Employment: qualifications and mobility, programme of action

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the report by Regina BASTOS (EPP-ED, Portugal) on the Commission's Action Plan for skills and mobility. (Please refer to the document dated 11/09/02.) Parliament stressed that particular attention must be paid to early school leaving, which ranges from 8% to more than 40% across the Member States. The Commission needs to examine how the proosed network of industry/educational advisory bodies can help to tackle the high number of people leaving school without formal qualifications. Whilst Parliament is pleased with the emphasis placed on cross-cultural education as a means of preparing for mobility, Member States must still ensure that better information is provided on the possibilities offered by the programmes available. Parliament placed some emphasis on the transfer of supplementary pension rights. A solution must be found for the excessively long qualifying period, the effect of which is to reduce entitlement of pensions for mobile workers and to discriminate against women. It is also important to eliminate double taxation and eliminate or reduce tax on contributions. In view of the fact that third country migrants are being recruited in the Member States, Parliament asked the Commission to lay down migration management criteria, targets and measures to help immigrants integrate through work, and their families integrate into the local communities through the provision of high-standard public services. Finally, the mobility of workers with children, especially women, depends to a great extent on the availability of affordable childcare and good education facilities which vary between Member States. There ought to be secondary measures in those areas to achieve the aims of the Action Plan.�