Aliki Mouriki
4) to reduce the divide between “insiders” and “outsiders”, by preparing the former for job
transitions, whilst giving the latter easy entry points;
5) to promote internal, as well as external flexicurity;
6) to enhance gender equality by giving equal access to quality employment for women and men,
and by offering possibilities to reconcile work and family life;
7) to create a climate of trust and dialogue between the public authorities and the social part-
ners; and
8) to contribute to sound and financially sustainable budgetary policies, and a fair distribution
of costs and benefits.
In order to achieve these ambitious goals, the EU member states are urged to:
• put emphasis on active labour market policies, especially in the improvement of pub-
lic employment services, to ensure the short duration of unemployment spells and the
matching of skills to demand;
• encourage lifelong learning for workers: continuous vocational training can provide trans-
ferable skills and thus increase employability, whilst a well educated workforce is often
more productive and less likely to be trapped into poor quality work;
• provide income security, rather than job security, through generous and inclusive social
protection systems: social security systems have to be adapted to suit the needs of the
flexible workforce, ensuring that even the non-standard forms of employment insertion
are covered by minimum social rights;
• provide family-friendly policies to achieve a work-life balance, through mutually benefi-
cial working arrangements that take into account the changing needs of the workforce
throughout its life course;
• enhance the mutual trust between workers and employers: including the trade unions in
policy formulation will increase the willingness of workers to accept flexicurity arrange-
ments and will ensure the balancing of different needs.
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