The public sector plays a very important role in Europe's social and economic model by supporting high levels of welfare for citizens, ensuring socio-economic cohesion and supporting the functioning of a competitive market environment.It is engaged in a wide range of activities from education, healthcare and social security to protecting consumers and strengthening the environment.

Some delegations stressed the need to conduct a scientific evaluation and to assess the socio-economic impact on the sector prior to setting new EU rules;

The new framework will be the latest in a series dating back to 1989 that have been adapted in the light of the main economic trends in the industry.

The report centers on current and past trends in cohesion, on how the Member States' and the EU's policies contribute to reducing the gaps in social and economic development and gives an outlook on the main issues for cohesion policy in the future.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC MEASURES The Council held a policy debate on socio-economic measures in the fisheries sector, on the basis of - the Commission communication on socio-economic measures connected with measures to restructure the fisheries sector; - the proposal to amend Regulation No 3699/93 laying down the criteria and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the processing and marketing of its products.

In order to enhance the productivity of labour and expand the demand for labour the following could be pursued: - ensure that the macro-economic policies support broad based economic growth and widespread distribution of its benefits; - promote equitable access to assets such as skills, land, credit, capital and technology, to enhance work opportunities in rural and urban areas and the productivity of work, in particular for women ; - support the formulation and implementation by partner countries - as part of partners' overall strategy to reduce poverty - of consistent overall employment strategies on the basis of a commitment to accelerate the increase in productive employment in the private sector ...[+++] with the aim of having an economic policy which should be both job and productivity-driven ; - support the development of an environment favourable to small enterprises and micro-enterprises, including those in the informal sector through, inter alia, the provision of appropriate and efficient credit facilities, notably micro- credit; - support improvements in quality/relevance and the expansion of education and training systems including lifelong learning; no sustainable increases in employment and productivity can be achieved without raising the qualifications and responsiveness of human resources to economic change; - where appropriate, promote labour-intensiveness of investment in economic and social infrastructures that use local resources and provide for their effective integration into the local socio-economic context. c) Health Under the "Horizon 2000" initiative, the Council has identified health as a major priority of development aid and of coordination between the Community and Member States.