Europaudvalget 2011-12
Uformelt Det Europæiske Råd 30/1-12 Bilag 6
Offentligt
EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Brussels, 30 January 2012
SN 5/12
STATEMENT OFTHE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL130 JANUARY 2012TOWARDS GROWTH-FRIENDLY CONSOLIDATION AND JOB-FRIENDLY GROWTH
Over recent months, there have been tentative signs of economic stabilisation but financial markettensions continue to dampen economic activity and uncertainty remains high. Governments areundertaking strong efforts to correct budgetary imbalances on a sustainable basis but furtherefforts are needed to promote growth and employment. There are no quick fixes. Our action must bedetermined, persistent and broad-based. We must do more to get Europe out of the crisis.
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For parliamentary reasons, the Swedish Prime Minister was not in a position to subscribe to this statement.
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Decisions have been taken to ensure financial stability and fiscal consolidation - this is a necessarycondition for a return to higher structural growth and employment. But it is not in itself sufficient:we have to modernise our economies and strengthen our competitiveness to secure a sustainablegrowth. This is essential to create jobs and preserve our social models and it is at the heart of theEurope 2020 strategy and the Euro Plus Pact. These efforts must be made in close cooperation withthe social partners, respecting Member States' national systems. Growth and employment will onlyresume if we pursue a consistent and broad-based approach, combining a smart fiscalconsolidation preserving investment in future growth, sound macroeconomic policies and an activeemployment strategy preserving social cohesion.
The March European Council will provide guidance on Member States' economic and employmentpolicies, putting particular emphasis on fully exploiting the potential of green growth and onaccelerating structural reforms to increase competitiveness and create more jobs. In doing so, itmust pay due attention to the growing divergences between Member States' economic situation andto the social consequences of the crisis.
Today, we focussed on three immediate priorities. Wherever possible, efforts made at the nationallevel will be supported by EU action, including better targeting available EU funds towards jobsand growth, within agreed ceilings.
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Stimulating employment, especially for young people
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More than 23 million people are unemployed in Europe today. Unless we can improve ourgrowth rates, unemployment will remain high. We need to keep people in work and createnew jobs, including in the "green economy". This means taking concrete action to overcomethe "skills mismatch" and the "geographic mismatch". It also means reforming labour marketsand addressing the cost of labour in relation to productivity. This is mainly a matter for theMember States, which need to develop and implement comprehensive initiatives onemployment, education and skills. Each Member State will set out in its National ReformProgramme the concrete measures it will take to address these issues ("National Job Plans");implementation will be subject to enhanced monitoring in the framework of the Europeansemester. Measures to cut non-wage labour costs, such as the reduction of the tax wedge, canhave an important impact on labour demand of the low-skilled and the young. Reducinglabour market segmentation can go a long way in providing young people with jobopportunities. A particular effort needs to be made immediately at national level to improvelabour supply and reduce youth unemployment:
stepping up efforts to promote young people's first work experience and theirparticipation in the labour market: the objective should be that within a few months ofleaving school, young people receive a good quality offer of employment, continuededucation, an apprenticeship, or a traineeship;
increasing substantially the number of apprenticeships and traineeships to ensure thatthey represent real opportunities for young people, in cooperation with social partnersand where possible integrated into education programmes;
making renewed efforts to get early school-leavers into training;making full use of the EURES job mobility portal to facilitate the cross-borderplacement of young people; further opening sheltered sectors by removing unjustifiedrestrictions on professional services and the retail sector.
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2.
The EU will support those efforts, notably by:
as a first step working with those Member States which have the highest youthunemployment levels to re-direct available EU funds towards support for young peopleto get into work or training;
enhancing the mobility of students by substantially increasing the number of placementsin enterprises under the Leonardo da Vinci programme;using the ESF to support the setting up apprenticeship-type schemes and supportschemes for young business starters and social entrepreneurs;enhancing cross-border labour mobility, through the revision of EU rules on the mutualrecognition of professional qualifications, including the European professional card andthe European Skills Passport, the further strengthening of EURES, and progress on theacquisition and preservation of supplementary pension rights for migrating workers.
Completing the Single Market
3.
The Single Market constitutes a key driver for Europe's economic growth. This is an areawhere action at EU level can do much to boost jobs and growth. The Single Market Act, theDigital Single Market and the ongoing reduction of overall regulatory burden for SMEs andmicroenterprises constitute clear priorities. Recalling our commitment to give particularpriority to the speedy examination of proposals having the most growth potential, we call for:
agreement on standardisation, on energy efficiency and on the simplification ofaccounting requirements by the end of June 2012; agreement on the simplification ofpublic procurement rules by the end of the year;
rapid implementation of the Commission Action Plan on e-commerce; the submissionof new proposal on e-signature before June 2012; and agreement on rules on onlinedispute resolution and on roaming by June 2012;
in order to deploy the full potential of the digital economy, modernisation of Europe'scopyright regime and promotion of best practices and models, while fighting piracymore effectively and taking into account cultural diversity;
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progress in structured discussions on the coordination of tax policy issues and theprevention of harmful tax practices in the context of the Euro Plus Pact.
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The participating Member States commit to reaching at the latest in June 2012 a finalagreement on the last outstanding issue in the patent package.
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It is of crucial importance that we swiftly and fully implement at the national level what wehave already agreed to deliver the full potential of the Single Market. In particular, EUlegislation in areas such as services and the energy single market must be rapidly and fullyimplemented. We also need to tackle the remaining missing links still preventing the internalmarket from delivering its full benefits. In advance of the June 2012 European Council, theCouncil will assess progress made in the implementation of Single Market legislation on thebasis of the Commission Internal Market Scoreboard. The Commission will report annuallyon progress made towards releasing the growth-creating potential of a fully integrated SingleMarket, including as regards network industries. The Commission will report in June onpossible means to enhance the implementation of Single Market legislation and improve itsenforcement.
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We will push forward multilateral and bilateral efforts to remove trade barriers and ensurebetter market access and appropriate investment conditions for European exporters andinvestors in line with the conclusions of the October 2011 European Council. 2012 should bea decisive year to move ahead on trade agreements with major partners. The EU/US High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth should consider all options for boosting EU/UStrade and investment.
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Boosting the financing of the economy, in particular SMEs
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It is vital to take measures to prevent the present credit crunch severely limiting the ability ofenterprises to grow and create jobs. The recent measures taken by the ECB as regards long-term lending to banks help very much in that respect. National supervisors and the EBA mustensure that bank recapitalisation does not lead to deleveraging which would negatively affectthe financing of the economy. Supervisors should ensure a rigorous application by all banksof EU legislation restricting bonus payments.
8.
The 23 million European SMEs are the backbone of Europe's economic success and a keyprovider of employment. We therefore agree on the following urgent measures to beimplemented by June:
better mobilising structural funds by speeding up the implementation of existingprogrammes and projects, where appropriate re-programming monies and rapidlycommitting monies not yet allocated to specific projects, concentrating on growthenhancement and job creation;
strengthening EIB support for SMEs and infrastructure; the Council, the Commissionand the EIB are invited to consider possible options to enhance EIB action to supportgrowth and to make appropriate recommendations, including possibilities for the EUbudget to leverage EIB group financing capacity;
rapidly examining the Commission's proposals on a pilot phase for the use of "projectbonds" to stimulate private financing of key infrastructure projects;ensuring better access to venture capital across Europe by agreeing the EU passport byJune;promoting the role of the Progress Microfinance Facility in support for micro-enterprises;
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making renewed efforts to improve the environment in which SMEs operate, inparticular as regards the reduction of unjustified administrative and regulatory burdensas well as by ensuring that all actions at the European Union level fully supporteconomic growth and job creation.
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Measures requiring action at the national level will be duly reflected in Member States'National Reform Programmes. The Council will report by June on implementation ofmeasures to be taken at EU level.
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