Conference: "Employment at all ages: what role for the European Social Fund?"
Problem of access to the labour market
© Europa
- from: 25.09.2008
- to: 26.09.2008
- In: Le Havre
In 2001, the European Council meeting in Stockholm set a long-term aim for employment rates amongst workers aged between 55 and 64: 50% in 2010. This is one of the key aims of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment. Thanks to an active policy to promote the employment of senior citizens in the Member States, this rate rose to 44.7% in 2007, compared with 36.8% in 2002. Nevertheless, the target figure of 50% has not been reached, and access to employment for young people and older workers remains difficult, whereas the overall employment figure has improved. Problems of access to the labour market are also met at the other end of the spectrum of working life, since young people aged between 16 and 25 find it more difficult to enter the world of work and are the group most affected by job insecurity.
This conference, organised on 25 and 26 September 2008 by the French Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Employment, in conjunction with the European Commission and the City of Le Havre, aims to identify new pathways for initiatives that could be supported by the European Social Fund, with the aim of achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy in the context of various initiatives implemented by the Member States.
It will be opened by Laurent Wauquiez, the French Minister of State for Employment, Vladimir Špidla, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and Petr Necas, the Czech Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
The conference is an opportunity for reflection and debate for 350 participants from the 27 Member States of the European Union (officials from public administrations charged with employment and training, social partners, representatives of the economic sector, officials from the European Social Fund) on the following themes:
- facilitating entry into working life through part-time training
- promoting geographic mobility amongst young people
- offering better guidance and support to young people in employment
- formulating collective responses for areas in difficulty
- bringing together inter-generational know-how in businesses
- avoiding premature departures from the job market through life-long training
- using every tool to facilitate the integration of senior citizens into the job market
- improving organisation and working conditions for senior citizens to remain in employment
A recruitment forum will be held in tandem with this event, in the entrance hall of Le Havre City Hall. The initial results from this forum (appointments made, job offers made, number of job seekers and businesses attending) will be made known to conference participants on the morning of 26 September.
- Updated: 26.09.2008
