The 4th meeting of the directors of the European Public Employment Services (PES) will be organized on 14-15 December under the auspices of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The European Network of Public Employment Services is formalised by a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council in May 2014 and comprises the Public Employment Services of all 28 EU Member States, the European Commission as well as PES from the EEA Member States Norway and Iceland. The PES Network is managed by a Board presided by Frank-J. Weise, Chairman of the management board of the German Bundesagentur für Arbeit.
The network’s overall objective is the modernisation of the European Public Employment Services through a regular exchange of experience, in particular based on the instrument of the so called “benchlearning”. Within the “benchlearning” a set of performance indicators that reflect the efficiency of the work and the effectiveness of the measures implemented by the Public Employment Services is regularly monitored and compared amongst the network partners. Thus, the benchlearning makes it possible to identify good practices within the network and to support each other through a targeted knowledge transfer.
In view of the current events, the PES Board has put the situation of the refugees and their sustainable integration in the national labor markets on the top of its agenda. Another thematic priority will be the question on how to tackle long-term unemployment and to better help long-term unemployed return to work.