By Proinsias De Rossa MEP is parliament’s rapporteur on the future of the European social model - 16th May 2006
Europe’s competitiveness and social model are not opposites but interdependent, argues Proinsias De Rossa MEP.
Globalisation and the technological revolution are changing fundamentally the very nature of the world economy.
These phenomena oblige us to find new answers rather than rehearse old dogmas about the nature of our world.
How do we improve the standard of living for EU citizens while remaining competitive in the global economy?
How do we integrate economic, employment and social policy in a way that delivers sustainable development and social cohesion, not only at home, but also in our international trade and aid policies?
How do we ensure that all share the benefits of growth?
These are the questions facing us as we strive to meet the challenges of a new era.
History tells us that xenophobia is the wrong answer to these questions and that, this time, Europeans must meet these challenges together.
It was the welfare of the peoples of Europe, and of the wider world, which lay at the heart of the impulse for the creation of a ‘united Europe’.
That rationale is in need of restatement, in terms that reflect today’s political, economic and social realities.
Along with the realities mentioned already is the projection that in 2030, the EU25 will have 18 million fewer young people than today, and 40 million older people, in an overall population that will be 60 million less than now.
As early as the year 2000 the EU recognised these realities and developed the Lisbon strategy as a means to address the reforms needed.
It consists of a comprehensive and integrated package of reforms aimed at creating a ‘Europe of excellence’.
This decision was followed by the Laeken declaration which clearly outlined the need to “relaunch” Europe, which in turn gave birth to the proposed European constitution.
That constitution reaffirms the values on which Europe has been constructed and which must be retained if the EU is to survive as more than a single market.
Whatever member state we look at we find the values of equality, solidarity, protection from discrimination, and redistribution, with universal access to education, healthcare and public services as the citizens right.
The systems for delivering on those values are of course different in every member state, but it can be fairly claimed that those values represent the essence of the European social model.
Reform is not about giving up on our social achievements. It is about securing their sustainability.
Sustainability depends both on reform and on the successful integration of economic, employment and social policies reflected in the strategy for growth and jobs.
The reforms need to deliver a dynamic, innovation-oriented environment, which also respects work-life balance and recognises the need for security in a rapidly changing society.
If the reforms made by a member state simply deliver chaos and alienation then they are the wrong reforms delivered in the wrong way.
Europe’s competitiveness and social model are not opposites but interdependent. The modernisation agenda should be based on the principle that social policy, when properly designed, is a productive factor helping to deliver economic growth and prosperity with a better quality of life.
A key reform strategy is flexicurity - the strategy to develop more flexibility in the labour market, modernization of work organisation and labour relations, combined with high levels of employee security and social protection. If properly designed, as our Nordic colleagues have shown, it delivers.
It is important that our citizens understand the need for reform. Public campaigns to reach out to civil society could play a role in providing information and providing a background to negotiating change with trade unions and employers.
Europe’s role is primarily to support and monitor compliance with agreed national policies.
This can best be done through coordination within the Lisbon process, conscientious implementation of Europe’s integrated guidelines for growth and jobs, and through effective targeting of structural funds.
An enhanced role for national parliaments and the European parliament though the open method of coordination would give a hugely important democratic legitimacy to this reform process.
Whether any of this happens depends on the courage of our member state governments.
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