Christa Randzio-Plath prehensive and integrated social and market reforms in order to create a“Europe of excellence”. The social dimension of Europe is seen as fundamental to citizen's support for the European Union project. In order to avoid social dump­ing within the European Union clear rules with clear standards have to be applied, for example also to the services' sector and the posting of workers. The revised Directive on Services and decent levels for minimum wages could help. Lisbon and employment In a world of ever more mobile capital, the most durable source of competitive advantage is the labour force. Europe's most precious competitive asset is therefore a workforce which is well educated and trained, and has the autonomy and motivation to respond to constant change. This, and the need to overcome the barriers which keep so many Europeans out of the workforce, should be the guiding principles of European workplace and labour market policies. It is not by accident that the Scandinavian countries, which have most aggres­sively pursued the Lisbon Strategy of social excellence, are now also among the EU's highest economic achievers. They have sought to provide the kind of real job security that rests on human abilities being kept up-to-date so that they can remain and progress in the labour market. Scandinavian governments have invested heavily in active labour market and social policies and the skills needed for the knowledge economy, including the transfer of skills to older and female workers who might otherwise be excluded from the labour market. That way, labour markets can evolve, as long as there is healthy social dialogue, systems for vocational training and job matching and a social security system that does not leave anybody behind. There is rare unanimity among economic and political actors and analysts that raising Europe's employment rate is one of the most urgent tasks of the Lisbon Strategy. To compensate for a declining workforce and ageing population, Europe needs to draw on all the resources Europe has. This means, above all, addressing the issue of economic inactivity, particularly among elderly workers, the unskilled, immigrants and ethnic minorities- so policies against social exclusion turn out not to be a hindrance, but a vital element in meeting a core Lisbon objective. The strong link between the employment rate, the social inclusion objective and the sustainability of the European model is one of the elements of the Lisbon objectives that will help to achieve a 70% employment rate for the year 2015, including an employment rate of 60% for women and 50% for elderly workers. 46