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Employment Committee

Mandate

The Employment Committee is a Treaty-based Committee (Art. 150 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - TFEU) which was formally created by a Council Decision in January 2000.

It plays an important role in the development of the European Employment Strategy.

The Employment Committee prepares discussions in the Council each autumn of the employment package: the Employment Guidelines, Joint Employment Report and Recommendations on the implementation of national employment policies. 

EMCO also formulates Opinions and Contributions at the request of the Council, the Commission or at its own initiative. 

Outputs

Opinions and other working documents produced by the Employment Committee are available using the document database on this website. 

The main outputs of the Committee are:

• Annual 'Employment Package':
  • Opinion on the Employment Guidelines
  • Joint Employment Report 2011 and previous editions
  • Recommendations on the implementation of national employment policies
  • Key Messages Paper
• EMCO Opinions and Contributions
• Country Examination (ex-Cambridge Review Reports)
• EMCO Thematic Reports
• Work Programme 2011 and previous Annual work programmes
• Preparation of Council Conclusions
• EMCO Monitoring & Assessment work

Employment Committee documents can also be downloaded from the Council of the European Union's public register.

Working methods

The Committee has set up two sub-groups:

• The Ad hoc group: assists EMCO in promoting co-ordination between Member States on employment and labour market policies
• The Indicators group: assists EMCO on the selection and development of indicators required to monitor the employment strategy

The Committee meets regularly with the Social Partners (trade unions and employers) at EU level to discuss issues of mutual interest.

With regard to the holding of its meetings, the Committee liaises with the General Secretariat of the Council.

The Committee has developed close working relations with the EU's Economic Policy Committee, the Social Protection Committee and the Education Committee.

The Committee participates in the Macroeconomic Dialogue (the Cologne process) both at the technical and the political level. 

Membership

Each Member State and the Commission nominates two Members and two alternates to the EMCO Committee. (see EMCO Members list)

For both the Ad Hoc Group and the Indicators Group the Commission nominates one Member and one alternate. (see Ad Hoc Members and Indicators Members list)

The Chairman of the Committee is elected from among the Members appointed by the Member States for a non-renewable two year term.

The EMCO Chairman is assisted by four vice-Chairpersons; two of whom are elected from among the Committee’s Members. Respectively, these two vice-Chairs also act as the Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Group and the Chairperson of the Indicators Group. The third vice-Chairperson is always a representative from the Member State holding the Presidency and the fourth a representative from the Member State which will hold the forthcoming Presidency.

The EMCO Chairperson is advised by a steering group, comprising the Vice-Chairpersons, the Commission, the EMCO Support Team and the General Secretariat of the Council.

In addition, the Commission provides the analytical and organisational support for the Committee. For this purpose the DG has set up the EMCO Support Team which at present operates within the Directorate for Employment, Lisbon Strategy, and International Affairs. In line with the founding decision the Commission has designated one member of its staff as the Secretary of the Committee, who shall act on the instructions of the Committee when assisting the Committee in carrying out its tasks.