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

PURPOSE : to set out recommendations for the implementation of Member States' employment policies. COMMUNITY MEASURE : Council recommendation 2003/579/EC CONTENT : By Decision 2003/578/EC, the Council adopted the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States. The joint employment report adopted by the Commission and the Council on 6 March 2003 describes key challenges for employment policy in each Member State and indicates priorities for action which will enhance the contribution of each Member State towards the achievement of the overall objectives of the employment guidelines. Sound macroeconomic policies and comprehensive economic reforms are crucial for job creation. Member States must implement this recommendation in a way that is consistent with the broad economic policy guidelines. The Recommendations to each Member State are set out in an Annex to the document. 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, and lifelong learning. Six Member States - Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Sweden - are asked to continue reforms on making work pay. This involves in most cases the reduction of both tax and non-tax burden on labour so as to encourage employees to take up work and employers to create new jobs. Changes are also needed to social security systems in several countries in order to ensure sufficient incentives to take up work. A suitable policy mix is needed in order to reduce the level of undeclared work.�