"We cannot prevent this crisis from causing unemployment. But acting now can reduce job losses, and help millions of people to find new and better jobs. Acting now also means paving the way for sustainable recovery," said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso at the end of the meeting.
According to the latest figures published by the Commission this week, the economic downturn will cost 8.5 million people their jobs and drive up unemployment to 11.5% in the 16-nation euro zone next year, the highest level for several decades (EurActiv 04/05/09).
No concrete results
To reassure millions of people across Europe, a few EU leaders agreed on a 10-point plan, which urged the EU 27 to swiftly step up action on increasing access to employment, particularly for young people and upgrade skills, match labour needs and promote mobility.
Social partners invited to the meeting, however, refused to sign the final document. "There are some responses, but it's not enough," said John Monks, secretary-general of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
European social NGOs are also "disappointed and concerned" by a summit that had turned into a meeting between social partners. "President Barroso spoke of the social impact of the crisis and has affirmed that the economic and social agendas can't be separated. Yet today this is precisely what happened," said Roshan di Puppo, director of the Social Platform.
"The social impact of the crisis was not mentioned in the summit conclusions, which are just 'business as usual': increase mobility, increase flexicurity and create a favourable environment for enterprises," she added.
Adjusting working hours to keep jobs
Maintaining jobs as much as possible by allowing companies to adjust working hours and retrain employees by using public funding, such as the European Social Fund and the European Globalisation Fund, tops the 10-point plan.
But "flexibility tools such as the temporary use of short-term work are not appropriate for services that have to function around the clock and cannot adapt their output," noted the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing public services (CEEP), adding that the collapse of negotiations on the Working Time Directive (EurActiv 28/04/09) would increase costs for service providers.
"Small businesses have tried their best to act as shock absorbers in the present crisis. Some might have reduced production, but all have done their utmost to keep employment levels stable. But we wonder for how much longer they will continue to do so if they are left on their own," stressed Andrea Benassi, secretary-general of UEAPME, the European small business organisation.
A 'non-summit' with little substance
Called by the Czech EU Presidency in February, the summit was supposed to bring together all EU leaders to find ways to soften the impact of the economic crisis and coordinate measures to tackle rising unemployment. But with European elections to be held in less than a month, few heads of state and government attended the gathering.
For Party of European Socialists President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the "non-summit" failed to give concrete responses to tackle the critical economic crisis. "Europe needs a new stimulus to create jobs, fresh actions to safeguard jobs that should have a long-term future, more support for the unemployed and new initiatives to assist those at risk of poverty and social exclusion," Rasmussen said.
"Europe should take a lead in coordinating national policies to tackle the crisis and strengthening European measures, such as by speeding up the use of structural funds and enhancing EIB support for small businesses," the PES president added.
By focusing on the immediate impact of the crisis on labour markets at the Employment Summit, instead of these longer-term trends, the EU has missed a trick, noted Fabian Zuleeg, senior policy analyst at the European Policy Centre.
"It is vital to understand how the crisis will affect our long term well-being and how our economic and social models might be challenged by these profound changes in our labour markets. If the Summit had addressed this, real progress could have been made," he argued while stressing that the EU cannot afford to miss such opportunities "it it wants to be seen as a relevant and important player in addressing European citizens' concerns."
