Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States in 2013

PURPOSE: to maintain the validity in 2013 of guidelines on employment adopted in Council Decision 2010/707/EU on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

BACKGROUND: on 26 March 2010, the European Council agreed to the European Commission's proposal to launch a new strategy for jobs and growth, Europe 2020, based on enhanced coordination of economic policies, which will focus on the key areas where action is needed to boost Europe’s potential for sustainable growth and competitiveness. To that end, the European Council agreed to set EU headline targets, which constitute shared objectives guiding action of the Member States and of the Union.

The Treaty on the functioning of the EU provides that Member States are to regard their economic policies and promoting employment as matters of common concern and coordinate them within the Council. In two distinct articles, it provides that the Council is to adopt broad economic policy guidelines (Article 121) and employment guidelines (Article 148), specifying that the latter must be consistent with the former. Given this legal basis, the guidelines for employment and economic policies are presented as two distinct - but intrinsically interconnected - legal instruments:

• a Council Recommendation on broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States and of the Union -Part I of the Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines;
• a Council Decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States –Part II of the Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines.

These guidelines implemented by the above mentioned legal instruments form together the integrated guidelines for implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. The employment guidelines were adopted on 21 October 2010, and as provided by the adoption decision should remain stable until 2014 to ensure a focus on implementation.

The overall objectives and priorities expressed in the guidelines for the employment policies remain valid. For this reason, the Commission’s proposal maintains in their original state the guidelines adopted in 2010.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was undertaken.

LEGAL BASIS: Article 148(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

CONTENT: in this text, the Commission proposes that the guidelines for Member States’ employment policies contained in the Annex to the Council Decision of 21 October 2010 should be maintained in 2013 and taken into account by Member States in their employment policies.

BUDGETARY IMPACT: the proposal has no impact on the EU’s budget.