Labour market performance and migration flows - European ...

European CommissionOccasional Paper 60, Volume Ithe creation of a working group on the migration aspects of the labour market (held within theEuroMed Migration II regional project), the introduction of training courses for migrant workers, predepartureprofessional training and linguistic courses for potential migrants; a seminar on the transferof funds and micro-credit opportunities; training courses for the countries of transit on methods for thedetection and identification of false or falsified and counterfeit identity and travel documents; anenhancing capacity building related to departure flows and on strengthening the relationship betweenfighting illegal migration and the respect for the relevant international instruments. The Ministersmade a commitment to maintaining regular meetings, through the establishment of task forces at thelevel of senior experts and officials to implement all the actions and supervise progress. Also, the linkwith migration and development in the Partnership was stressed as was the need to address the rootcauses of migration particularly poverty, unemployment, and the development gap. Those conclusionsshow that a genuine shift in the approach to migration and its link with development and labour needsin the Euro-Mediterranean framework – at least at the rhetorical level.A parallel dynamic is on course regarding employment policies in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. After two years of preparations, the first Euro-Mediterranean Conferenceof Ministers of Labour and Employment was held in Marrakech in November 2008. 65 The Ministersaddressed “concrete initiatives and proposals to promote employment creation, the modernisation oflabour markets, and decent work”, committing all partners of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership to a“Framework of Actions which would contribute to developing a genuine social dimension within theEuro-Med agenda”. The Ministers also acknowledged that, in addition to high economic growth rates,the situation calls for greater investment in human capital, training and employability, as well asconcrete job creation measures and an improved environment for said investments. They furtheremphasised the interdependence between employment, education and training, social cohesion,economic development and growth and sustainable development and called for an integrated approachwhereby economic, fiscal, employment, social and environmental policies, as well as education andtraining policies, would be defined and implemented together.The Ministers then committed themselves to a regional Framework of Actions based on theobjectives set out in the Annex to the Conclusions, namely: i) create more jobs, also using activeemployment policies; ii) enhance employability and human capital; iii) create better jobs and decentemployment opportunities; iv) promote equal opportunities for men and women; v) integrate moreyoung people into decent jobs; vi) design a comprehensive strategy for transforming informalemployment into formal employment; and vii) manage labour migration, taking into account jobmarket needs on both sides of the Mediterranean.Finally, the Ministers established a follow-up mechanism to monitor the implementation of theFramework for Actions, consisting of a Working Group that “will collect information and data onnational trends and policy developments, identify and exchange best practices, as well as addressissues which arise in the implementation of the Framework of Actions. The partner countries willprovide the group with the information needed for drawing up during 2010 a follow-up report onprogress under the Framework of Actions”. This progress report will be based, in the case of theMediterranean partner countries, on national action plans and progress reports to be submitted by 2009and, in the case of EU member states, on the reports submitted within the framework of the EU’sLisbon Strategy. The Second Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Labour and Employment Ministers tobe held in 2010 should be the occasion to take stock of progress and evaluate the implementation ofthis mechanismBut both dynamics, on migration and on employment at the Euro-Mediterranean level, certainlyopen up new perspectives for policy cooperation in this areas which might culminate, in time, with a65 Conclusions of the first Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Employment and Labour Ministers, Marrakech, 9-10 November 2008,http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/euromed/conf/employment_health_conclusions_1108_en.pdf.96