Labour Markets and the European Employment Strategy

1. Labour Markets and the European Employment Strategy RECWOWE/ESPAnet University of Edinburgh

2. Learning Objectives • By the end of this session and in conjunction with the reading you should have a basic knowledge of the diversity of labour markets across the European Union and beyond. You should also have gained a basic critical introduction to the processes of the European Employment Strategy (EES).

3. Two Competing Visions • Free Market Model: • Neo-Liberal • Stresses individual success, high profits, short term gain • High levels of Competition • Individual and Performance Related Pay • Minimum Standards • Rational Choice

4. Two Competing Visions • European Social Model • Collective Consensus • Job Creation Long Term Gain • Full Employment • Job Security • Egalitarianism • Group Interests and the Social Partners • High Social Standards

5. Relative Effectiveness of Free Market system • Outstripped EU in terms of job creation and low unemployment • Arguments for flexibility and cutbacks on the costs of employment • Reducing worker protection makes the US more competitive within the world of globalisation

6. Relative Effectiveness of ESM • Income distribution more equal in EU • The US has more poverty. Poverty in the US is three times higher in the general population • Greater job insecurity as a result of diminishing Union power • Quality of jobs • Poorer productivity in the US

7. The Single Market • Free Market • Improved International Competitiveness • A Commitment to fair competition • A Level Playing Field

8. Reconciling Diversity? • The limits of EU Competence and Capacity • Variation in Policy Design • Variation in Member State Regimes and their Policy Performance

9. Women’s Employment Rates

10. The EU Solution • From Essen to Amsterdam • Insertion of Employment in the Treaty of Amsterdam 1997 • The inauguration of the European Employment Strategy • The Formal introduction of the Open Method of Coordination

11. ToA: VII Employment Title • Legal codification of European Employment Strategy • Roots I: Delors White Paper (Goetschy, 1999) – Commission as a norm entrepreneur • Roots II: Larsson Report “Put Europe To Work” EEI (Johansson, 1999) – transnational interest coalition in Party of European Socialists

12. Lisbon 2000 • “to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”.

13. The Process of the EES • Fixed Guidelines for the Union combined with specific timetables for achieving the goals set jointly by the European Commission and the European Council • Establishing Quantitative and Qualitative Indicators and Benchmarks as a means of comparing best practice • Translating the guidelines into national and regional policies through monitoring, evaluation and peer review organised as a process of mutual learning

14. Integrated Employment Guidelines • Following a proposal from the Commission, the European Council agrees every year on a series of guidelines setting out common priorities for Member States' employment policies: • Three Overarching Objectives 2005-2008 • Full Employment • Improving Quality and Productivity at Work • Strengthening Social and Territorial Cohesion

15. Three Major Priorities • Attract and retain more people to employment, Increase Labour Supply, and Modernise social Protection Systems • Improve Adaptability of Workers and Enterprises • Increase Investment in Human Capital through better education and skills

16. The EES in Action • EU annual progress report: the Commission reviews progress made at both national and Community level, based on regular monitoring of the actions listed in the Community Lisbon Programme and on an evaluation of the implementation of the Member states national programmes. On the basis of this annual assessment, the Commission may, if necessary, identify further actions to revise the Community Lisbon Programme.

17. The EES in Action • National Reform Programmes: every Member State draws up a programme in which is described how these Guidelines are going to be designed and implemented nationally. - Joint Employment Report: the Employment chapter of the annual progress report is adopted by the Council to form the Joint Employment Report - Recommendations: The Council may decide, by qualified majority, to issue country-specific Recommendations upon a proposal by the Commission.

18. Major Advantages of EES (and the OMC for that matter) • A ‘Third Way’ – Opens up new and sustainable ways of doing business • Respects National Diversity whilst addressing common concerns • A tool for building consensus around the European Social Model • A mechanism for policy learning

19. Major Disadvantages of EES • Encroaches into policy domains where the EU is not wanted • A threat to the original Community Method • An imposition of a certain ‘type’ of social policy • A lack of substantive impact – the most damning of all the criticism

20. Assignment • Does the OMC reconcile diversity whilst addressing common concerns? • Is the OMC a promising form of governance which encourages mutual learning and cross-national problem solving? • What methodological and theoretical indicators would you use to assess the OMC at national level?