29
have not been experiencing retrenchment as many have argued; rather the shape of welfare States
has been changing—moving from direct payments to the unemployed population to the creation
of job requirements in exchange for payments. One way or another, these claims share the notion
that the EU has the capacity to establish and/or reinforce policy paradigms (i.e., what is good and
necessary policy?) that influence the behavior of domestic actors.
These changes could be a positive thing if the policy prescriptions are successful once
implemented. Then, we will be likely to observe a ‘common labor market policy path’ across EU
member States. However, what if the ideologies behind these policy lines are not fit for the EU
reality? Then, this would have serious repercussions on member States’ labor market policies
and institution. But … every policy is a matter of ‘trial and error.’
Appendix 1: Unemployment rates (standardized)
1980-
1984
1985-
1989
1991-1995
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
EU
8.3 9.4 10.0
10.0 9.4 8.7 7.8 7.4 7.7 8.1
Belgium
10.0 9.4 8.5
9.2 9.3 8.6 6.9 6.7 7.3 8.1
Denmark
8.0 6.3 8.6
5.2 4.9 4.8 4.4 4.3 4.6 5.6
Germany
5.2 6.4 7.3
9.7 9.1 8.4 7.8 7.8 8.7 9.6
Greece
5.4 6.8 8.6
9.8 10.9
11.8 11.0 10.4 10.0 9.3
Spain
16.0 20.0 20.9
17.0 15.2 12.8 11.3 10.6 11.3 11.3
France
7.9 10.0 11.1
11.8
11.4
10.7 9.3 8.5 8.8 9.4
Ireland
12.1 16.2 14.5
9.9 7.5 5.6 4.3 3.9 4.3 4.6
Italy
7.6 9.3 10.1
11.6
11.7
11.3 10.4 9.4 9.0 8.6
Luxembourg
2.8 2.4 2.5
2.7 2.7 2.4 2.3 2.1 2.8 3.7
Netherlands
9.2 7.8 6.4
4.9 3.8 3.2 2.9 2.5 2.7 3.8
Austria
3.2 3.1 3.6
4.4 4.5 3.9 3.7 3.6 4.3 4.4
Portugal
7.8 7.3 5.7
6.8 5.1 4.5 4.1 4.1 5.1 6.4
Finland
5.1 4.5 13.3
12.7
11.4
10.2 9.8 9.1 9.1 9.0
Sweden
3.0 2.2 7.2
9.9 8.2 6.7 5.6 4.9 4.9 5.6
UK
9.4 9.9 9.5
6.9 6.2 5.9 5.4 5.0 5.1 5.0
Japan
---- ----- ------
3.4 4.1 4.7 4.7 5.0 5.4 5.3
United States
8.3 6.2 6.6
4.9 4.5 4.2 4.0 4.8 5.8 6.0
Source: Eurostat and Impact Evaluation of the Employment Strategy
APPENDIX 2. EMPLOYMENT RATES EU 15, JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES (1993-2003)
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Austria
------ 68.5 68.8 67.8 67.8 67.9 68.6 68.5
68.5
69.2 69.2
Spain
46.6 46.1 46.9 47.9 49.4 51.2 53.7 56.2
57.7
58.4 59.7
Ireland
51.7 53.0 54.4 55.4 57.5 60.6 63.3 65.2
65.8
65.6 65.4
Italy
52.3 51.4 51.0 51.2 51.3 52.0 52.7 53.7
54.8
55.5 56.1
Greece
53.7 54.2 54.7 55.0 55.1 55.5 55.3 55.7
55.4
56.7 57.9
Belgium
55.8 55.7 56.1 56.2 56.8 57.4 59.3 60.5
59.9
59.9 59.6
France
59.3 59.1 59.5 59.5 59.6 60.2 60.9 62.1
62.8
62.8 62.8
Luxembourg
60.8 59.9 58.7 59.2 59.9 60.5 61.7 62.7
63.1
63.1 61.0
Convention