The report is based on a review of the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and the European Commission’s Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) for 2015 conducted by the members of ESN’s Reference Group on the European Semester. In 2015, the Reference Group brought together directors and senior professionals working in public social services from 23 ESN member organisations in 22 EU countries.
Key issues for local public social services
The report is the result of the answers to a questionnaire and the discussions that took place in the annual Group meeting in September, with participation from the European Commission and colleagues at the European Social Observatory. Key issues addressed were: fiscal consolidation and the impact on social services financing and implementation; social policy coordination at national, regional and local levels; the development of comprehensive and integrated social inclusion strategies; and current challenges around housing exclusion, childcare, long-term care and the development of community-based services. ESN also requested Group members to identify a recommendation they believed the European Commission should issue to their national government in the context of the European Semester 2016 (please see here). The report includes also a cross-country analysis and 22 country profiles with the 2016 recommendations listed at the top of each profile.
A wider approach to social inclusion
The report raises key questions around the adequacy of the CSRs and the NRPs in addressing the main socio-economic challenges of the countries featured in the report. Overall, the priority in the 2015 CSRs is labour market considerations with the aim of creating jobs, but there is a lack of balance between tackling unemployment and addressing the broader social consequences of the crisis. This may be understood in the context of the EU’s tendency to adopt a narrow understanding of social inclusion, which seems to be increasingly interpreted as promoting employability. ESN members felt that there is a need to develop broader social inclusion strategies along the lines of the concept of social sustainability, meaning that public social services should be supported to find people jobs but also in their efforts to enhance people’s overall quality of life – be it to help people with disabilities or mental health issues to live independently, making sure older people live in dignity and receive adequate care or supporting the better provision of childcare services.
Looking ahead
The publication of the report coincides with the 2016 European Commission’s Annual Growth Survey (AGS), which describes the priorities to be addressed in next year’s European Semester process. Not surprisingly, the 2016 AGS sees the social dimension mostly in relation to employment, but it also re-iterates the notion of social investment with a focus on economic and social performance of social welfare systems.