Le 12 novembre 1997, en prévison du Conseil européen extraordinaire sur l'emploi programmé pour le 20 novembre à Luxembourg, le chancelier allemand Helmut Kohl présente au Parlement allemand un plan d'action pour lutter contre le chômage au sein de l'Europe communautaire.

On 20 November 1997, as the Extraordinary European Council Meeting on Employment is due to begin in Luxembourg, the Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique is sceptical as to whether a European summit against unemployment will be able to achieve results.

Le 20 novembre 1997, lors de l'ouverture du Conseil européen extraordinaire sur l'emploi à Luxembourg, José María Gil-Robles, président du Parlement européen, prononce un discours sur les enjeux de politique communautaire sur l'emploi.

Le 21 novembre 1997, lors du Conseil extraordinaire sur l'emploi au Luxembourg, le président français Jacques Chirac détaille les lignes directrices pour lutter contre le chômage en Europe et lance un appel au dialogue social.

Following the Amsterdam reform, a new Article 128 on employment is incorporated into the EC Treaty, entrusting to the European Council a new task in this area: the annual adoption of conclusions on the employment situation on the basis of an annual joint report to be drawn up by the Council and the Commission. The decision taken by the Extraordinary Luxembourg European Council on employment approved the early implementation in 1998 of the provisions of Article 128, prior to the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty.

On 21 November 1997, the French President Jacques Chirac and his Prime Minister Lionel Jospin reply to questions from journalists on the outcome of the Luxembourg European Council on Employment.

Le 21 novembre 1997, le chancelier allemand, Helmut Kohl, détaille les principales mesures prises par le Conseil extraordinaire de Luxembourg en matière de lutte contre le chômage au sein de l'Europe communautaire.

Group photo of the European Council held on 20 and 21 November 1997 in the Luxembourg-Kirchberg Conference Centre.

On 20 and 21 November 1997, the Extraordinary European Council Meeting on Employment is held in Luxembourg City under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union. During the Council, several European trade unions and unemployment organisations take to the streets of Luxembourg City to protest against job insecurity, exclusion and unemployment and call for the establishment of a more social Europe.

On 20 and 21 November 1997, during the Extraordinary European Council Meeting on Employment held in Luxembourg, several European trade unions and organisations take to the streets of Luxembourg City to protest against unemployment and job insecurity in Europe. Nearly 40 000 demonstrators march to defend employment and a social Europe.

‘First tangible results in Luxembourg (Employment Summit: “Which of the gentlemen ordered the coffee?”)’ On 21 November 1997, the German cartoonist, Horst Haitzinger, takes an ironic look at the measures to tackle unemployment adopted by the Fifteen following the Luxembourg Extraordinary Council.

En novembre 1997, le mensuel français Le Monde diplomatique analyse les enjeux du Conseil européen extraordinaire de Luxembourg sur l'emploi des 20 et 21 novembre.

Le 21 novembre 1997, Gordon Brown, chancelier de l'échiquier de la Grande-Bretagne, expose dans le quotidien allemand Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ses idées sur le réforme du marché de l'emploi en Europe.

Le 22 novembre 1997, commentant le Conseil européen extraordinaire sur l'emploi à Luxembourg des 20 et 21 novembre, le quotidien allemand Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung décrit la crise que traverse le marché de l'emploi en Europe.

On 23 November 1997, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the decisions adopted in Luxembourg by the Fifteen following the extraordinary European Council on employment that took place on 20 and 21 November seeking to put in place a European employment policy.

Le 24 novembre 1997, le quotidien luxembourgeois Luxemburger Wort se félicite du succès du Conseil extraordinaire de Luxembourg sur l'emploi.

On 26 May 1999, during the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung outlines the efforts of the European institutions to implement a ‘European Employment Pact’, which provides for closer cooperation to boost employment and economic reforms in Europe. At its meeting on 3 and 4 June 1999 in Cologne, the European Council reaffirms its commitment to a coordinated strategy for employment (the Luxembourg process) and confirms that tackling unemployment will be one of the key objectives of the EU in the coming years.