PM says gov't aims to raise employment rate to 68% by term's end

Croatia's goal is to raise the employment rate to 68% during this government's term, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday in Gothenburg, where he was attending a European Union summit on social issues.

"Today's summit will also be an opportunity to inform our partners about everything Croatia is doing about employment, about reducing inequalities in society. The unemployment rate is decreasing. The idea, as we announced in our programme, is to raise the employment rate, ideally to 68% by the end of the term," Plenkovic said as he arrived at the summit.

Croatia's current employment rate is 60%, putting it near the bottom of EU rankings. The EU's goal is to reach an average employment rate of 75% by 2020. In 2016, this rate was 71.1%. Sweden is the only member state with a rate exceeding 80% (81.2%).

Participants in the summit will adopt the European Pillar of Social Rights, a document consisting of 20 principles and rights, including quality education, decent working conditions, gender equality, the right to a fair salary, and an adequate minimum wage.

Plenkovic said the Pillar represented the continuation of talks held at a summit in Rome in March. The idea is to apply in all member states the good practices in countries with a pronounced social dimension.

Text: Hina

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