Putting Europe to work - The case for labour market reforms

In most EU member states, unemployment has risen as a direct consequence of the financial, economic and sovereign debt crises. In addition, the crises laid bare underlying structural weaknesses, as manifested in Europe’s failure to deal with chronically high long-term unemployment and weak labour productivity growth. In this new report released on 1 July 2011, BUSINESSEUROPE makes a diagnosis of the current state-of-play on European labour markets, identifies the challenges that they face and suggests the policies needed to overcome them. Successful reforms have helped some member states to weather the crisis successfully and make the most of the recovery. Inspired by such reforms, the report presents a check list for action, calling on member states to urgently put in place the policies that will create growth and jobs.