Juncker instrueert zijn team
Het kennisdomein vanaf nu door drie Eurocommissarissen worden ingevuld. Een Belg, een Hongaar en een Portugees. U leest de drie brieven aan hen van Commissiepresident Juncker hieronder.
Brief aan Marianne Thyssen
During our mandate, I would like you to focus on the following:
• Contributing, as part of the project team steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, to the jobs, growth and investment package to be presented within the first three months of our mandate. This includes setting out our priorities and channelling funding towards projects that can help get the younger generation back to work in decent jobs, further complementing the efforts already undertaken with the Youth Guarantee Scheme, the implementation of which must be accelerated and progressively broadened.
• Supporting the Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue in the project to streamline and reinforce the European Semester of economic policy coordination. The European Semester should be the vehicle for pursuing the modernisation of labour markets and social protection systems, including with a view to progressing towards the targets set in the Europe 2020 strategy in the fields of employment and social inclusion. Particular attention should be paid to strengthening the multilateral nature of the economic governance process at EU level, to engaging a broader range of actors at national level and to deepening the country-specific knowledge within the Commission.
• Contributing, as part of the project team steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, to the work on the deepening of our Economic and Monetary Union, to be prepared during the first year of the mandate, and to promoting social dialogue at all levels. This also includes developing social impact assessments for any future conditional stability support programmes for Euro area countries.
• Promoting free movement of workers, working closely with national authorities to ensure that existing rules are well understood and implemented, as well as to fight possible abuses or fraudulent claims. This work will include making sure that the Posting of Workers Directive is strictly implemented and initiating a targeted review of the Directive to prevent risks of social dumping. Part of our efforts should also be spent on strengthening the opportunities and improving the conditions for geographic and professional mobility across Europe, through initiatives such as the European Job Mobility Portal (EURES). This activity will also benefit from the work on the free movement of workers and recognition of qualifications led by the Commissioner for Internal Market, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
• Mobilising EU instruments (such as policy guidance, social dialogue, financial programmes) to further develop the skills level of the European workforce, by promoting vocational training and lifelong learning. You should, at the same time, support the work of the Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs in developing a new European policy on legal migration to Europe to address skills shortages and attract the talent that Europe needs.
• Maximising the performance of EU programmes in your field, including by supporting forms of social innovation, and reinforcing synergies with other programmes such as Horizon 2020, in order
to enrich national and EU policy-making.
• Ensuring that employment and social considerations, including the impact of ageing and skills needs are appropriately taken into account in all Commission proposals and activities.
To help you fulfil these responsibilities, the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) will report to you, with some adjustments, as indicated in the table annexed to this letter. You will also be responsible for the statistical office of the European Union (DG ESTAT).
Brief aan Carlos Moedas
During our mandate, I would like you to focus on the following:
• Contributing, as part of the project team steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, to the jobs, growth and investment package to be presented within the first three months of our mandate. This includes mobilising innovative financial instruments available under Horizon 2020, facilitating investment in education, research and innovation infrastructure and maximising synergies with the implementation of the European Structural and Investment Funds at national and regional level.
• Promoting the international excellence of the EU’s research and science and strengthening research capacities and innovation strategies across all Member States. Monitoring action at national level should also contribute to the work on the European Semester of economic policy coordination, as part of the project team steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, and to make progress towards the research and development target set in the Europe 2020 strategy.
• Establishing strong coordination across the Commission regarding research, science and innovation matters, to make sure that Commission proposals and activities are based on sound scientific evidence and contribute best to our jobs and growth agenda. The Joint Research Centre, under the responsibility of Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship, should also contribute to this work.
• Focusing more on applied research, with a greater participation of the private sector and a special focus on SMEs, in particular in Horizon 2020, with a view to reinforcing our industrial leadership and our capacity to address societal challenges.
• Maximising the value added and impact of Horizon 2020, ensuring effective use and dissemination of project results. This should also support and enrich policy-making at national and EU level.
• Maximising the synergies between projects funded under Horizon 2020 and the realisation of our priorities as regards the Digital Single Market and the European Energy Union, by making effective use of funds available for instance for energy efficiency, low-carbon technologies and digital technologies.
To help you fulfil your responsibilities, the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (RTD) will report to you.
Brief aan Tibor Navracsics
During our mandate, I would like you to focus on the following:
• Contributing, as part of the project team steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, to the jobs, growth and investment package to be presented within the first three months of our mandate, notably for aspects related to education infrastructure.
• Contributing, as part of the project team steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, to the European Semester of economic policy coordination. The European Semester should be the vehicle for pursuing the modernisation of education systems, including with a view to progressing towards the targets set in the Europe 2020 strategy in the field of education.
• Promoting culture as a catalyst for innovation, by maximising the sector’s contribution to jobs and growth, particularly among the young, by promoting our cultural diversity and by helping Europe’s culture sectors to reach out to new audiences, using the Creative Europe programme to best effect.
• Promoting excellence and networking among European universities, with action such as the U-Multirank platform to compare and choose universities, and supporting the mobility of students, through ERASMUS+.
• Contributing to reinforcing the “knowledge triangle” between education, business and research. 4You will be responsible for taking forward the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, in Budapest, as well as for the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, which should progressively develop its role as a service supporting all Commission services with its knowledge and its expertise. In this context, you will work closely with the Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation to ensure synergies between EU-funded programmes in support of new societal demands, and to share their results to a wide public.
• Supporting the work of the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility on youth employment, the development of skills and the strengthening of lifelong learning.
• Strengthening the understanding of the general public of how EU policies are shaped today and helping citizens to learn more about the EU and to engage in EU debates. Particular attention should be paid to reaching out to the beneficiaries of activities organised through the “Europe for Citizens” programme and ERASMUS+, as well as in the context of the traineeship programme organised by the Commission.
To help you fulfil these responsibilities, the Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) will report to you, with some adjustments, as indicated in the table annexed to this letter. You will also be responsible for the Publications Office (OP).
