The regional dimension of the European Employment Strategy

The European Employment Strategy (EES), among other things, was designed to improve the integration of groups which are currently underrepresented into the labour market. Women, older workers, the long-term unemployed, young people, early school leavers, low-skilled workers, people with disabilities, immigrants and ethnic minorities are explicitly mentioned in the 2003 Employment Guidelines. The creation of a more inclusive national employment order is being pursued above all through a new, more open method of co-ordination, based on the definition of common targets, and a common evaluation of the outcomes and mutual learning processes (see Philippe Pochet's Chapter 12 in this volume; De La Porte, Pochet and Room 2001; Hodson and Maher 2001; Ferrera, Matsaganis and Sacchi 2002; Scharpf 2002).

Initially, the EES was focused mainly on the national level. In 2000, the foundations for local and regional employment policies were laid. Since 2000, the importance of the regional level has not only been emphasised in the Employment Guidelines, the European Commission also calls for a ‘local dimension for the European Employment Strategy’. This was legitimated with a high share of government expenditures at the local and regional level, the employment potential of smaller businesses and the large impact of the third sector, the non-profit organisations.

Until now, the effects of this decentralisation have been extremely limited, according to the Commission in an evaluation of the EES in 2002.