The Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States are part of the Lisbon integrated guidelines (Micro-economic, macro-economic, employment guidelines), but are adopted separately by the Council. This year, the guidelines (which stayed unchanged from 2005 to 2008) for the next Lisbon cycle for the period 2008-2010 were at stake.
The Commission made a first proposal in December 2007, which was thoroughly debated ( see European Parliament Report, and our reaction to the Commission proposal regarding the draft Joint Employment Report and the new guidelines).
It seems that the EAPN action as well as the MEP Anne Van Lancker (socialist, Be) report, had some impact: the version finally adopted by the Member States include some positive changes in the narrative part.
