UNEQUAL EUROPE - Tilburg University · Programme Managers: Lindsay Digneffe & Jean-Yves Stenuick...

1Unequal Europe: Recommendations for a more caring EU | 2015 | Executive Summary

UNEQUAL EUROPERECOMMENDATIONS FOR A MORE CARING EU

Final report of the High-Level Group on ‘Social Union’

Spring 2015

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

2 Friends of Europe | Quality Europe

This report has been drafted on the basis of a series of meetings, discussions and written contributions from the members of the High-Level Group, under the sole responsibility of Friends of Europe and the Chairman of the High-Level Group, Frank Vandenbroucke. Members have agreed to co-sign this report as they have judged it to be a fair and balanced exercise. The views expressed in this report are opinions of the individuals in the High-Level Group, and not necessarily the views of the organisations they represent, nor of Friends of Europe’s Board of Trustees, its members or partners.

Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted, provided that full credit is given to Friends of Europe and that any such reproduction, whether in whole or in part, is not sold unless incorporated in other works.

Friends of Europe would like to thank the King Baudouin Foundation, the European Social Observatory and Thomas Fischer of DGB.

Publisher: Geert Cami

Director: Nathalie Furrer

Programme Managers: Lindsay Digneffe & Jean-Yves Stenuick

Design: Marina Garcia Serra

© Friends of Europe - Spring 2015

This report is printed on responsibly produced paper


MEMBERS OF THE HIGH-LEVEL GROUP

Frank VandenbrouckeProfessor, University of Leuven, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs, Belgium, Trustee of Friends of Europe, and Chairman of the High-Level Group

Etienne DavignonPresident, Friends of Europe

László AndorFormer EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Tony AtkinsonHonorary Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

Fabrizio BarcaDirector General, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and former Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Italy

Pervenche BerèsMember of the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and former Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs


Geert CamiCo-Founder & Director, Friends of Europe

Philippe de BuckMember of the European Economic and Social Committee, and former Director General, BusinessEurope

Aart Jan De GeusChairman & Chief Executive Officer, Bertelsmann Stiftung, former Deputy Secretary General, OECD, and former Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, The Netherlands

Anna DiamantopoulouPresident, Diktio Network, former Minister of Development and Competitiveness, Greece, former EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Nathalie FurrerDirector, Friends of Europe

Reiner HoffmannPresident, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB)

Danuta JazłowieckaVice Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs


Sony KapoorManaging Director, Re-Define, and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Pascal LamyFormer Director General, World Trade Organization, former EU Commissioner for Trade, and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Roger LiddleChair, Policy Network

Giles MerrittSecretary General, Friends of Europe

Rhodri MorganChancellor, Swansea University, and former First Minister of Wales

John MorleySenior Policy Advisor, Applica, and former European Commission Head of Employment Policy

Riccardo PerissichFormer European Commission Director General for Industry


Christopher PissaridesRegius Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and 2010 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences

Conny ReuterSecretary General, Solidar

Vladimír ŠpidlaPresident, Masaryk Democratic Academy, former EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Freek SpinnewijnDirector, European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA)

Dimitris TsigosPresident, European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs (YES), and European Young Leader "40 under 40"

Bart VanherckeDirector, European Social Observatory (OSE)

Fabian ZuleegChief Executive, European Policy Centre (EPC)


EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIt is an unwelcome truth that ‘Social Europe’ has been slipping down the European Union’s policy agenda. Yet investment in people remains crucial to help generate the long-term, sustainable growth needed by Europe as it seeks to overcome the effects of its prolonged economic crisis.

The time is right for urgent action from policymakers at EU and national levels to recover lost ground in social policy areas ranging from education to employment, pensions, labour rights and migration.

Last year, Friends of Europe convened a high-level group of experts to assess the strengths and weaknesses of social policies that have been fundamental to the creation of the EU.

The team was headed by former Belgian deputy prime minister and social affairs minister Frank Vandenbroucke. It encompassed an unusually wide range of opinions, bringing together trade union leaders like Reiner Hoffmann, head of Germany’s DGB; Philippe de Buck, who for many years ran the BusinessEurope employers’ confederation; Anna Diamantopoulou, a former Greek minister for competitiveness and EU employment commissioner; ex-WTO head Pascal Lamy; and the then EU social affairs commissioner László Andor.

Despite the range of backgrounds and opinions, the experts managed to reach consensus on all the recommendations in this report as they shared a fundamental belief in the importance of restoring Europeans’ self-confidence in their unique social model.

The thrust of their report is clear: human investment must be given equal priority with investment in infrastructure, innovation and all other areas viewed as vital to boosting Europe’s competitiveness.

Europe’s future is threatened by under-investment in people – in their work-oriented education and in their early family life, health, social development and schooling. In response, Europe needs to face up to the challenge of raising education levels, bridging the widening skills and education divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. A broad social investment agenda is required.


Credible unemployment measures must be associated with this effort, especially those designed to tackle the scourge of youth unemployment. Labour market and pension reforms should be enacted to meet the challenge of Europe’s ageing population. Migration and labour mobility policies must be improved and better explained to sceptical publics.

The report sets out a range of concrete recommendations for EU institutions to reaffirm Europe’s social principles and address competitiveness goals. It calls on Jean-Claude Juncker’s new European Commission to take a far broader approach to social investment, which is essential, the authors argue, to avoiding long-term burdens on economic growth.

It sees a need for greater investment in caring arrangements for the deprived and under-privileged, and in education and training to ensure equal opportunities for all.

The report debunks claims that social policy is a drag on the economy. Instead it emphasises the importance of social policy in maintaining living standards, creating opportunities and boosting competitiveness.

That argument is borne by facts and figures: EU member states that invest more in social policies like health, education and labour market support perform better overall than those that spend less. Among OECD countries, there is no correlation between low levels of social spending and a high competitiveness score. In Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (which also has an important share of private spending) social spending is high, at around 30% of GDP, but they are all in the Global Competitiveness Index’s top ten. Swedish social spending is higher still, but that does not prevent it from coming sixth in the ranking.

Rather than calling the essence of Europe’s welfare states into question, the report urges a wide-ranging review of the balance of demand and supply for different social programmes and social services, and their costs. This should be backed by an EU-wide effort to improve the performance of all member states’ social systems. Although responsibilities for social policy lie primarily at national level, an over-arching EU policy framework agenda could make a valuable contribution.

Member state authorities and the EU need to more clearly define their social policy competences and better clarify Brussels’ role in linking the two so that all can work better together.


Among its recommendations, the report says European authorities need to:

• raisepublicawarenessoftheeconomicbenefitsofsocialpolicy;

• establishstrongreciprocallinksbetweensocial,education,employment,budgetary and economic policies;

• mainstreamsocialpolicytargetsformemberstates,puttingthemonaparwith macroeconomic goals assessed by the European Commission;

• holdmore"jumbocouncils"thatbringtogetherministersforemploymentand economic affairs to create a stronger link between policies;

• enhance the role of trade unions, business groups and other socialpartners in economic governance, including though more tripartite summits;

• organiseahigh-levelemploymentandsocialpolicyconferencetolauncha thorough debate on future orientation;

• putforwardnewproposalstoreinforceEUactiononyouthemployment,for example through better mobilisation of the European Social Fund, or a new financial package to replace the €6 bn ‘Youth Employment Initiative’ that will not be in place until the end of 2015;

• addressthe issueofcitizens’participationtocreateanewpublicarenathat can complement the decision-making process;

• put public investment in education higher on the agenda to reversediverging trends across Europe;

• reformeducation systemswith a view tohelpingcountriesmostunderpressure to deliver basic education; develop key and transversal skills; promote entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy; and improve the transition from education to work by providing a better match between skills and labour market demands;

• reaffirm theunquestionable rightof labourmobilitywithin theEU,whileaddressing problematic issues such as illegal work and exploitation linked to poor enforcement of regulations;

• resistprotectionismandgivetangiblesupporttomemberstatesconfrontedwith the greatest need to house and integrate migrants;


• consider anew fundattached to theESF to support the integrationofEU migrants and additional finance for help desks, information and legal assistance for mobile workers;

• wherepossible,defineminimumstandardsofEuropeanlabourconditionsand social protection, taking into account all new forms of labour like part-time workers, and carefully monitor the implementation of the enforcement directive on the posting of workers;

• improve the social context of mobility by enhancing the portability ofsupplementary pensions, and strengthening the enforcement of social and employment rights of mobile and migrant workers;

• complementtheeconomicargumentsformigrationwithastrongsocialcase for minimum standards and against discrimination based on origin or ethnicity;

• place discussion of external migration to the EU into a longer-termdemographic context, given that a shrinking European population means migration should be seen as a positive contribution;

• recognise the enormouswaste of immigrants’ skillswhen they are notadequately integrated into the labour market, or not allowed to develop their entrepreneurial potential;

• strengthensupportforsocialpolicydevelopmentprogrammesinmigrants’countries of origin to reduce pressure on the EU and contain brain drains from those countries;

• consider a European policy on the overall quality of minimum incomeprotection, with minimum wages playing a key role together with social benefits;

• giverealbitetotheYouthGuaranteebyembeddingitinsocialdialogue,increasing its funding and scope, and ensuring its rapid implementation with transparent monitoring;

• ensure a guaranteed right to shelter for all EU citizens who becomedestitute whatever their status, develop a European Action Plan against homelessness, and provide a Care Guarantee for vulnerable young people.


Securing the well-being of future generations of Europeans is the EU’s most relevant common purpose. Children should grow up in a world that offers them the skills and education they need for the future; as they reach adulthood and enter the labour market they need opportunities and protection for their social rights; when they retire, they deserve security. That requires clear priorities, tough choices and effective common action.

Well-conceived social policy can contribute to the attainment of those goals, not only building a more equitable, secure and harmonious society but also boosting Europe’s growth and competitiveness.

The members of the Working Group hold different opinions on many questions, but they share a mission statement on what the European Union now needs. They oppose an unequal and unbalanced Europe because Europe should stand for fairness and social cohesion, openness and social mobility, and hope for a better future – not just in solemn declarations, but also in practical day-to-day policies.

Read the full report at www.friendsofeurope.org/quality-europe/

unequal-europe-recommendations-caring-eu/


Friends of Europe – Les Amis de l’Europe

4, Rue de la Science, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium

Tel.: +32 2 893 9825 – Fax: +32 2 893 9829

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Website: www.friendsofeurope.org

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