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EU countries’ employment policies: guidelines (2018)

SUMMARY OF:

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DECISION?

It provides guidance for EU countries when drafting their employment policies and setting national targets, to ensure coordinated EU policies.

KEY POINTS

These guidelines, along with the broad guidelines for the economic policies of the EU countries and the EU, form the integrated guidelines for implementing the Europe 2020 strategy.
They have been issued on an annual basis since 2010.
They are aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The 2018 guidelines focus on:

Boosting the demand for labour

EU countries should take a number of steps including:

facilitating the creation of quality jobs fostering responsible entrepreneurship and genuine self-employment;
actively promoting the social economy and foster social innovation;
encouraging those innovative forms of work which create quality job opportunities;
encouraging transparent and predictable wage-setting mechanisms;
along with social partners, ensuring adequate minimum wage levels.

Enhancing labour supply and improving access to employment, skills and competences

EU countries should:

promote productivity and employability, in cooperation with the social partners;
raise overall education levels, particularly for the least qualified and learners from disadvantaged backgrounds;
implement comprehensive strategies to address long-term and structural unemployment;
aim to remove barriers and disincentives to participation in the labour market;
ensure gender equality and increase the labour market participation of women;
tackle the gender pay gap.

Enhancing the functioning of labour markets and the effectiveness of social dialogue

EU countries should:

work together with the social partners on flexibility and security principles, balancing rights and obligations;
effectively activate and enable those who can participate in the labour market;
provide the unemployed with adequate unemployment benefits of reasonable duration, in accordance with their contributions and national eligibility rules;
promote the mobility of learners and workers with the aim of enhancing employability skills and exploiting the full potential of the European labour market;
ensure the timely and meaningful involvement of social partners in the design and implementation of relevant policies and reforms.

Promoting equal opportunities for all, fostering social inclusion and combatting poverty

EU countries should:

promote inclusive labour markets, open to all, by putting in place effective measures to fight all forms of discrimination and promote equal opportunities for under-represented groups;
modernise social protection systems;
develop and implement preventive and integrated strategies through the combination of
- adequate income support
- inclusive labour markets and access to quality services
- meeting individual needs;
ensure the availability of affordable, accessible and quality services, such as
- early childhood education and care
- out-of-school care
- education
- training
- housing
- health services and
- long-term care;
provide timely access to affordable preventive and curative health care, and good-quality long-term care;
ensure the adequacy and sustainability of pension systems for workers and the self-employed.

FROM WHEN DOES THE DECISION APPLY?

It has applied since 19 July 2018.

BACKGROUND

The guidelines are consistent with the Stability and Growth Pact and other EU laws and initiatives including those on:
These initiatives are combined in the European Semester, which implements the European Employment Strategy and which monitors the various policies to achieve the Europe 2020 targets.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Decision (EU) 2018/1215 of 16 July 2018 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (OJ L 224, 5.9.2018, pp. 4-9)