Job market reforms will be top priority

Date: 14/12/00

By John Shelley

SWEDISH diplomats will probably break a few Union employment regulations as they toil long into the night on their presidency's plans, but at least they will be labouring to improve working life for the rest of us.

Stockholm is determined that progress on employment will be one of the main things for which its presidency is remembered, along with its other 'E' priorities of enlargement and the environment.

But its room for manoeuvre is limited. The presidency will inherit a social agenda for the next five years - agreed at the Nice summit last weekend. The French will claim the glory for this global blueprint, leaving the Swedes with the less glamorous task of putting it into practice.

The centrepiece of the new presidency's push on employment matters, but also an illustration of this dilemma, will be the Stockholm summit in March, where Union leaders will discuss progress made since the existing targets for social and employment policy were set at Lisbon.

The Swedish summit will inevitably take place in its shadow and many of the tasks facing governments, such as agreeing common statistical indicators for measuring the EU's jobs market, were already envisaged a year ago. The Lisbon factor will not keep Stockholm from trying to add its own priorities, however. Expect Sweden, the home of telecoms giant Ericsson, to push for even an greater emphasis on new technology jobs.

The Swedes are also thought to be keen on tackling the Union's demographic

time-bomb. They will push for moves to reform Europe's pensions systems and initiatives to get people working longer into their 60s and 70s.

Stockholm will want to wrap up a deal on Commission proposals to update EU gender equality laws, including rules which would allow staff to take their employers to court if they do not act to prevent harassment in the workplace.

Article forms part of a survey on the Swedish EU Presidency.