COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 19 December 1984 on action to combat long-term unemployment (85/C 2/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to the draft resolution submitted by the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),

Whereas, at the meeting of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs on 27 May 1982, the Council expressed its profound concern at the continued high level of unemployment and recognized the need for additional action to help the long-term unemployed;

Whereas, at the Joint Meeting on 16 November 1982 of the Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs and the Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs, the Council invited the Commission to undertake a study of long-term unemployment and to make proposals to it for remedial action;

Whereas in its conclusions of 22 June 1984 concerning a Community medium-term social action programme, the Council emphasized the importance of measures to resolve the problem of unemployment;

Whereas the problem of long-term unemployment has reached extremely serious proportions and the continuation of a high level of total unemployment is leading to further deterioration, as was emphasized by the Standing Committee on Employment on 25 October 1984;

Whereas it is absolutely necessary for public authorities to adopt wider policy measures to promote economic growth and create jobs, which represent major elements of a strategy to maintain and strengthen the Community's economy ; whereas effective labour market and social policy measures should be coupled with these;

Whereas the continuation of long-term unemployment on the present scale is an obstacle to the realization of the Community's objective of improving living and working conditions;

Whereas the living conditions of the long-term unemployed should be taken into account when the level of social transfers is being decided;

Whereas the reduction of long-term unemployment and the need to restore employment growth require inter alia measures to improve flexibility on the labour market;

Whereas the long-term unemployed risk being among the last to benefit from any upturn in employment and political action within an overall strategy to combat long-term unemployment should therefore be strengthened and developed,

HEREBY ADOPTS THIS RESOLUTION:

I. GENERAL GUIDELINES

The Council is seriously concerned about the problem of long-term unemployment. It recognizes that it cannot be resolved without a general policy designed to achieve economic recovery and employment growth.

At the same time, it considers that an effective Community policy to combat unemployment must employ specific measures to take account of the serious problem of long-term unemployment. This requires both individual and joint action by governments and both sides of industry at local, regional and national levels, which should be supported at Community level.

The specific measures to be adopted should seek, in the case of long-term unemployment, to increase the efficiency of existing social and employment policies by: - improving the dissemination and comparability of information and analysis regarding long-term unemployment; (1) OJ No C 322, 3.12.1984, p. 14. (2) Opinion delivered on 25 October 1984 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (3) Opinion delivered on 21 and 22 November 1984 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

- making greater efforts to create new jobs and to increase flexibility on the labour market;

- considering the possibilities and the problems of adaptation and adjustment of working time and practices;

- reinforcing initial and ongoing training systems and programmes so as to permit workers, and especially the long-term unemployed, to adapt and further develop their skills;

- improving the organization of the employment and social-security services so that they can better effect required policy responses and so prevent the development of long-term unemployment;

- providing adequate support for those who remain unemployed for long periods.

II. NATIONAL MEASURES

To deal with the problem, Member States are requested, in the framework of their own policies and practices and in the light of the responsibilities and autonomy of both sides of industry, to take the following steps: - undertake and/or pursue coordinated analyses designed to provide comprehensive data on long-term unemployment in order to gain an increased awareness of the characteristics of the situation of the long-term unemployed;

- in the case of redundancy, help to ensure, in cooperation with employment services and both sides of industry, that workers threatened with unemployment are informed in good time and that appropriate measures (in particular, counselling and training) are expeditiously made available to them in order to allow them to become qualified for other activities or, where appropriate, to choose early retirement;

- ensure that the various services concerned, including employment services, are so structured, organized and equipped that they can identify as rapidly as possible and follow up those who are likely to become long-term unemployed. These services should also offer them the necessary personal assistance in good time, in particular in the form of in-depth guidance or training;

- identify persons who have become long-term unemployed so that suitable measures - including continuing guidance, training and specific work programmes or measures - may be taken;

- review the functioning of labour markets, notably the application of certain regulations, and, if necessary, existing practices for recruiting, selecting and laying off workers which may aggravate long-term unemployment;

- overcome possible obstacles to the introduction of new forms of adjustment of working hours which could help the long-term unemployed to find employment, taking into account the fact that a reorganization and a reduction of working hours can only have positive employment effects if the competitive position of firms is not impaired, if there is sufficient flexibility in the labour market to prevent bottlenecks, and if appropriate account is taken of specific and sectoral characteristics - notably the size of the firms;

- ensure that specific work programmes or measures to help unemployed persons, individually or in groups, including cooperatives, are prepared, assessed and improved, in conjunction with the various parties concerned. The scale of such programmes or measures should reflect the scale of the long-term unemployment problem at local and regional levels. Their structure and content should also be determined by local needs but should, where appropriate, incorporate an element linked with mainstream education and training provision;

- where it is not already the case, review the rules for payment of social security and/or unemployment benefits with a view to permitting unemployed people to undertake, without losing their entitlement to benefits, certain voluntary activities on a temporary basis provided that this does not affect the normal operation of the labour market;

- encourage and assist unemployed persons wishing to set up their own enterprises, for example by providing for continued income support or equivalent payments, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the resolution of 7 June 1984 on the contribution of local employment initiatives to combating unemployment (1);

- encourage both sides of industry to: (a) promote the recruitment of the long-term unemployed, including through the use of government incentive schemes; (1) OJ No C 161, 21.6.1984.

(b) support actively, wherever possible, voluntary and community job-creation efforts by, for example, seconding staff, allowing use of vacant premises or assisting with product identification and development;

- seek to avoid the long-term unemployed becoming discouraged and isolated by strengthening possibilities for their re-integration into the employment market by providing equal opportunities for access through public or private initiatives to activities of a professional or non-professional kind, which offer both social contact and vocational help and guidance;

- more generally, encourage greater awareness of the activities and schemes open to the long-term unemployed through various means, including the media, where appropriate.

III. ACTION AT COMMUNITY LEVEL

1. Taking into account the role played by Community financial instruments and existing Community action programmes in combating long-term unemployment, the Commission is requested to undertake the following supplementary action and, where appropriate, present proposals to that effect to the Council: - in collaboration with the Member States, obtain a better understanding of the nature and scale of long-term unemployment; (a) by improving the collection of adequate statistics on an agreed Community basis;

(b) by ensuring that the Commission has the necessary information so that long-term unemployment can be explicitly taken into account as a criterion for allocating financial support, where it is foreseen, notably from the European Social Fund;

- encourage and support Member States' policy efforts, cooperate with both sides of industry in the development of their actions and provide, in accordance with the rules governing it, appropriate aid from the European Social Fund to combat long-term unemployment; (a) with particular regard to the organization of the employment and related services as well as of specific work programmes or measures;

(b) with particular emphasis on actions to assist the recruitment and social support of the long-term unemployed;

- consider the possibility of developing positive measures aimed at giving, for example, training, retraining or work experience after a certain period of enemployment;

- undertake further research with the assistance of MISEP into those measures and practices, whether taken by Governments or the two sides of industry, which are successful in combating long-term unemployment, with a view to extending their use to other areas of the Community.

2. The Council notes the Commission's intention to initiate a broad policy appraisal at Community level in order to develop a more incisive medium-term employment and social policy which is better suited to addressing the problem of long-term unemployment. Particular issues to be studied in this context will be job creation and labour market flexibility, possibilities for improving competitiveness of enterprises so as to provide more jobs, social support schemes, retirement, education and training and future patterns of life and work.

3. The Commission is requested to inform the Council every two years of progress made in the implementation of these actions.

4. Community financing for the actions set out in this section will be decided on in the framework of the budgetary procedure and in accordance with the legal commitments entered or to be entered into by the Council.