The
European Commission says national governments need to introduce more
legislation in order to see full employment by 2010.
The
EC’s Draft Joint Employment Report 2002, published today, shows that an extra
two million jobs were created in member states last year.
But,
the EC warns, employment legislation must be prioritised if it is to achieve
its aim of full employment – 70 per cent of the working-age population – in
eight years.
It
calls on national government’s to set "clear, ambitious and measurable
national targets for their employment policies".
The
report also claims there is a lack of policies to tackle age and gender
discrimination. And, it says, the gender pay gap needs to be tackled more
effectively.
European
Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, said:
"The very impressive performance of 2000, when we had the best employment
situation for many years, was a difficult act to follow in 2001, but EU labour
markets are still improving. They have so far withstood the economic downturn
because member states have launched, and stuck to, ambitious reforms. If all
stakeholders keep their end of the bargain, the EU has a good chance of
overcoming cyclical downturns without again paying a high price in terms of
unemployment."
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