Informal Meeting of Employment and Social Policy Ministers: Presidency Conclusions on Social Protection
Date: 25-1-2003
The discussion of social protection also took place in the light of the Lisbon strategy as this has unfolded through the successful application of the open method of coordination in the fields of social inclusion and of pensions over the last three years. The Council reaffirmed its overarching goal of strengthening the social dimension of Europe. The key contribution of Lisbon was to recognise social protection as a productive factor, alongside employment and competitiveness. This role assumes greater importance still in the context of enabling the European Social Model, as distilled from the practices and social policies of the Member States, to rise to the challenge of an ageing society and the other political challenges which confront social protection systems. In this context the Council noted the need to persist with the efforts to modernise social protection systems.
The Informal Council reviewed progress in the field of Social Protection, as it has evolved since the Helsinki European Council. The decision to separate Social Protection into four components enabled us to mark rapid progress, especially in the advancement of social inclusion.
The new round of Social Inclusion National Action Plans will entail intensive efforts to define and pursue ambitious, yet realistic quantitative targets for combating social exclusion. One important means to achieve tangible progress will be the participation and mobilisation of all stakeholders and in particular of people living in poverty.
In relation to the issue of pension systems, the Informal Council acknowledged the central role of pensions not only for maintaining social cohesion, but also for the growth prospects of European economies. The choices for the future of pensions, should be based on strategies that take into account the interrelation between the three objectives; adequacy, viability and adaptability to evolving social and economic conditions. More specifically, strategies that examine these three objectives in isolation of each other risk proving counterproductive.
The Informal Council noted that the application of the open method of co-ordination in the field of pensions has fostered a particularly favourable climate for the exchange of practices and policies. The interplay of the common objectives at European level, in the context of the triangular relationship between Adequacy - Viability - Modernisation and of domestic efforts for reforming social security systems has already proved a particularly useful experience and will contribute to the consolidation and enrichment of national policies in the member states.
The open method of coordination has allowed subsidiarity to play a positive role, in defining common objectives, developing performance indicators and exchanging good practice. The Informal Council considered that this experience could form the basis for the deepening of the relevant procedure. The periodic repetition of this process and its streamlining with other similar processes may offer benefits in both the social and the economic field.
Co-operation in the area of health care and of care for the elderly has been launched, while the discussions on making work pay are still at an initial stage. These different approaches and stages of development reflect the fact that political priority was accorded to the issues of social inclusion and the future of pensions. Nevertheless, there is a risk that we could lose sight of the inter-related nature of these issues, as was set out in the original conception of an overall strategy for the "Modernisation of Social Protection".
The Informal Council recognized in principle the need for simplification, complementarity and consistency among the four components of social protection. The question of consolidating them under a single umbrella - procedure for social protection within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy on Social Protection should be further examined, building on the special characteristics of the component parts and of national approaches, while fully respecting the principle of subsidiarity.
The Informal Council considered that in the context of the unique occasion of EU enlargement with ten new Member States it is all the more important to maintain and strengthen the content or the goals of the Lisbon Strategy for social protection. Enlargement is an opportunity to broaden the range of EU social objectives and to enrich the open coordination procedures with other more diverse practices and experiences. The Informal Council also reiterated the significance of the procedures of the Convention for the future of Europe and of the Constitutional Treaty, especially with regard to the EU role in the social sphere.
The Meeting expressed its wish that the Convention would take into account the social dimension of Europe in the constitutional documents of the Union. Possible choices could include reference to commonly acceptable social principles and goals, as well as the inclusion of tools and methods that will allow the prospect of developing effective policies at the European level.