ABSTRACT
As has been shown the past decade has brought increasing problems in unemployment to the whole of Europe. The structural changes which have resulted in rural and manufacturing unemployment have been followed, in the recession of the early 1990s, by job losses in the service sector, which have been especially marked in the UK, but have also happened to a greater or lesser extent in other European countries. The challenge of new technologies, particularly information technology, is bringing about changes in working practices and in requirements for higher levels of skills, which will further affect employment of low-skill workers, in both manufacturing and service sectors, in the coming decade. The Single European Market, which came into being in 1993, dismantled trade barriers and allowed freedom of movement of workers and capital, and is expected to result in further shifts in the economic advantages of some areas to the detriment of others, as well as encouraging migratory flows of labour to the Community's more prosperous areas. The opening up of Eastern Europe and the re-unification of Germany has already resulted in a stream of migrant workers from east to west within Germany, and agreements between the EC and Eastern European countries, such as associate membership status, could further increase the number of migrants. The Maastricht Treaty, with its social provisions on minimum wages, workers' protection and health and safety standards, while contributing to the social cohesion of the community, may,
by adding to labour costs, result in the unemployment of the low-paid (Addison and Siebert 1992).
