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European unemployment is too high, and employment is too low. Over 7½ per cent of Europe's workforce is unemployed, and only two thirds of people aged 15-64 are in work. At the Lisbon summit two years ago the heads of government set the target that by 2010 the employment rate should rise from 64 per cent to at least 70 per cent. And for older workers between 55 and 64 the employment rate should rise from 38 per cent to at least one half. These are ambitious targets. They will require two big changes: more people must seek work, and among those seeking work a higher proportion must get a job. So we need higher participation, and (for full employment) we need a much lower unemployment rate. Can it be done? A mere glance at the experience of different European countries shows that it can. As Table 1 shows, four E.U. countries already exceed the overall target for 2010 (Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden). And seven of the 15 countries in the E.U already have lower unemployment than the United States (the previous four plus Austria, Ireland and Luxembourg).

Gender mainstreaming as a principle of designing, implementing and evaluating policies according to their impact on men and women and their lives is one of the leading principles of EU policies. All national governments agreed on this principle but only a few countries really developed a gender mainstreaming approach. The paper is an attempt to describe the development of employment policies in Germany since mid 2000 and to analyze its gender impact – as far as possible. It shows that most elements of the far reaching reforms of labour market regulations which came into force since 2005 do have a negative impact on women's employment position, especially regarding the wages and employment conditions. The German government – although committed to the overall principle – did not hesitate to implement its policies although the negative impact could be foreseen. The paper covers the period till 2008, the recent developments since the beginning of the economic crisis are not included.

Discusses the short – and long‐term labour market policies
needed in Czechoslovakia to achieve successfully the economic reforms
envisaged in the current economic programme. Given the similarities with
other Eastern European countries in economic transition, the policy
implications of this analysis can be simply extended to other cases.
Emphasizes that wage indexation, deregulation of the wage structure and
facilitation of labour mobility are key short‐term measures; they
increase the prospects of success not only of structural reform, but
also of other macroeconomic policies aimed at controlling inflation. In
the long term, reforming labour market institutions, especially those
responsible for setting wages and unemployment compensation plans, must
take priority in order to ensure that the labour market functions in
harmony with the overall market environment. Concludes that unemployment
will not cause significant fiscal strain, if dismissals of retired
employees are made a priority, but that nonetheless open unemployment
will be higher than the Government expects. Another conclusion refers to
the adequacy of the wage indexation system to drive down inflationary
expectations and to stimulate employment adjustments. However, warns
about the practical enforcement of the wage policy and the distortionary
effect of the minimum wage policy. With respect to labour mobility,
breaking the link between provision of benefits and jobs is fundamental
for ensuring more rapid adjustment in employment opportunities and the
supply response.

Der Artikel beschäftigt sich mit a) der Entwicklung der Arbeitslosigkeit seit 1974 in Frankreich sowie b) der französischen Beschäftigungspolitik unter Berücksichti gung der Arbeitszeitpolitik, der Politik zur Verbesserung der Arbeitsbedingungen sowie den Maßnahmen, die die Ar beitsmarktchancen von Jugendlichen verbessern sollen.