Macroeconomic policies and employment
The European Employment Strategy
In most industrialized countries, monetary policies are still
mainly guided by inflation targets. Insufficient attention is often paid to the
fiscal and social costs incurred if this leads to higher levels of unemployment
and underemployment. The advantage of a specific employment target is that it
permits explicit consideration of possible trade-offs between inflationary
targets and both unemployment and the financing of social protection.
A good example of how an overarching employment strategy can
be successfully launched is the European Employment Strategy. The Strategy
started with the Delors White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment in
1993, which raised the political priority of the employment goal1.
The Strategy was successively elaborated through different European councils,
and operationalized by the Heads of State at an extraordinary jobs summit in
Luxembourg in 1997. The longevity of the Strategy is based on an effective
process of monitoring, reporting and implementation.
1 Commission of the
European Communities: Growth, competitiveness, employment: The challenges and
ways forward into the 21st century, Bulletin of the European Communities,
Supplement 6/93 (Luxembourg, 1993).
|
