as you all know the eu headline targets under europe twenty twenty include increasing the employment rate to seventy-five lifting at least twenty million people out of poverty and social exclusion reducing the proportion of early school-leavers to under ten and ensuring that at least forty of the younger generation will have completed a tertiary degree by twenty twenty
the commission helps member states to achieve these targets through financial support in particular the european social fund policy coordination and policy guidance at eu level under the european semester
the twenty eleven joint employment report which is based on the commission's assessment of the member states draft national reform programmes calls on them to improve the functioning of the labour market by introducing more employment-friendly tax systems and by making work pay ensuring that wages reflect developments in productivity introducing flexible working arrangements to facilitate the further integration of women into the labour market ensuring that pension reforms include a more direct link between later retirement and increased pension entitlements removing incentives for people to retire early and linking unemployment benefits with the business cycle
this means that safety nets should be reinforced at times when most needed as we have seen in the past couple of years while money would be saved in good times
when exactly we enter good times is a country-by-country assessment
hopefully in a couple of years time we will all get there
but under the current very difficult circumstances it is also important that public employment services provide better job search assistance
we also need to reduce labour market segmentation
indeed evidence shows that particular groups and notably those under temporary or precarious contracts have taken a much bigger hit as a result of the crisis
this is the reason why the commission has invited member states to introduce open-ended contracts with a gradual increase of protection rights
although small in comparison with national public budgets the european social fund has been helping the member states weather the recent economic crisis
in line with the commission communication on the budget review and the conclusions of the fifth report on social cohesion the europe twenty twenty strategy provides both a clear set of common priorities and the framework for identification of funding priorities post twenty thirteen in line with the objectives of smart sustainable and inclusive growth including human capital development
the commission will present its proposals for the next multiannual financial framework at the end of june
as regards the twenty twelve budget i would like to point out that the draft budget that was adopted by the commission on twenty april is in line with the european council conclusions of twenty-four and twenty-five march which state that fiscal consolidation efforts must be complemented by growth-enhancing structural reforms
to that end member states will implement measures in order to invest in education and training
the commission has applied a restrictive policy as regards administrative expenditure with a nominal freeze for commission administrative expenditure
however the commission has proposed to increase its commitment and payment appropriations by three point seven and four point nine respectively with a focus on expenditure related to the europe twenty twenty strategy including the esf the lifelong learning programme the youth in action programme the seventh framework research programme and the competitiveness and innovation programmes
