Employment: new European labour markets before 2005, 2002 action plan

The European Parliament has adopted the resolution by Mauro NOBILIA (UEN, I). The Parliament hopes that by the end of 2002, the Member States will reach agreement on the question of the 'fiscal package' and the tax disadvantages affecting cross-border workers. The Council is asked to take a decision as soon as possible on the mandate given by the Stockholm European Council to draw up parameters with a view to modernising Regulation 1408/71 on the coordination of social security systems, in order to enable the Council and the European Parliament to accelerate final adoption, and also to include third country nationals by the end of 2002. The Parliament notes the setting up of a Skills and Mobility Task Force and asks to be informed regularly of the work of the task force. It asks the Commission also to forward to Parliament the action plan which it intends to submit to the Spring 2002 European Council so that it can deliver an opinion before the Council. The Commission is called upon to produce as a matter of urgency a thorough qualitative study on the possible distortions of the labour market which might result from the significant increase in labour migration which is principally emerging. Moreover, the Commission is called upon to submit a proposal, in conjunction with the Sixth Framework Programme on Research which is due to be adopted by June 2002 in codecision with Parliament, to formulate a specific strategy on mobility inside the European Research Area, while urging the Member States to pool their ideas and experience and to strengthen research and development, inter alia by means of economic incentives and EIB actions, with particular reference to disadvantaged regions of the Union. Lastly, the Parliament calls on the Commission to suggest to the candidate countries that they participate in the project in question, possibly by incorporating it in the action plan for eEurope 2002.�