Social Dialogue Follow-up of the adopted Work Programme: Framework of actions for youth employment draft mandate

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1 EC197/EN/6a EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Brussels, 6-7 March 2012 Agenda item 6a Social Dialogue Follow-up of the adopted Work Programme: Framework of actions for youth employment draft mandate Annex: Work Programme (original) The Executive Committee is invited to approve this document. ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5 B 1210 Brussels Tel: Fax: / 55 etuc@etuc.org

2 Social Dialogue Follow-up of the adopted Work Programme: Framework of actions for youth employment draft mandate Context and social partner commitment Urgent action required In the current economic and financial crisis, causing unstable employment, young people are particularly fragile, as manifestly reflected in youth unemployment rates and levels of job precariousness. In December 2011, the average rate of youth unemployment was 22.1%, compared to 20.9% the previous year. This is more than double the overall unemployment rate (9.7%). The discrepancy between these two rates has been exacerbated by the crisis. Spain has the highest youth unemployment rate (48%), followed by Greece (43.5% in July 2011). Meanwhile, many of those young Europeans lucky enough to be working find themselves all too often in precarious employment, most of them having fixed-term contracts (42.1% in 2010), being in involuntary part-time work (30% in 2010), temporary agency work, seasonal jobs or even internships. Almost 12% of young workers are deemed poor (more than in any other age group). Moreover, the employment situation impacts on the daily lives of young people, who find themselves increasingly dependent on their parents (and nowadays even grandparents) and on the State, virtually unable to set up a home of their own, and also delay the decision to move in with a partner and start a family (which in turn has a demographic effect, resulting in lower birth rates in an ageing Europe). The employment situation is also clearly undermining young people s hopes. This harsh reality has been reflected in indignados movements, forcing public authorities and the social partners to rise to a major challenge and face up to their responsibilities. Work Programme for : social partner commitment Mindful of the urgency of the situation, the European social partners pledged to negotiate a framework of actions for youth employment in their Work Programme for They decided to focus on the link between education, young people s expectations and labour market needs, while taking account young people s transition from into the labour market. The social partners believe that this issue needs to be classed as a priority in 2012 and in their activities over the coming three years. Consequently, they will also take part in various ongoing debates on the subject, including those organised by the European Commission and the G20. ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 2

3 Executive Committee mandate Bearing all this in mind, the Executive Committee is asked to approve the proposed approach, the priorities and issues to be covered and validate the delegation s potential composition. Preliminary remark The option of organising a joint fact-finding seminar to pinpoint existing practices could be envisaged in the near future. The ETUC s approach and principles The ETUC is striving to ensure that young people experience more solid transitions. Its approach rests on three main pillars: security, quality and stability. Indeed, the situation outlined above simply lists the difficulties and instability faced by young people. At a time when flexibility is unilaterally being imposed on young people, the main focus must be on security, to regain a decent balance between living and working conditions. The framework of actions must not concentrate solely on the labour market and its needs; it must also pay close attention to young peoples perspectives, aspirations and choices. Young people must not be seen as an adjustment variable. Similarly, we intend to rise to a dual challenge: unemployment and the precariousness of jobs for young people, the latter being all too often unjustly sidelined in debates. The framework of actions will nurture a partnership between employers, workers and trade unions aimed at fostering better integration of young people into the labour market. Last but not least, we will endeavour to draw up specific recommendations and submit them to the EU Member States and European institutions. Main themes Content-wise, the framework of actions will set out to cover issues including the following: Individual mentoring and guidance The idea of mentoring young people makes simple common sense, especially in the case of those struggling to find work, irrespective of whether or not they have a degree and/or qualifications. It is also important to identify and anticipate the skills and qualification young people need, whilst also giving them specialised guidance and information. ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 3

4 Internships, apprenticeships, vocational training The social partners will have to agree on how best to multiply and improve apprenticeship and internship contracts in accordance with their Agreement on Inclusive Labour Markets. Apprenticeships will also have to be developed. The incentives offered by Member States to employers within the scope of the Youth Initiative on internships and/or apprenticeships will also have to go hand in hand with guarantees relating to their quality. The European Youth Forum s Quality Charter, backed by the ETUC, will play a crucial role in this connection. In addition, efforts will have to be made to build on the framework of actions on skills and qualifications for this target group in order to develop new actions. Staying in work Mapping out young people s path to employment by systematically leading them towards it and tutoring them must facilitate their integration into the world of work and guarantee that they are more likely to stay there. European Social Fund (ESF) The ESF is one potential source of financing. The social partners will have to study how young people could benefit from it and specify clear objectives in this connection. Measures such as the Youth Guarantee should be proposed, and a solution for co-financing needs to be found for those Member States experiencing funding and financial difficulties, like Greece. The role of the social partners Whatever action we take must enhance the role played by the social partners (social dialogue and consultation) both within the framework of active labour-market policies and in the implementation of these policies. The social partners share a major responsibility in many different areas. Follow up and implementation The framework of actions will include a clause designed to guarantee its active promotion and follow-up. It will also necessitate the drafting of annual joint reports on implementation for three years after signing up for the framework. ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 4

5 Proposed composition of the delegation National confederations in EU Member States and the EEA 29 Max. 1 representative per country European industry federations 4 To be jointly appointed by the federations Youth Committee 3 Women s Committee 1 EUROCADRES/CEC Liaison Committee 2 Secretariat 4 Total 43 ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 5

6 Annex : [Original] SOCIAL DIALOGUE WORK PROGRAMME Our approach The European Union is living through the worst crisis of its history. After the financial crisis burst in 2008, a deep crisis is shaking several European states. European countries are increasingly facing difficulties in finding resources, and in adopting economic policies and necessary reforms to underpin growth and employment while ensuring the sustainability of public finances and social protection systems. The challenges facing Europe in the coming years are immense. With more than 23.5 million unemployed in the EU, the EU unemployment rate is at its highest since the early 1990s. Reaching the 75% employment rate target set in the Europe 2020 strategy will require the creation of 17.6 million new jobs. Europe can only succeed if sound macro-economic policies are put in place. At the same time, resources must be invested as a priority in sustainable growth-enhancing strategies. In order to create more and better jobs, Europe needs well-functioning labour markets and a labour force with the necessary qualifications. The appropriate framework conditions must be established to ensure employment opportunities for all workers and to allow for the integration, retention and development of workers in European labour markets. In this exceptional situation, BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP, ETUC (and the liaison committee EUROCADRES/CEC) are put to a test. Our success will be measured in our capacity to put forward solutions notably to EU labour markets problems in order to contribute to growth, employment and social cohesion. At national, regional, local and sectoral levels, social dialogue is playing an important role for coming through economic difficulties and grasping the challenges that are ahead of enterprises and employees. It is therefore our conviction that the EU social dialogue can also complement and build on these other levels and must be able to address the most difficult issues in a spirit of cooperation. Aware of the remits of European competences in the field of employment and social affairs, we aim to contribute to sound EU social and employment policies. European social partners will participate actively to shape upcoming European debates on employment and social affairs, in a way which serves the needs of employers and workers. We also aim to set up a useful framework for national discussions on the policies and reforms needed. In this respect, better coordination between EU and national social agendas can help achieve results for Europeans. As European social partners, ETUC (and the liaison committee EUROCADRES/CEC), BUSINESSEUROPE, CEEP and UEAPME are engaged in a wide range of activities. This work programme is a key pillar of our agenda. We may decide to update it in light of future EU developments. In addition, we will continue to take actions at both bipartite and tripartite levels based on upcoming Commission proposals and initiatives. ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 6

7 Our activities This work programme covers a period of three years from 2012 to It includes the following issues and activities: 1. Youth employment (2012) With more than 22% of young people unemployed, there is an urgent need to remedy this unacceptable situation. The situation of young people will be assessed as a priority. We will focus on the link between education, young people s expectations and labour market needs, taking into account young people's transition into the labour market, in an effort to increase employment rates in general. We will make, in the context of a framework of actions, concrete recommendations also to Member States and the EU institutions. This work will feed into the employment analysis (Point 2 infra). We will also contribute to the G20 agenda on youth employment. 2. In-depth employment analysis (2013) We will conduct an analysis of the functioning of European labour markets, notably building upon our joint analysis of 2007 and agreed facts/figures. This analysis will address both short-term challenges deriving from the crisis and structural issues. We want to understand the reasons why some national policies have so far been able to overcome the crisis in a much more effective way than others, notably in terms of employment and skills. On this basis,, we will draw conclusions and make concrete recommendations to Member States and EU institutions which will be promoted and taken forward by European and national social partners. 3. Gender equality ( ) Social partners agree that further action is needed to address remaining inequalities between women and men including the gender pay gap. To meet this end, social partners will continue to act on the four priorities agreed in the 2005 framework of actions on gender equality which remain valid and essential. They will build on successful experiences identified at enterprise level in the implementation of the framework of actions such as a toolkit to help the setting up of measures. 4. Education and lifelong learning ( ) The continuous development of competencies and the acquisition of qualifications are a shared interest and responsibility for employers, employees and public authorities. For enterprises, access to and development of a skilled workforce is one of the conditions for innovation and competitiveness. For workers, acquiring, updating and developing relevant knowledge, skills and competences throughout working lives is most effective to find and remain in employment. In 2002, European social partners adopted a framework of actions on the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications. This framework of actions remains valid in the present situation as to its four priorities. Nevertheless, the two following issues have emerged since 2002: 1) Skills needs in greening economies; 2) update and upgrade of the skills of older workers in the context of longer working lives. We will take action on these two issues using as a basis the existing matrix of four priorities. ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 7

8 5. Mobility and economic migration (2014) As previously agreed in the work programme, we will jointly address mobility and economic migration issues and promote the integration of migrant workers in the labour market and at the workplace in order to identify possible joint actions. 6. Better implementation and impact of social dialogue instruments (2012) The joint evaluation of the social dialogue results and challenges" conducted in 2011 reveals that most national social partners have positive opinions on past achievements with regard to the implementation of autonomous framework agreements. On the other hand, European social partners have acknowledged that the impact and/or implementation of different social dialogue instruments need to be improved, in particular in some countries. As agreed in the framework of the 2006/2008 and 2009/2010 work programmes, and building on the lessons learned from previous implementation processes and on the findings of the 2012 seminars on this issue, we will jointly ensure better impact and/or implementation of EU social dialogue instruments throughout Europe. 7. Capacity of social partner organisations ( ) Social dialogue needs strong social partner organizations to deliver positive results. We have in the past conducted a successful project to assist Central and Eastern European social partners. In some Member States, more efforts are needed. We will assess and make recommendations to optimise the way in which the European Social Fund could contribute to this. Moreover, we will consider joint action to support the capacity-building of social partners in the Southern shore of the Mediterranean, in particular those which have recently experienced regime change during the Arab Spring. 8. Economic and social governance of the EU (2012) The EU economic governance touches the competences of social partners, namely in issues like wages, pensions and labour costs which are at the heart of industrial relations systems in the Member States. Therefore, we will launch a reflection in the social dialogue committee with the aim of defining a shared vision on the consequences that the current debate on European economic governance will have on social dialogue at EU and national levels, and with a view to develop possible recommendations at relevant levels. ***** ETUC/EC197/BS/PI/JB/rb-02/03/2012 8