Communitarian employment policy of the European Union: Implementation of the Open Method of Coordination

Abstract

The harmonization process of minimum working conditions in the Member States can be traced back to the founding of the European Union, while common European employment policy appears after the Treaty of Amsterdam. Foundation of common Economic and Monetary Union, improvement of fiscal discipline and competitiveness were reasons why primary orientation was given to labor market policy, as the first policy institutionally included in the joint coordination mechanisms within the European Union. The main hypothesis of this paper is that usage of the Open Method of Coordination, as a method of soft law, reduce the divergence of policy outcomes in the Member States with a continuous tendency of employment growth. The aims of this paper are to show strategic direction of the EU policy as part of the employment agenda formulation, monitoring of the Methods' implementation in the previous period and to draw conclusions about policies undertaken. The analysis shows performance improvement of the Member States, considering the influence of national social security system specificities on the process effectiveness.

Proces usaglašavanja minimalnih uslova rada u državama članicama može se pratiti od osnivanja Evropske unije, dok zajednička evropska politika zapošljavanja nastupa tek s Amsterdamskim ugovorom. Uspostavljanje zajedničke Ekonomske i monetarne unije, povećanje fiskalne discipline i konkurentnosti bili su razlozi koji su primat dali politici tržišta rada, kao prvoj od politika koja je institucionalno uvrštena u zajedničke instrumente koordinacije u Evropskoj uniji. Osnovna hipoteza rada jeste da se primenom Otvorenog metoda koordinacije, kao metoda mekog prava, smanjuje divergencija ishoda politika u državama članicama sa stalnom tendencijom rasta zaposlenosti. Ciljevi rada su prikaz strateških pravaca politike EU kao deo formulisanja agende zapošljavanja, praćenje procesa implementacije u proteklom periodu primene Metoda i donošenje zaključaka o preduzetim politikama. Analiza pokazuje unapređenje performansi država članica, uz uticaj specifičnosti nacionalnih sistema socijalne sigurnosti na efektivnost procesa.