§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans the United Kingdom presidency has to follow up the conclusions of the Luxembourg Special Summit on Employment. [26434]
§ Mr. Andrew Smith[holding answer 10 February 1998]: Employment is at the top of our priorities for the UK presidency. It fits in well with the key elements of the Conclusions at the Luxembourg Special Summit on Employment which included agreement on the 476W Employment Guidelines and a funding package to support employment initiatives. Our task is to convert the Conclusions into action.
The Employment Guidelines provide a more focused approach to tackling unemployment and form the basis of National Action Plans. As Presidency we are encouraging Member States to produce national action plans by mid-April, both to ensure that the Guidelines are given practical effect and so that there can be early discussion and analysis of their content. We intend that there should be a discussion of the Action Plans at the Cardiff European Council in June. We intend to produce and publish the UK Employment Action Plan considerably in advance of the deadline.
We also aim to make rapid progress in agreeing and implementing the employment related European Parliament financial package and welcome the opportunity to take forward work on demonstration projects, for which the European Parliament has provided 12 mecu in 1998. These projects will promote the exchange of experience and good practice to show which employment policies and initiatives work best.
In addition, we are developing employability as the overarching theme in the Social Affairs/Education arenas. The Joint Informal in March aims to develop a better understanding of the concept of employability and the issues that affect Member States in making a reality of the idea, as well as exchanging information and good practice.