presidency will use the forthcoming special EU summit on job creation to complicate the Union's already tortuous employment strategy still further.