From guidelines to action. the national action plans for employment

Summary:

Following the agreement at the Amsterdam Summit to make certain provisions of the mew Treaty regarding employment immediately effective and the Luxembourg Jobs Summit in November 1997, the Council adopted the first employment policy guidelines for 1998 on 15 December 1997. A common structure for the national action plans was agreed at the end of January and the Member States agreed to submit their plans by mid-April. In order to support the Member States in their preparations, a series of working meetings between the Commission and the national authorities in each of the 15 Member States was held between January and March this year.

This objective of this communication is to examine what the Member States have committed themselves to doing in their national action plans and whether these commitments are in line with the contents and objectives of the 1998 employment guidelines, and to provide the basis for a discussion at the Cardiff Summit of the progress under way.