Why Europe matters

Oct 8 2007 by Kevin Rowan, TUC

WHATEVER people’s thoughts about the EU, there can be little doubt that engagement with Europe is of vital importance to this region.

Whether it’s the regulatory impact, the lucrative and growing economic market, or the resources we attract to support our economic strategies, influencing the decisions in Brussels is highly important.

This region needs to make sure it is boxing at, or above, its weight in the EU.

Learning and skills are central challenges to this region’s prosperity now and for the future, and they are also critical to the success of the European economy.

The EU labour market will shrink by 30 million people in the next 20 years, so we must therefore do three things:

Enable everyone who wants to work to access support to allow them to do so;

Ensure everyone can develop their skills to their full potential; and

Embed the free movement of workers with local systems of support that really enable people to move without social or economic detriment.

Our record is mixed.

A European Commission report on progress in skills and training improvements last week suggested that the “slow pace of reform in the skills agenda could jeopardise Europe’s competitiveness”.

On the positive side, the number of tertiary-level maths, science and technology graduates continues to increase.

The UK is doing better than most with 26.6% of adults doing some form of learning.

Employability is at the very heart of the recently agreed European Social Fund Framework for 2007-13.

This is a particularly important achievement for the North-East where we have relatively high numbers of people outside the labour market who want to work and who, with the right kind of support, will be able to get back into employment.

The ‘Positive about NE’ image campaign is having a real impact on how the region is viewed by migrant workers, and we have more people relocating to the region.

The Talent Attraction Strategy is also helping to make sure we are able both to encourage people to move here and get good quality support when they do. There may be some heel-dragging in parts of Europe, but the North-East seems to be really getting its act together.