Press Release: Commission and Council agree more structural jobs reforms needed to face the economic slowdown

The EU's Council of Ministers reached political agreement on 3 December 2001 on the European Commission's 2001 'employment package', part of an annual process to drive forward labour market reform in Europe. The three-part package: a report on Member States' employment performances, common policy guidelines for the future and recommendations tailored to each Member State comes as Europe faces its first economic slowdown since the start of the reform process. The package will now be sent as a key input to the Laeken European Council on 14-15 December 2001