Employment in Europe. 1994 annual Report

In his report on the Commission's annual report on employment (1994), Mr W. MENRAD (PPE, D) again urged the Commission, the Council and the Member States to take further measures to promote economic development by: - strengthening competition policy; - creating a climate which is favourable to job-creating investment and investment within companies; - increasing funding for research and advanced technologies; - creating trans-European networks; - providing aid to environmentally-friendly production methods; - paying particular attention to SMEs when defining Community programmes; - strengthening measures which address independent activities; - ensuring that both sides of industry are properly involved. He considered that, as a precondition to job-creating growth, measures should be introduced to enable everyone to benefit from lifelong training. The report also specifically called for a general reduction in working hours and felt that Member States should take new steps to reduce indirect labour costs and taxation (particularly for less-skilled labour). It therefore called for social security systems to be gradually exempted from non-social security expenditure and for temporary aid to be granted to employers in order to reduce wage costs and reintegrate the long-term unemployed. Finally, the report stressed the urgent need for a European policy on immigration in order effectively to combat the problem of illegal immigrants and their exploitation on the labour market.�