Employment in Europe 2000

[Excerpt] This Report examines in detail basic elements of the employment challenge renewed in Lisbon. Beyond recent employment trends in 1999, the Report sets out how each Member State is expected to contribute to achieving the Union’s employment objectives. It analyses both the nature and quality of jobs being created, with special focus on its gender dimension and the evolution of social and regional imbalances in the EU. In view of the forthcoming enlargement of the Union, the Report also reviews progress in transforming the labour markets in the Central European candidate countries. Finally, the Report assesses the impact of tax and benefit systems on employment, gauging the tax burden on labour and the tax wedge as well as coverage and replacement rates of unemployment benefits and early retirement systems

Industrial Relations in Europe 2002

[Excerpt] Industrial relations are at the core of the Member States\u27 economic and social organisation. They play their part in creating an area of solidarity within Europe, where people rally together and participate. The first edition of this report described the distinctive features of the Europeanisation of industrial relations and the significant changes over recent years. We saw the extent to which the development of industrial relations was linked to that of European integration. The 2002 report reviews a number of notable trends, in particular the organisation of new European players at sectoral level and the preparations for enlargement, and outlines the principal advances in labour relations in Europe in the course of 2000 and 2001

Industrial Relations in Europe 2000

[Excerpt] This first Commission Report on Industrial Relations shows that European social policy has far-reaching effects; it is steadily becoming a more integral part of the decision-making and strategies of numerous players. That goes without saying in fields where the European Union has clearly defined and affirmed its principles: respect for fundamental social rights in a frontier-free Europe; workers\u27 rights to information and consultation on company operations; social dialogue as a mainstay of good governance and a means of involving citizens in the European venture

Flexicurity: Reconciling Social Security with Flexibility - Empirical Findings for Europe

It is empirically shown that the more flexible employment, the more it is precarious. For this purpose, two families of indices, of flexible work and of precarious work, are defined basing on the Fourth European Survey of Working Conditions 2005 by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Two methodologies of constructing composite indicators are applied, of the Hans Böckler Foundation, and of the OECD. Both methodologies give very similar results. After the indices have been constructed, the dependence between flexibility and precariousness of work is established by regression analysis with statistical certainty. Besides, it is revealed that the institutional regulation of employment does not necessarily imply the adequate factual effect. For instance, Turkey and Greece with a strict employment protection legislation have a high labour market flexibility due to a large fraction of employees who work with no contract. Among other things, it is shown that the employment flexibility has the strongest negative effect on the employability. It implies serious arguments against the recent reconsideration of the function of social security attempted by the European Commission within the flexicurity discourse. The suggested shift from income security towards a high employability cannot be consistently implemented. Our study provides empirical evidence that a high employability can be hardly attained under flexible employment. --Flexicurity,labour flexibility,precarious work,composite indicators,European Commission,European Employment Strategy

Report No. 28: Review of Methodologies Applied for the Assessment of Employment and Social Impacts

Joint report with ECORYS Netherlands for the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission, Bonn 2010 (217 pages)

The analysis of the outcome of the negotiations concerning the partnership agreements and ESF operational programmes, for the programming period 2014-2020: Country factsheet Spain

This study addresses specific attention to a number specific themes, namely the youth employment strategy and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration, and the investment in Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs). The relevant IP (8ii) considering youth employment policies is selected only in the devoted National OP, which focus on the main challenges of the high unemployment rate of the youth, the high percentage of NEETs and the high early school leaving rate. Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration is not addressed in the Spanish OPs and TO 11 is not selected in the Partnership Agreement. Finally, with regard to the theme of Active Labour Market Policy the total amount assigned to IP 8i, 8ii, 8iii and 8v is more than 4,6 billion euro (Including YEI). The strategy of Spanish OPs is based on the support to unemployed through ALMP. The logic applied across several OPs seeks the cooperation between public sector institutions, private companies and NGOs in some cases, thus applying a partnership approach for several actions. Finally, there are measures planned to promote entrepreneurship across different levels, with special consideration on youthEn este estudio se presta especial atención a una serie de temas específicos, a saber, la estrategia de empleo de los jóvenes y la Iniciativa para el Empleo de los Jóvenes (YEI), la capacidad institucional de las autoridades públicas y las partes interesadas y la eficiencia de la administración pública, y la inversión en políticas activas del mercado de trabajo. El programa integrado pertinente (8ii), en el que se examinan las políticas de empleo de los jóvenes, se selecciona únicamente en el programa operativo nacional, que se centra en los principales retos de la elevada tasa de desempleo de los jóvenes, el elevado porcentaje de redes nacionales de empleo y la elevada tasa de abandono escolar prematuro. La mejora de la capacidad institucional de las autoridades públicas y de las partes interesadas y de la eficiencia de la administración pública no se aborda en los PO españoles y el TO 11 no se selecciona en el Acuerdo de Asociación. Por último, en relación con el tema de la política activa del mercado de trabajo, la cantidad total asignada a los PI 8i, 8ii, 8iii y 8v es superior a 4.600 millones de euros (incluido YEI). La estrategia de los PO españoles se basa en el apoyo a los parados a través de las PAML. La lógica aplicada a través de varios PO busca la cooperación entre instituciones del sector público, empresas privadas y ONG en algunos casos, aplicando así un enfoque de asociación para varias acciones. Por último, se prevén medidas para promover el espíritu empresarial a diferentes niveles, con especial atención a los jóvenes

Industrial Relations in Europe 2006

[Excerpt] This is the fourth report on Industrial Relations in Europe. After the enlargement of the Union in 2004 and the integration of the new Member States into the Lisbon agenda it is of major importance to look again in this wider context at ways to develop the contributions social partners can deliver to reach the ambitious objective of the growth and jobs strategy. This aims to see Europe become the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy capable of sustainable development with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion – a global objective shared by all major actors on the labour market

Employment in Europe 1999

[Excerpt] Like its predecessors, this 1999 Report serves two main purposes. The first is to provide a comprehensive report on recent developments in employment in Europe. This year’s Report takes this first aspect somewhat further and looks at the ups and downs of employment performance in recent years, not only in the Union but also in the United States and Japan. One notable and disturbing fact is that, despite the success of some individual Member States in improving their performance over recent years, employment in the Union as a whole in 1998 had still not regained the level of 1991 before the onset of the recession in the early 1990s