Council conclusions on the Governance of the European Employment Strategy in the context of Europe 2020 and the European Semester

The Council held a policy debate on the governance of the European Employment Strategy (EES) in the context of Europe 2020 and the European semester, i.e. the new EU provisions on the coordination of the member states' economic policies, before adopting conclusions on how the EES should be adapted to the new European semester and in particular its new mechanisms of macroeconomic and thematic surveillance.

Ministers recalled the important role of employment policies in the macro-economic developments of the EU, and that the EPSCO Council should play its full role within the framework of the EU 2020 and the European Semester in order to reach the objectives included in the Employment Guidelines.

Ministers also recognised the need for a clear monitoring in order to assess the progress in reaching the objectives of the Employment Guidelines and asked to take into account both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Within this context, ministers welcomed the initial work of the Employment Committee on a Joint Assessment Framework (JAF), a tool to monitor the implementation of the Employment Guidelines by the member states and their rogress towards their employment headlines targets.