Member States and the Union are to work towards developing a coordinated strategy for employment and particularly for promoting a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce as well as labour markets that are responsive to economic change, with a view to achieving the objectives of full employment and social progress set out in Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union. Member States shall regard promoting employment as a matter of common concern and shall coordinate their action in this respect within the Council, taking into account national practices related to the responsibilities of management and labour.
(2)
The Union is to combat social exclusion and discrimination and promote social justice and protection, as well as equality between women and men. In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union is to take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against poverty and social exclusion, and a high level of education and training.
(3)
In accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Union has developed and implemented policy coordination instruments for fiscal, macroeconomic and structural policies. As part of these instruments, the present Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States, together with the Broad Guidelines for the Economic Policies of the Member States and of the Union set out in Council Recommendation (EU) 2015/1184 (4), form the Integrated Guidelines for Implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. They are to guide policy implementation in the Member States and in the Union, reflecting the interdependence between the Member States. The resulting set of coordinated European and national policies and reforms are to constitute an appropriate overall economic and social policy mix which should achieve positive spill-over effects.
(4)
The Guidelines for the Employment Policies are consistent with the Stability and Growth Pact, the existing Union legislation and various Union initiatives, including the Council recommendation of 22 April 2013 on establishing a Youth Guarantee (5), the Council Recommendation of 15 February 2016 on the integration of the long-term unemployed into the labour market (6), the Council Recommendation of 19 December 2016 on Upskilling Pathways (7) and the Council Recommendation of 15 March 2018 on a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships (8).
(5)
The European Semester combines the different instruments in an overarching framework for integrated multilateral surveillance of economic, budgetary, employment and social policies and aims to achieve the Europe 2020 targets, including those concerning employment, education and poverty reduction, as set out in Council Decision 2010/707/EU (9). While promoting the policy objectives of boosting investments, pursuing structural reforms, and ensuring responsible fiscal policies, the European Semester has been continuously reinforced and streamlined since 2015. Its employment and social focus has notably been strengthened, and dialogue with the Member States, the social partners and representatives of civil society has been deepened.
(6)
The Union's recovery from the economic crisis is supporting positive labour market trends, but important challenges and disparities in economic and social performance remain between and within Member States. The crisis underscored the close interdependence of the Member States' economies and labour markets. Ensuring that the Union progresses to a state of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and job creation is the key challenge faced today. This requires coordinated, ambitious and effective policy action at both Union and national levels, in accordance with the TFEU and the Union's provisions on economic governance. Combining supply- and demand-side measures, such policy action should encompass a boost for investment, a renewed commitment to appropriately sequenced structural reforms that improve productivity, growth performance, social cohesion and economic resilience in the face of shocks and the exercise of fiscal responsibility, while taking into account their employment and social impact.
(7)
Reforms to the labour market, including the national wage-setting mechanisms, should follow national practices of social dialogue and allow the necessary opportunity for a broad consideration of socioeconomic issues, including improvements in competitiveness, job creation, life-long learning and training policies, as well as real incomes.
(8)
Member States and the Union should also address the social consequences of the economic and financial crisis and aim to build an inclusive society in which people are empowered to anticipate and manage change, and in which they can actively participate in society and the economy, as outlined in Commission Recommendation 2008/867/EC (10). Inequality and discrimination should be tackled. Access and opportunities for all should be ensured and poverty and social exclusion (including that of children) should be reduced, in particular by ensuring an effective functioning of labour markets and of social protection systems and by removing barriers to education, training and labour-market participation, including investments in early childhood education and care. The potential of people with disabilities to contribute to economic growth and social development should be further realised. As new economic and business models take hold in Union workplaces, employment relationships are also changing. Member States should ensure that employment relationships stemming from new forms of work maintain and strengthen Europe's social model.
(9)
On 17 November 2017, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission signed an inter-institutional proclamation for a European Pillar of Social Rights (11), following an extensive and broad public consultation. The Pillar sets out twenty principles and rights to support well-functioning and fair labour markets and welfare systems. They are structured around three categories: equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions and social protection and inclusion. The Pillar constitutes a reference framework to monitor the employment and social performance of Member States, to drive reforms at national level and to serve as a compass for a renewed process of convergence across Europe. Given the relevance of these principles for the coordination of structural policies, the employment guidelines are aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights principles.
(10)
The European Pillar of Social Rights is accompanied by a scoreboard that should monitor the implementation and progress of the Pillar by tracking trends and performances across Member States and assess progress towards upward socioeconomic convergence. This analysis will feed into the European semester of economic policy coordination, where appropriate.
(11)
The Integrated Guidelines should form the basis for country-specific recommendations that the Council may address to the Member States. Member States should make full use of the European Social Fund and other Union funds to foster employment, social inclusion, upskilling of the workforce, lifelong learning and education and to improve public administration. While the Integrated Guidelines are addressed to Member States and the Union, they should be implemented in partnership with all national, regional and local authorities, closely involving parliaments, as well as the social partners and representatives of civil society.
(12)
The Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee should monitor how the relevant policies are implemented in light of the guidelines for employment policies, in line with their respective Treaty-based mandates. These committees and other Council preparatory bodies involved in the coordination of economic and social policies should work together closely. Policy dialogue between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission should be maintained, in particular as regards the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States.
