A fruitful afternoon for Social Europe
On the afternoon of 6 December, the EPSCO Council of Ministers (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) was dedicated to social issues. This second formal Council under the Belgian Presidency was the occasion for bringing to a head the work on several themes that have been implemented during the last six months.
Concerning the social dimension in the Europe 2020 Strategy, the conclusions of the Council were adopted. They bring out the role that the EPSCO must play in social issues, not only in the Europe 2020 Strategy, but also based on the Treaty of Lisbon and especially its article 9, relating to the transversal social clause.
The Social Protection Committee must play a decisive role here and improve its effectiveness, particularly by collaborating with the Committees of other formations of the Council.
Also adopted were the conclusions relating to social services of general interest (SSGIs). They aim at acknowledging the voluntary quality framework and at continuing the exchanges of good practices on the subject. They invited the Commission to continue to work on the key legal concepts for the SSGIs, such as State aid, government contracts and the problems connected with the free movement of services. Finally, and this is not the least significant result, the Social Protection Committee will continue its work in the area of SSGIs, collaborating with the other European Institutions like the EU Parliament as well as with the other stakeholders.
It will also be tasked with the preparation of the next forum and therefore with making it an ongoing event. Moreover, along with the conclusions of the Council on SSGIs, the 15 Recommendations that emerged from the 3rd Forum on SSGIs must be noted. Fifteen key, concrete and ambitious recommendations which ask only to take shape in the European institutional reality as in the next own-initiative report of the European Parliament on the subject, and which will be followed by an informal working group, or by the rapporteurs of the 3rd Forum and a few people who are key for this dossier, until the 4th Forum.
During this Council, reference was then made to the state of progress in the process of ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This Convention has been ratified by only 16 Member States. The objective is to have ratification by all the countries of the European Union. The Belgian Presidency proposed investigating the state of progress of the ratification process at regular intervals. The “code of conduct” that will govern the relations between the Member States, the Commission and the Council was adopted by the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA). Its approval constitutes an important prerequisite for the ratification of the UN Convention by the European Union.
The EPSCO adopted the Declaration on the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion: to work together to fight against poverty in 2010 and beyond. We wanted a declaration that was addressed to the citizens as well as to the experts. A declaration that would depend upon the founding values of the Union of human dignity, liberty, equality and solidarity.
The Declaration calls for taking up the challenges that have been identified by our Council over the course of the last few years, which are: active inclusion in its three components, child poverty recognised as an absolute priority, the situation of vulnerable groups and of people who live in extreme destitution.
Finally, the Declaration refers to the European Platform against Poverty and stresses the necessity of developing and structuring the partnership between the decision makers and the people in a situation of poverty.
The Council asked that the Declaration be published in the Official Journal and transmitted to the President of the European Council in light of its meeting of December 2010 so that the Conclusions of the European Council of December make reference to it.
On 16 December in the evening and on 17 December the Belgian Presidency will organise a closing ceremony for the Year to which the Ministers in charge of combating poverty have been invited. This will be the occasion for them to sign the Declaration that we just adopted publicly, thus symbolically marking their support for it and their commitment to continuing the action.
Insofar as pensions are concerned, it is not more than five months since the first meeting took place between the Member States, within the framework of the Belgian Presidency, to tackle the subject of pensions.
The work began in July by approaching the challenges on the issue of pensions, which are the appropriateness and the sustainability of the pension systems. It was continued at the Conference on pensions in Liege in September, which, notwithstanding the subsidiarity principle, brought out the fact that the appropriateness and the sustainability of the retirement systems go hand in hand, and consequently, a simultaneous evaluation of these questions is required.
Finally, it is advisable to underline the adoption of conclusions initiated by the Belgian Presidency, the result of the work cited above and of contacts with the Member States, conclusions which, while keeping to the spirit of the subsidiarity principle, tackle themes such as those of the free movement of workers, of information, of dialogue, of the securisation, viability and appropriateness concerning pensions, finally of all these elements that will make it possible to guarantee the well-being of elderly people, whatever their conditions, their gender or their path in life, and ensure them a calm retirement.
Beyond this, a policy debate was held on this date on the threshold of well-being for retired persons.
Three questions on this subject: How much? How? When?
At this level, the vision of the Belgian Minister for Pensions Mr Daerden is voluntaristic. To his mind, the objective should be “to ensure a maximum number of our elders a pension corresponding to the threshold of well-being, which means the median income of workers in each Member State, that is, 1500 euros net per month in Belgium.”
How?
“Even though I am a fervent defender of the 1st pillar, it seems obvious to me that such a pension level can be achieved only by means of the extended establishment of a 2nd pillar of pensions negotiated between the representatives of the workers and the employers,” added Mr Daerden.
And the final question to conclude: When?
“As quickly as possible would be best. I proposed supporting the idea of reaching the threshold of well-being for a maximum number of our elders by 2020, that is, completely in line with the social objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy.”
On the basis of the two documents that fuelled our debate during the EPSCO this Monday 6 December, the Green Paper of the European Commission and the joint report of the Social Protection Committee and the Economic Policy Committee, here are the lessons that it seems to me one could draw:
- first of all, the subsidiarity and the diversity of the national pension systems are the two elements that must guide our work.
- A holistic approach, which takes into account the appropriateness and the sustainability of our pension systems, is also unanimously welcomed.
- The role of the open coordination method on the issue of social protection, which could be strengthened especially in regard to its indicators, is highlighted by many.
- I notice that the context of crisis, which makes social policies more difficult, does not stop the determination of the Member States to do everything possible to ensure their older citizens an appropriate standard of living.
- Beyond the diversity of our systems and practices, we share common challenges, but also common values and objectives.
