In this context, Member States should encourage the right framework conditions for wage bargaining systems and labour cost developments consistent with price stability, productivity trends over the medium-term and the need to reduce macroeconomic imbalances.

To ensure that wage developments contribute to macroeconomic stability, growth and employment, and to increase adaptability Member States and the social partners should promote nominal wage increases and labour costs consistent with the trend in productivity over the medium term, taking into account differences across skills and local labour market conditions; The fulfilment of the Single Market, labour market reforms and a strenghtening of the social partners' responsibility for low unemployment by decentralised wage negotiations are crucial to increase wages and reduce dif ...[+++]ferences in income, while remaining consistent with the evolution of productivity and competitiveness (Integrated guideline No 5).

Ensure employment-friendly wage and other labour cost developments by sustaining and encouraging the right framework for wage-bargaining systems, particularly collective bargaining, while fully respecting the role of the social partners, to reflect differences in productivity and labour market trends at national, sectoral and regional level, respecting the autonomy of social partners; and monitoring and, where appropriate, reviewing, in collaboration with social agents, the structure and level of non-wage labour costs, especially soc ...[+++]ial security contributions, supervising their impact on employment, especially for the low-skilled, young people entering the labour market for the first time, older people wishing to go on working, and people with disabilities; specific actions to tackle the gender pay gap including more effective implementation of gender equality legislation in relation to equal pay, development of clear up-to-date statistics and follow-up of equality plans (Integrated guideline No 21).

Ensure employment-friendly wage and other labour cost developments by sustaining and encouraging the right framework for wage-bargaining systems, particularly collective bargaining, while fully respecting the role of the social partners, to reflect differences in productivity and labour market trends at national, sectoral and regional level, respecting the autonomy of social partners , monitoring and, where appropriate, reviewing, in collaboration with social agents, the structure and level of non-wage labour costs, especially social ...[+++]security contributions, supervising their impact on employment, especially for the low-skilled, young people entering the labour market for the first time, older people wishing to go on working, and people with disabilities, taking specific action to tackle the gender pay gap including more effective implementation of gender equality legislation in relation to equal pay, development of clear up-to-date statistics and follow-up to equality plans (Integrated guideline No 21).

Ensure employment-friendly wage and other labour cost developments by encouraging the right framework for wage-bargaining systems, while fully respecting the role of the social partners, to reflect differences in productivity and labour market trends at sectoral and regional level; and monitoring and, where appropriate, reviewing the structure and level of non-wage labour costs and their impact on employment, especially for the low-paid and those entering for the first time the labour market (Integrated guideline No 21).

Although the potential of labour-saving technologies should not be underestimated, the possibility for productivity growth to reach the magnitudes mentioned above may be put in question when considering recent trends: for EU-15, labour productivity grew on average by 4.5% in the 1960s, 2.5% in the 1970s and 2% in the 1980s before falling tendentially towards 1.2%.