Greece has used the option provided for in clause 2 (2) of the Annex to this directive and has excluded employment contracts or relationships concluded under a special programme of training, integration and vocational retraining supported by the Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED) from the national legislation transposing Council Directive 1999/70/EC.

In the detailed joint work programme on the objectives for education and training systems (Education and Training 2010), the Commission proposes adopting European benchmarks applicable to education and training systems in areas which are central to the achievement of the strategic goal set by the Lisbon European Council of making Europe "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world" by 2010.

3. Notes that from 2000 to 2005 the EU's number of unemployed increased by one million, in parallel with a huge increase in precarious work, more than 4.7 million workers with fixed-term contracts and at least 1.1 million more in involuntary part-time jobs; stresses that, even if forecasts that point to a reduction in the unemployment rate are confirmed, it will still persist at an unacceptable level of 17 million unemployed in the EU; notes that 25% of the workforce are under atypical types of contract (fixed-term, part-time, on-call, zero-hour, temporary agencies and freelance), 41% if the self-employed are taken into account, which shows how precario ...[+++]us labour conditions have now become in the EU;

10. Recalls the importance of improving the employability of all workers by means of adapted training and the recognition of skills and competences gained throughout a worker's professional career and the equal access to EGF independently of their type of employment contract and employment relationship; expects the training on offer in the coordinated package to be adapted not only to the level and needs of the dismissed workers but also to the actual business environment;

In the detailed joint work programme on the objectives for education and training systems (Education and Training 2010), the Commission proposes adopting European benchmarks applicable to education and training systems in areas which are central to the achievement of the strategic goal set by the Lisbon European Council of making Europe "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world" by 2010.

‘Employee’ means at least a person who has entered into or works under (or in the case of a contract which has been terminated, has worked under) a contract with an employer, whether the contract is for manual labour, clerical work or any other work, is expressed or implied, oral or in writing, and whether it is a contract of service or apprenticeship or other type of contract, and ‘employee’ and any reference to employment shall be construed accordingly.