Employment in Europe. 1994 annual Report

This Commission report deals with employment in Europe in 1994. According to the report, after 3 years of recession, low job creation and increasing unemployment, the prospects for the European economy appear to be improving. There are signs of a resumption in manufacturing and the rise in unemployment appears to have levelled off in most countries in the Community. However, this encouraging development does not mean that the problems caused by excessive unemployment are close to being resolved and it certainly does not mean that the Community has finally overcome its inability to create enough jobs for everyone seeking employment, irrespective of whether or not they are registered as unemployed. The problem of unemployment still subsists in the Community and will do so until the end of the century. The main idea behind the report is that sustainable growth and its ability to generate employment depend in part on continuing growth in the world economy and the degree to which the structural problems identified in the White Paper on "Growth, Competitiveness, Employment" are overcome (lack of coordination between the economic policies of the Member States, lack of flexible job markets, lack of investment in education and training). The strategy proposed in the White Paper for fighting unemployment is based on two main lines of approach: - strengthening growth through better coordination of national economic policies; - finding a more employment-based production model. It is up to the Member States to implement this double strategy, although the Commission can play an important role by providing information and analyses on employment developments in the Community. This is basically the purpose of the present report: - part one of which sets out the whole dimension of the problem of unemployment in the Union (number of unemployed, developments in and quantitative prospects for unemployment etc.); - part two of which studies the main areas for taking action to influence the job market as suggested in the White Paper (changes to working times, labour costs etc.); - part three of which reviews the progress made in the Member States with regard to the action programme outlined in the White Paper.�