EU Finance Ministers meet

Britain's Five-Point Plan for Job Creation

Chancellor Gordon Brown handed out copies of his new jobs drive to fellow finance ministers over dinner to try to steer European economic and social policy away from more rules and regulations and onto the UK's flexible labour market and welfare state agenda .

The plan is the first firm initiative to emerge since Prime Minister Tony Blair entered the European stage in Noordwijk last month insisting job creation should be Europe's top priority. Mr Brown is seeking wide backing for an audacious move which seizes the initiative from the current Dutch EU presidency a full six months before Britain takes over in the driving seat.

The Chancellor's Five-Point Plan

1 Encouraging economic growth and stability
2 Investing in "human capital" (through training and skill development)
3 Getting people off welfare and into work
4 Improving the workings of the market
5 Creating a "fair and inclusive" society

The Chancellor insists that the old methods have failed and that a new joint drive for lasting jobs is needed. And he repeated Mr Blair's warning that more social legislation which adds red tape and costs to small and medium-sized businesses will be counter-productive.