"Social Europe can't wait!"
![](http://www.eutrio.be/files/bveu/imagecache/node_main_img/media/CDN/photos/20100908_BELGIUM_EU_TRIO_LIEGE_SOCIAL_SECURITY_PENSIONS_DAY3/print/warnand-2010908-04.jpg ""Social Europe can't wait!"")
The major financial and economic crisis we are currently experiencing amply demonstrates the value of having a robust social system, a real shield to protect our citizens and support consumption. Although Europe has made some progress in this area, the social dimension is still not sufficiently taken into account in European decision-making.
What can be done to ensure that the Europe Union will provide social value for its citizens? This was the main question raised on the second day of the conference chaired by Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian Minister of Social Affairs. European strategy cannot restrict itself to promoting job creation and economic growth but must also set goals for itself in the social and environmental fields.
The leading initiative the Commission will submit next November is crucial: the fight against poverty will become one of EU’s five top priorities. The Union intends to reduce the number of people living in poverty by 20 million by 2020.
However, according to the Minister, things must be taken further. Europe's social ambitions cannot be limited to fighting poverty: "The immediate future of Social Europe is being played out today, on one hand, through construction of the ‘social pillar’ of the EU2020 strategy and, on the other, by taking the social dimension into account in future microeconomic governance and, in particular, in the new ‘European semester’.”
The Belgian Minister of Social Affairs insisted on the need to develop two basic instruments:
1. Integrated guideline n°10, adopted by the European Council last June, which must be fully implemented both at the Member State and the European Union level.
Guideline 10 describes the directions in which the Member States must take their social policies. It affirms the need for strong social protection systems in employment, health and pensions.
To achieve these, it is essential to develop a set of social indicators in the short term to measure the effectiveness of the various European social protection systems and, especially, to support the Member States in improving them. An agreement was put in place to this effect last July.
2. Inclusion of the social dimension in the new "European semester" which will come into effect next year.
The new "European semester" requires the annual simultaneous deposit (in April) of a National Reform Programme (NRP) and a Stability Programme (budget trajectory) by each Member State. These programs will be based on the Commission’s annual socioeconomic report and the conclusions taken from it by the European Council.
Minister Onkelinx believes that, within this framework, social expenditures cannot be viewed – as some insist they are – as a simple adjustment variable to enable the States to rebalance their budgets.
What's more, the Minister also indicated her desire to promote "social impact assessment” during the Belgian Presidency.
The implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon also means the coming into effect of Article 9 which states that, from now on, all EU policies must take their social impact into account. This is the principle behind the transverse social clause, a positive approach that must be used to improve governance in Europe, including at the macroeconomic level.
According to Laurette Onkelinx, working together for a more social Europe is essential: “The crisis has caused real suffering for the most vulnerable. It provides an opportunity to redefine tomorrow’s challenges and find new solutions. We should avoid hiding behind our national borders and the principle of subsidiarity. The EU was built by betting on our pooled efforts. We need to remember this and work together for a true social Europe!”
