10. Believes that the Commission, the Member States, the industry and the trade unions should act jointly to retain and attract qualified workers, talented high-skilled scientists and managers to the steel sector, as well as young talent through apprenticeship schemes, thus ensuring a dynamic and innovative workforce; recalls the role of regional universities and industrial research institutes, whose excellence does much to create the regional preconditions for a competitive steel industry; urges the Commission and the Member States to implement immediate actions to avoid the loss of expertise and minimise the loss of jobs; calls for the improvement of planning and management of change by promoting training, upgrading skills and supporti ...[+++]ng retraining; is worried about the lack of systematic solutions to the generational change and future skills shortages, and about the loss of know-how and competences, and stresses the need to retain and develop the workforce and the skills vital for the future competitiveness of the sector; urges the Commission to promote, through the Erasmus for All and Erasmus for Entrepreneurs programmes, Sector Skills Alliances which, on the basis of data on skills requirements and their evolution, will be devoted to developing and implementing training programmes and common methods, including work-based learning; calls for steps to be taken to strengthen instruments to assist workers and promote vocational training in order to facilitate and support the redeployment of staff employed in the sector following corporate restructuring;

1. Welcomes the agenda for new skills and jobs as part of the EU 2020 strategy, pointing to the need for increasingly high skills, as only a workforce that is skilled is of fundamental importance for the development of a competitive, sustainable and innovative economy, and considers that development policies should be created geared to upgrading the system for science and innovation, promoting improved employability, growth and social cohesion so that the agenda for new skills and jobs will adapt to the post-crisis period and prevent the recurrence of such a crisis in the future; in this context, underlines the importance of concrete an ...[+++]d consistent measures for the training of the workforce;

Competitiveness:Customs authorities can support the competitiveness of European businesses by modernising and harmonising working methods (e.g. using systems-based approaches) as well as by creating a paperless customs environment (implementing electronic customs).

This consists of a EUR 40 million infrastructure facility geared to labour-intensive, fast-disbursing projects to restore essential services in the West Bank and Gaza; EUR 12 million assistance to institution-building to help the Palestinians assume governance responsibilities following disengagement, and a package of EUR 8 million focusing on social services, as well as East Jerusalem.

The aim of this project is to strengthen the competitiveness of labour-intensive enterprises in three areas: information, implementing a development strategy and cross-border cooperation.In addition, the Commission has published three calls for proposals, for a total amount of EUR 15 million.

7. Emphasises the explicit remark in the Barcelona conclusions that " the Lisbon goals can only be brought about by balanced efforts on both the economic and social fronts", and the European Council's commitment to proposals and activities of the European Commission that fit into the Social Agenda and that are mentioned in that chapter of the conclusions; stresses that for a successful knowledge economy, but also for a service economy and many industrial sectors human resources are crucial; thus not only an employment strategy focused on the number of jobs, but a qualitative strategy focused on improving the conditions and the social e ...[+++]nvironment are imperative to stimulate a motivated and creative workforce;