ABSTRACT
The European Employment Strategy (EES) has arrived on the European Union (EU) agenda as a result of a complex mixture of intergovernmentalist and supranational forces as well as spillover effects from EU economic integration. A number of Directives have been adopted over the years in the employment field. The Essen Council unveiled a multilateral employment surveillance procedure fairly similar to the multilateral economic surveillance procedure introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. Employment was a major topic for the revisions to the EC and EU treaties intended for the Amsterdam Treaty and the success of the entire Intergovernmental Conference depended largely on the institutional reforms obtained in the employment field. The scarcity of EU financial resources for facilitating the development of an active EU employment policy despite an increase and reorientation of structural funds. The macroeconomic multi-surveillance monitoring procedure introduced in the Maastricht Treaty has also influenced the rhythm and content of Social Dialogue.
