Commission Adopts Mid-term Review of the Social Policy Agenda
Date: 4-6-2003
The Commission has just adopted its Mid-term Review of the Social Policy Agenda, the EU's roadmap translating the Lisbon strategy for economic and social renewal into concrete employment and social policy measures over the first half of the decade. This review places successful enlargement at the top of a renewed social policy agenda and throws the spotlight on achieving results through compliance with EU agreed social standards in the existing and the new Member States. Structural responses aimed at modernising and improving the European social model in order to meet the EU's economic and social needs are at the heart of the agenda. The mid-term review confirms that this key objective must be further pursued and spells out the actions to be taken under the Agenda's six main policy headings over the next two years.
Commissioner Diamantopoulou said: "With the European Union welcoming ten new Member States in May 2004, it is clear that successful enlargement should be a top priority in our revised Social Policy Agenda. We have made important progress over the past years. A wide range of actions aimed at facilitating economic and social renewal have been launched. However, there is still a long way to go. The new Communication provides for new concrete initiatives in order to pursue, together, with all our partners, our medium and long-term employment and social objectives."
A guiding principle of the Social Policy Agenda, launched by the Commission in June 2000 and endorsed by the Nice European Council in December 2000, has been to strengthen the role of social policy as a productive factor. The key is to promote quality as the driving force of a thriving economy geared up to producing more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. The Commission has recently developed this rationale by starting an analysis of 'the costs of non-social policy', as part of an approach encompassing better regulation.
One of the innovative features of the social policy agenda, which runs from 2000 to 2005, has been its ambition of establishing better forms of governance. This means involving the different actors more fully in shaping and implementing the Agenda and establishing an appropriate mix of policy instruments. The development of this approach will be pursued vigorously.
The ground for today's communication on the Mid-term Review of the Social Policy Agenda was prepared by a major conference organised by the Commission in March this year (please See: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2003/jan/1041848954_en.html). The conference provided a public forum for the main actors to debate the future of employment and social policy and their input formed a major and significant contribution to the Mid-term Review.
The conference identified successful enlargement as the key challenge facing the EU in the coming years and the mid-term review provides a unique opportunity to reflect the full breadth of this dimension. The impact of enlargement on employment and the social situation will be closely monitored, with the correct application of the EU' social acquis playing a crucial role. The Commission reports on progress in the Agenda's six policy areas in its annual Scoreboards.
The March conference also confirmed that the established challenges underlying the Social Policy Agenda - including the pervasive structural weaknesses in labour markets, demographic trends, the persistent gender inequalities, the changing nature of families, technological change and the requirements for the knowledge-based economy, disparities and poverty, and the internationalisation of the economy - should continue to form a firm basis for future EU action in the field of employment and social policy.
The Communication lays down a detailed set of actions, with a time schedule, intended to consolidate and follow up the work undertaken during the first half of the Agenda. These actions build on the Nice political orientations and, crucially, herald new measures designed to address the outstanding challenges and new needs.
The six Social Policy Agenda headings established at Nice headings are:
- More and better jobs - with the implementation of the new, revamped European Employment Strategy.
- Anticipating and capitalising on change in the working environment by creating a new balance between flexibility and security - including simplification of legislation and measures to enhance social dialogue and develop corporate social responsibility.
- Fighting poverty and all forms of exclusion and discrimination - including through developing the open method of co-ordination on social inclusion, initiatives to ensure equal treatment for third country nationals and measures to tackle discrimination.
- Modernising social protection - with measures to facilitate freedom of movement, and increased co-operation between the Member States on social protection, in particular pensions.
- Promoting gender equality - with a new directive on equal treatment outside the labour market to be proposed this year.
- Strengthening the social policy aspects of enlargement and the European Union's external relations - with measures to facilitate the integration of the new Member States and action to promote the social dimension in the EU's international relations.