Commission issues jobs plan ahead of election

Announcing the plan, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the EU was taking swift action to deal with the crisis, including its social dimension. "For example, we are accelerating billions of euros in EU support for retraining under the European Social Fund, which already helps more than nine million people a year find jobs," Barroso said. 

However, the strategy was criticised by unions and left-leaning politicians. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said the Commission was responding to an exceptional situation by proposing to continue its existing policy agenda. ETUC called for 1% of GDP to be invested in greening the economy and policies to secure the labour market.

"Lack of demand is the key problem our economies are facing. Providing business with yet another hand out in the form of lowering non-wage costs will not help to address this problem. Instead, it will trigger competitive cost cutting strategies while undermining the revenue basis of the social security systems we so urgently need in this time of crisis," said ETUC General Secretary John Monks. 

BusinessEurope, an industry lobby group, warned that the Commission did not go far enough in tackling regulation of short-term work. Flexicury remains the best option for modernising Europe's labour market, it said. 

BusinessEurope President Ernest-Antoine Seillière  said: "The Commission identifies the right priority areas and new funding possibilities to address rising job losses. But the main issue in the difficult times we live in remains the flexicurity approach." 

UEAPME, an industry body representing SMEs and crafts, welcomed the set of measures proposed by the Commission. The strategy focuses on "the right priorities and strikes the right balance" between the supply and demand side of the labour market, it said. 

UEAPME's employment and social affairs director Liliane Volozinski said the group's call for flexicurity to be at the centre of labour market reforms was taken on board. 

"On the supply side, improving skills to better meet labour market needs is a clear priority for SMEs, which find it hard to recruit qualified workers, all the more so in the present downturn. The Commission has set an ambitious target today, by calling on member states to guarantee that at least five million young Europeans have access to apprenticeships until the end of 2010. We are certainly pleased with the EC proposal, since vocational training is one of the best ways to get a job." 

"However, we wonder how this target can be reached without support measures for crafts and SMEs, which are the main providers of apprenticeships and may be less than likely to host apprentices at this time of reduced economic activity," Volozinski said.

Party of European Socialists President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said strong action was needed. 

"If your house is on fire it is no good trying to put out the flames with a glass of water. The Commission's proposals might be appropriate if the crisis was less deep, but the Commission doesn't seem to realize the size of the problem we are facing," he said. 

Rasmussen said shifting money from the European Social Fund to tackle unemployment is not the answer. "This is a weak, conservative Commission proposing a weak, conservative answer to the deepest social crisis for decades," he said.

Conny Reuter, president of the Social Platform, an NGO, said: "There are two main problems with this communication. First, it emphasises reducing taxes and social contributions for companies - anything but a modern approach which has not performed in the past - and this would in turn starve social protection systems of investment, when the services they offer are even more needed during a crisis in which unemployment is forecast to climb to 11% next year."

"Second, the process by which this communication was developed was extremely limited. Far from being a truly 'Shared Commitment for Employment', this communication refers only to working with social partners and neglects to take account of the valuable expertise of the NGO community – who are often on the front lines in dealing with the consequences of the crisis – as well as the associations of cities and regions."

Anne-Sophie Parent, director of AGE,  the European Older People's Platform, said the plan contained some welcome elements. "The Commission proposal to temporarily lift the obligation for member states to provide national co-funding for the ESF is a good idea. It should help projects get started much faster in these recession times, but the question remains whether the ESF will be used to support workers of all ages." 

"Older workers are facing increased risks of long term unemployment due to the crisis and we fear that some member states might not include them in the target groups to benefit from ESF support. Age discrimination in employment is more acute than ever," Parent said.