EMPLOYMENT : EP FOCUSES ON IMPORTANCE OF GUIDELINES.

• Position: European Parliament

The European Parliament agrees to maintain, in 2011, the integrated guidelines for the economic and employment policies of the member states adopted in 2010, with a view to enabling them to concentrate on their implementation. In an opinion adopted on 17 February under the consultation procedure, MEPs nevertheless let the Commission and Council know that they are sceptical about the importance that will be attached to these guidelines given the multitude of existing frameworks ( European semester', annual growth survey, etc).

Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) on implementation of the guidelines for the employment policies of the member states, following a debate on the guidelines and on the Europe 2020' strategy. The resolution calls for closer interaction between employment policies, social policies and other policy areas, especially macroeconomic policy, research and development, and innovation, education and training, as a means of achieving the 2020 targets.

"It is striking to see that the question of employment and unemployment appears secondary compared with budget consolidation objectives. You propose to raise the retirement age, to lower the unemployment benefit and so on. We think that this is an extremely dangerous intrusion into the social pact," declared Pervenche Beres (S&D, France), who drafted the resolution.

RECONCILING ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT

MEPs warn: the annual growth survey and the framework offered by the European semester' must not replace or minimise the importance of the broad economic policy guidelines and the guidelines for employment policies. "You are launching the European semester' just as Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy are launching the competitiveness pact'. At the same time, you are renewing the guidelines for employment, which

in all likelihood will only be a very vague framework for definition of these national programmes," observed Beres...