Commission President gives his State of the European Union speech
On 11 September José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, gave his State of the Union address in front of EU Commissioners and MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. His speech came ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2014 and the selection of a new college of Commissioners in autumn 2014. Below we aimed to outline some of the key points made by the Commission President about the social dimension of European policies.
Strengthening the social dimension of economic policies in the EU
President Barroso admitted that the financial and economic crisis had turned into a social crisis “with dramatic consequences for many of our citizens.” He emphasised that the EU must strengthen the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in a way which ensures that solidarity and responsibility complements the EU’s and Member States’ policies.
During 2013, ESN has visited a number of public social services across Europe in order to speak to social professionals and civil servants about the situation for the social sector in Europe and in particular in the four countries perhaps struggling the most with austerity (Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland). Those ESN spoke to emphasised that too little attention was being paid across Europe to the crushing social impact of the austerity measures. The number of people who need to access public services has increased, while financial and other resources continue to shrink.
President Barroso’s speech acknowledged that Europe needed to look beyond the economy: "We are much more than a market … (European society) is based on a firm belief in political, social and economic standards.” He referred specifically to the protection of the labour rights, as well as the rights of women and minorities, as part of the values and standards that European society must follow.
He also announced that on 2 October the Commission will publish a new communication on the social dimension of the EMU and will look at how to better integrate social policies in the current structures for economic governance across EU Member States. This includes looking at the efficiency and sustainability of, for instance, labour, goods and services markets, of the public sector in general, of education and vocational training systems, and of pension and healthcare systems.
Combatting unemployment
President Barroso emphasised that since the start of the crisis unemployment had increased at an alarming rate, with 26 million young people currently unemployed in Europe: “The current level of unemployment is economically unsustainable, politically untenable and socially unacceptable.”
He argued that European but also national level initiatives are key to ensuring that Europe “avoids a jobless recovery.” In December 2012 the European Commission adopted the Youth Employment Package and has urged Member States to implement Youth Guarantee Schemes, which guarantee every unemployed young person under the age of 25 a job, a training programme or an apprenticeship. You can read here about two examples of local youth employment strategies from Austria and Spain published by ESN earlier this year.
Key dates for 2014:
22-25 May 2014: Elections for European Parliament
1 November 2014: Newly selected European Commission takes office