Implementing new EU-enforced employment guidelines will be a serious challenge to Ireland despite its recent economic success, the EU Commissioner for Social Affairs, Mr Padraig Flynn, has warned.

The guidelines - drafted by Mr Flynn - are set to be approved by the special EU jobs summit today. They include a rigorous new system to monitor the response of each state which is supposed to bring the rigours of the Maastricht monetary criteria monitoring to the employment crisis facing the EU.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, arrived in Luxembourg last night from London for a formal dinner with the other leaders. They were greeted by a demonstration of up to 40,000 trade unionists from all over Europe. See pages 2 and 7