Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States

Key points

The EESC:

• supports the reconduction of the Employment Guidelines for 2025 as part of the Spring package of the European Semester;

• believes that the new elements in the recitals, introduced in 2025, properly reflect the changes and challenges that affect economic development and the labour markets, respectively;

• takes positive note of the inclusion of a reference to national targets for 2030 on the headline targets set in the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) Action Plan;

• welcomes keeping on track to meet the employment headline target by 2030. It should be noted that employment levels increased more in sectors facing relatively high labour shortages. At the same time, relatively high levels of inactivity among underrepresented groups persist;

• stresses that well-functioning collective bargaining systems remain an important instrument to increase labour productivity and strike the right balance on wage setting when it comes to fairness and responsiveness of wages to productivity developments;

• supports actions taken by many public employment services to place a special focus on activation measures and stronger focus on skills and on supporting workers facing job transitions to foster green and digital transitions. It underlines that the focus should be placed on young people, facilitating school-to-work transitions.

• notes with concern that, despite some positive developments, progress towards the national targets to reduce poverty by 2030 varies significantly among Member States and will require a significant acceleration during the rest of the decade to reach the EU target. Additionally, child poverty remains alarmingly high;

• highlights that, despite geopolitical challenges and new policy objectives linked to preparedness, security and defence, cohesion policy must remain at the heart of the EU political agenda and should be properly financed through the MFF.