News

The agenda aims to make labour markets more flexible, give workers the skills they need, improve working conditions and create jobs. The main goal – by 2020 – is to achieve an employment rate of 75% for all people between 20 and 64. It is one of the five key elements of the EU’s growth and jobs strategy, Europe 2020. The commission is set to apply the agenda’s 13 action points between now and 2014. Especially interesting are key actions 1 to 3 about Flexicurity. Building on the EU common principles of Flexicurity, the priorities propopsed in the agenda set out the terms of a comprehensive debate on strengthening the four components of flexicurity. These priorities will be debated in early 2011 at a Stakeholder conference on Flexicurity, organised by the Commission with Member States, the European Parliament and social partners. A Communication on a new momentum for Flexicurity will then be published in the first half of 2012.



UNI Europa especially welcomes the Commission's proposal to extend the use of open-ended contractual arrangements. UNI Europa sectors have seen a rapid increase of atypical and fixed-term contracts and believe that the existing division between those holding temporary and permanent contracts should be reduced.



COMM_New_Skills_and_Jobs_EN-1.pdf