Brussels, 16/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - At the very moment when the European Parliament is setting about tackling six proposals on economic governance, how does the situation stand with regard to application of Article 9 of the Lisbon Treaty on the social dimension of the Union? The chair of the social affairs committee, French Socialist Pervenche Berès, questioned the Council and the Commission with regard to there not being any impact study on the social effects of the package on governance. If the right hand does not know what the left hand is up to, there will be no coherency between the different policies of the Union, protested Berès. She sees the package as a sort of “secret binding pact”, containing preventive and corrective penalties, whilst the needs for growth, as outlined in the EU 2020 strategy, are being ignored.
The Council is aware of the importance that the EP attaches to the links between economic governance and social policies, retorted Olivier Chastel. On 6 December last, the Council adopted conclusions on the social consequences of the 2020 strategy and implementation of Article 9 of the Treaty as invoked by Berès. The social protection committee has also given an opinion on the social dimension of the 2020 strategy. The Council finally mentioned Article 9 in its conclusions on other subjects (particularly pensions and social services of general interest).
If the states are able to ensure correct financial discipline, this will be in the interest of citizens, explained Janusz Lewandowski, on behalf of the European Commission. Measures on governance have been decided on the basis of an analysis and the Commission discussed these with all the different stakeholders. The commissioner said that the Commission should not be accused of being guilty of the difficulties experienced by too many Europeans, difficulties that have been caused by the irresponsibility of the banks. The commissioner concluded that if they wanted to defend the European economic and social model, they needed to adapt it to the changing situation.
Obtaining growth and achieving job creation again, as well as reducing inequalities, are objectives sought by all, including the EPP, which had always defended the social market economy and social inclusion, declared Elisabeth Morin-Chartier from France. She considers that the key to success can be found in training for the jobs of tomorrow, an opportunity that should be open to everybody. Antolin Sánchez Presedo (S&D, Spain) appealed for responsibility rather than austerity and said they should not forget supporting public services. The “social clause” is really functioning but is Article 9 really being respected asked Marian Harkin (ALDE, Ireland), bitterly. Speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA, Philippe Lamberts from Belgium was exasperated by the contrast between economic governance (“tough, immediate, with strict and binding rules”) and the 2020 strategy (“soft, well-intentioned, which will be carried out if we want to”). He said that this was incompatible with the spirit of Article 9, which, apparently, “does not have the same weight as articles involving economic cohesion”. (L.G./transl.fl).