ABSTRACT
The under-utilization of the labour force is one of the most dramatic problems the European Union (EU) has to face. Since the first oil shock in the early 1970s, Europe has been plagued by a persistent scarcity of jobs which does not look as if it is going to diminish. As Figure 1 shows, the percentage of Europeans unsuccessfully looking for a job has increased over time and is currently more than twice the percentage of unemployed Americans or Japanese. Joblessness reaches dramatically high peaks in the ‘South’ of southern Europe, where one fourth to one third of the labour force cannot find work. 1 Although proposing different solutions, almost all political parties consider unemployment to be one of the most pressing problems of the day. Likewise, unemployment is one of the main concerns of ordinary citizens, who constantly rank it as the most important issue affecting society (Eurobarometer various issues).
