Answerable to the Prime Minister, the Employment Policy Council (Conseil d'orientation pour l'emploi) is a new advisory body on all employment issues. It was created in 2005.
It is a permanent body with 51 members, including, in addition to its Chairman and Vice-Chairman, representatives of the social partners, members of the National Assembly and Senate, local authority representatives, heads of the relevant government departments and public bodies, and experts on labour and employment issues.
It has a broad remit, since its missions include :
 diagnosing the causes of unemployment and assessing the labour market situation and medium- and long-term employment prospects ;
 assessing the existing mechanisms for increasing recruitment, enhancing career paths and training ;
 suggesting ways of removing all the obstacles to job creation and improving the operation of the labour market.
Its reports and recommendations are communicated to Parliament and made public.

In June 2016 the Council published a report entitled : "Ten priorities for supporting people on the way to and in employment". It is a 124 page document ; in attached file you can find an 8 page summary.

1- The working population should be made more aware of the issues associated with managing their career path

2- Support provision must meet the needs and aspirations of the people concerned

3- The support should be based on in-depth and detailed knowledge of the labour market and its growth prospects and on an objective assessment of the person’s skills and abilities

4- The support available should be more widely known and clearer

5- Support strategies, which are still largely based on approaches centred on employment status or service, must take better account of working people’s career paths and aspirations.

6- The professionalisation of the support service must continue

7- The consequences of digital transformation must be better integrated into the support provided

 8- Support service practices must take better account of findings from academic evaluation work and feedback

9- Social experimentation must be encouraged 

10- The culture of evaluation and performance monitoring must become the norm 

The original post was proposed by Thierry Ardouin, French EPALE expert.