20 July 1995

Doc. 7365

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

on the need for determined action against unemployment in Europe

presented by Mr BLOETZER, Switzerland, EPP

and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       Unemployment in the majority of Council of Europe member states, especially in western Europe, has over the last few years become less and less a function of the ups and downs of the economic cycle, and more and more a structural phenomenon. For every successive upturn in the economy, unemployment remains at a higher level, so that it at present affects 11 percent of the active population in European OECD member countries.

2.       This situation can no longer be accepted. At a time when the finances of Council of Europe member states are overall too weak to allow the problem to be tackled effectively through increased public spending, the only answer lies in structural reform in all sectors of the economy - along the lines, for example, of the recommendations contained in the OECD's 1994 Jobs Study or the interim conclusions of the Council of Europe's own project "The Social and Economic Consequences of the Restructuring of the Economies of Europe".

3.       In conclusion, the Assembly calls on the governments of Council of Europe member states to devote urgent attention to the underlying causes of unemployment, and to lasting remedies, notably by:

      - following macroeconomic policies which both encourage economic growth and make it sustainable;

      - removing disincentives to work and hire, through better designed social security and tax systems, and other measures designed to improve labour market flexibility;

      - increasing the individual's employment chances through better education, transition to work and on-the-job training;

      - creating new jobs by encouraging the creation and development of small and medium-sized enterprises, in accordance with the recommendations formulated in Recommendation No. R (94) 2 on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in March 1994.

Signed:

Bloetzer, Switzerland, EPP

Mimaroǧlu, Turkey, EPP

Pinto, Portugal, LDR

Fischer, Germany, EPP

Pavlidis, Greece, EPP

Hardy, United Kingdom, SOC

Laasko, Finland, UEL

Baarveld-Schlaman, Netherlands, SOC

Schwimmer, Austria, EPP

Berg, Norway, EDG

de Puig, Spain, SOC

*       SOC : Socialist Group

      EPP : Group of the European People's Party

      EDG : European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL : Group of the Unified European Left