The European community needs a “single strand of co-ordinated structure to address an approach to creation of employment”, according to Gerry Skelton, HR director at air traffic controller NATS and a UK representative at the European HR Directors Circle.

At its inaugural meeting in Florence last month, the circle, a new ’action tank’ that aims for ’more social globalisation’, focused its discussions around the creation of a European platform to find ’innovative solutions to current social and societal changes’.

Over 100 European HR directors, trade union representatives and European Commission members were present at the meeting. “The aim of the circle is to develop a strategic view and potentially a set of measures by which the ’Y’ generation entering the working environment can have support and a clear methodology across Europe,” said Skelton.

He emphasised that it was not a bureaucratic process that was needed but rather “tangible support” and he called for a reinvestment of some of the EC’s funds into initiatives such as more apprenticeship schemes.

When asked about the reasons for starting the circle, co-chairman Yves Barou, a social responsibility advisor, told Recruiter: “I wanted to create an international HR network but couldn’t find anything in Europe. I thought, ’There’s something to be done here’.”

He doesn’t currently have any plans to expand the idea globally and sees Europe as a good starting point. “Europe can be a laboratory for the world,” he said.

The circle currently has three UK representatives: Kathy Jenkins (UK HR director, Thales), Kathy Durrant (HR director, Rolls Royce) and Skelton, who told Recruiter that they aim to use their networks “to pool interested parties together to form a UK platform in support of a European platform”

The circle’s next meeting will take place on 24-25 May 2012 in Lisbon.