SCENE-SETTER FOR G8 LABOR MINISTERIAL: THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001460

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TAGS: ELAB SOCI PGOV EUN
SUBJECT: SCENE-SETTER FOR G8 LABOR MINISTERIAL: THE
VIEW FROM BRUSSELS

REF: (A) BRUSSELS 00846; (B) BRUSSELS 00826
(C) 2006 BRUSSELS 04113


1. This message is intended to provide information
and background on the EU employment strategy and the
personality and the views of EU Employment and
Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla in
preparation for the G-8 Labor Ministerial to take
place in Dresden on May 6-8.

MORE AND BETTER JOBS
--------------


2. The European Employment Strategy (EES) embodies
the EU effort since 1997 to "define common
objectives in relation to employment policy and
detailed guidelines for the development of the
employment policies of Member States." In line
with the "Lisbon Strategy" agreed by EU leaders in
2000 and revised in 2005, the Commission described
the goals of its EU-wide strategy as full
employment ("more jobs"),the promotion of quality
and productivity at work ("better jobs"),and
fostering cohesion and an inclusive labor market
("greater social cohesion"). Implementation of the
EES relies on what is called the "open method of
coordination," which is resting on guidelines and
indicators, benchmarking and sharing of best
practices, but with no official sanctions for
laggards. It is backed by recommendations to the
Member States adopted in an annual employment
report jointly produced by the EU Commission and
Council in a coordinated process.


3. In pursuit of its vision of making Europe the
most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy in
the world, "Lisbon" set objectives of full
employment, better quality of work, lifelong
learning and partnerships with the EU's "social
partners (representatives of employers' and labor
organizations at EU level). The strategy was also
meant to influence national priorities of the
Member States to help achieve the EU-wide
objectives. "Lisbon" also identified quantitative
targets to achieve full employment. After
subsequent modification, as well as the addition of
intermediate targets, these became:

-- An overall employment rate of 67% in 2005 and
70% in 2010;
-- An employment rate for women of 57% in 2005 and
60% in 2010;
-- An employment rate of 50% for older workers
(55-64) in 2010.


4. The figures should not be interpreted as
meaning that the EES solely or even chiefly deals
with achieving quantitative employment targets.
Rather, its focus is meant to be changing over
time. It now combines a central aim of creating
more jobs, with supporting strategies to achieve
better jobs. The "four pillars" of the EES are:

-- Improving employability - making sure that
people can develop the right skills to take up
job opportunities in a fast-changing world;

-- Developing entrepreneurship - making it easier
to start and run a business and employ people
in it;

-- Promoting adaptability - developing new more
flexible ways of working which reconcile both
security for the worker and flexibility for
employers;

-- Strengthening equal opportunities and ensuring
equal access to jobs for women and men and
equal treatment at work.


5. "More and better jobs" was identified as a major
policy issue for discussion by EU leaders at each
"spring" (March) meeting of the European Council

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over the past few years. The annual review not only
underlines the importance attached to these topics
but also emphasizes the over-riding need for better
implementation of commitments already agreed under
"Lisbon." Any strategy implemented in a
"cooperative" way is inevitably subject to such
vulnerabilities. Although the strategy has recently
come to bear some fruits and is now "showing its
positive impact," (REFs A and B) the EU Council
recognized a few weeks ago that "considerable
delivery gaps need to be bridged" to address the
fact that 17 million Europeans remain unemployed and
to create 20 million new jobs.

IMPROVING SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS IN LDCs
--------------


6. The Commission has been advocating more
cooperation between the WTO and the ILO to ensure
progress on the social aspects of globalization,
including labor standards. The EU already includes
social and environmental incentives in its trade
relations with developing countries (the Generalised
Scheme of Preferences). It grants extra tariff
reductions to countries that implement the ILO
conventions (REF. C).


7. The EU Council of Ministers for Employment and
Social Affairs in December 2006 noted with
satisfaction that the ILO's Decent Work Agenda is
based on an integrated approach covering productive
and freely chosen employment, and full respect for
rights at work, and that the approach is
encompassing core labor standards, social dialogue,
social protection (including health and safety at
work),and gender equality. Ministers emphasized
that the ILO's Decent Work Agenda is in line with
the Union's values and principles. They recalled
that "the promotion of employment, social cohesion
and decent work for all is part of the European
Social Policy Agenda and of the European Consensus
on EU Development Policy."

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
--------------


8. The Commission encourages companies to assess
their performance also on the welfare of their
workforce and care for the environment. The
Commission is committed to integrate corporate
social responsibility (CSR) into other EU policies
(not only in employment and social affairs) such as
enterprise, development and trade policies.
Commissioner Spidla told a November 2006 Brussels
conference looking at the link between the promotion
of innovation and competitiveness and corporate
social responsibility that CSR was "essential to
sustainable growth and development." Spidla
described the two themes as complementary and
sharing the same objective: "I am convinced that it
is the promotion of innovation in the context or
corporate social responsibility that will in the
longer term determine the health of our
economies and consequently the stability and future
of the European Union."

BIO NOTES ON EU COMMISSIONER SPIDLA
--------------


9. Vladimir Spidla joined the EU Commission in late
2004 after serving as Prime Minister of the Czech
Republic in the period July 2002 - June 2004.
Having studied history at the Charles University of
Prague, where he graduated in 1976, Spidla took up a
number of jobs until the late 1980s, often as a
simple worker because he was not prepared to make
the political compromises necessary for getting jobs
that should have been available to him on the basis
of his qualifications. He also worked as an
archaeologist. His background and his reputation
within the Barroso Commission are those of a man of
integrity and honesty but with poor communication
skills. The job of EU Commissioner awarded to him

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after his loss of the premiership in 2004 was
criticized in his country as "a golden parachute."
Spidla is regarded as strongly pro-European and a
supporter of EU integration (views not necessarily
shared in the political establishment of the Czech
Republic) but his impact on the formulation of
Commission policies has generally been limited to
his specific responsibilities. President Barroso
and Vice-President Verheugen have much more
visibility than Spidla in the promotion of the EU
"Lisbon strategy" for growth and jobs.


10. Spidla is married for the second time; he has
two sons from his first marriage and another two
children by marriage. His hobbies include cross-
country and marathon running. In addition to his
native Czech, Spidla speaks German and French. His
public interventions as EU Commissioner are
generally in those languages and his command of
English is weak. For further bio information about
Commissioner Spidla, his policies, his staff, his
agenda and for a collection of his speeches, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/spidla

McKINLEY