In his first 'State of the Union' address to MEPs in Strasbourg yesterday, Barroso said that while responsibility for employment policy and job creation is primarily the preserve of member states, his EU executive will not "stand on the sidelines" in the battle to restore European economic growth, create jobs and reform pension systems.
Instead, the president foresees an activist Commission that will "help its people to seize new opportunities". To that end, he proposed a number of new initiatives, chief among which was a so-called "European Vacancy Monitor" that will show people where jobs are available in Europe and which skills are needed in any given country.
The Commission will also come forward with plans for a European skills passport.
No growth without jobs…
These initiatives, and the Commission's activist agenda, are the twin pillars of Barroso's drive to"modernise our social market economy so that it can compete globally and respond to the challenge of demography".
To fast-track job creation and growth, "we must frontload and accelerate the most growth-promoting reforms" of the 2020 strategy, he argued, recalling his oft-repeated mantras of new skills and jobs, investing in life-long learning and unlocking the growth potential of the single market.
...but no jobs without stable budgets
However, such plans cannot hope to succeed without a stable financial foundation, he cautioned. Vital pension reforms cannot be achieved without first stabilising the debt of many EU countries.
"Unsustainable budgets make us vulnerable. Debt and deficit lead to boom and bust. And they unravel the social safety net. Money that's spent on servicing debt is money that cannot be spent on the social good. Nor to prepare ourselves for the costs of an ageing population," the president added.
Green jobs
Barroso noted that jobs in so-called eco-industries have been increasing by 7% a year since 2000. The Commission hopes to harness this momentum to create three million 'green jobs' by 2020.
In a related development, a large majority of MEPs yesterday backed a report on the jobs potential of the 'green' economy. The author of the report, German Green MEP Elisabeth Schroedter, argued that this support highlights the "huge potential for creating new green jobs and transforming existing jobs into green jobs across Europe".
However, she cautioned that the Commission must now take the lead and "deliver on its pledge to outline how to maximise the potential of the green economy in Europe and set out a green economic strategy".
Mobilise funds faster
The European Parliament also adopted a set of recommendations to accelerate the procedures and budgetary arrangements under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), intended to aid workers who lose their jobs as a result of globalisation or the financial crisis.
"We are witnessing a trend of governments cutting social expenditures. Our proposal aims at countering this trend for people losing their jobs due to globalisation or the financial crisis," said rapporteur Miguel Portas, adding that regulations must be improved and the EGF should become a a permanent fund. "I hope we will be able to convince the member states to continue the EGF for the period 2013-2020," he said.
