Employment: guidelines for Member States' policies, review. Employment package

PURPOSE : to present the Council Recommendation on the implementation of Member States' employment policies. CONTENT : since 2000, the Employment Guidelines have been accompanied by recommendations on Member States' employment policies, which are adopted by the Council on the basis of a recommendation from the Commission in line with Article 128.4 of the Treaty. The role of the recommendations is to provide Member States with specific guidance for implementation of the Employment Guidelines and focus on their policy action on key challenges. The Employment Recommendations are therefore presented as part of a package together with the Employment Guidelines and the Broad Economic Guidelines. This package is intended to be adopted at the end of the first semester 2003. This proposal for Employment Recommendations is presented in conjunction with a proposal for fundamentally renewed Employment Guidelines, based on Article 128.2 of the Treaty. The proposal for Guidelines re-orientates the Employment Strategy towards delivering the medium-term objectives agreed in Lisbon, builds on the evaluation of the first five years of the Employment Strategy and takes account of the context of an enlarged European Union. In line with the need for a more streamlined approach, the guidelines have been reduced in number and simplified. They pursue the three complementary and mutually supportive objectives of: 1) full employment, 2) quality and productivity at work, and 3) social cohesion and inclusion. In order to achieve these objectives further structural reforms are required concentrating on ten key priorities, and special attention for important aspects of governance such as social partnership and efficient employment services. The proposal for recommendations mirrors the objectives and priorities of the new guidelines. The recommendations have been strictly selected to reflect the key challenges ahead for each Member State. The Commission has decided to table a total of fifty-seven recommendations to Member States. More than half of the Member States, as in previous years, are singled out for recommendations in the fields of active ageing and labour supply, gender equality, lifelong learning, and unemployment prevention and activation, including development and modernisation of employment services. �