The report by the Employment Committee as mandated by the Council identifies at a glance the main employment challenges for the European Union and for each Member State.

Like the 2011 pilot version of the EPM, this 2012 version is based on the findings of the Europe 2020 Joint Assessment Framework (JAF). The JAF is an indicator-based assessment system prepared jointly by the Employment Committee, the Social Protection Committee (SPC) and the Commission, covering general and specific policy areas under the Employment Guidelines, with the objective to identify key challenges in these areas and support Member States in establishing their priorities.

The JAF comprises two main elements:

  • Monitoring and assessment of main challenges under the Employment Guidelines through a three-step methodology including a quantitative and qualitative assessment
  • Quantitative monitoring of progress towards the EU headline and related national targets.