Brussels, 16/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - In the interview which Juan Somavia, Director General of the International Labour Office (ILO), granted Agence Europe on Thursday 15 September (the first part of the interview was carried in yesterday's edition), also covered, in the context of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, was the approach needed to reconcile the quest for budgetary balance and imperative of maintaining social benefits and encouraging job creation. The importance of social dialogue and the “historic role” of the European Parliament in supporting Europe's social model are key elements. (JK/transl.rt)
Agence Europe: How can one reconcile the quest for quality jobs - something which came back time and again in your speech to the European Parliament - and simultaneously for the number of jobs that are needed to counter unemployment of almost 10% in the EU? To illustrate this problem, one of the social Europe precepts promised by the European Commission in its 2020 strategy is to make labour contracts more flexible in certain states. Is this a vision that you share?
Juan Somavia: What reason tells us is that, in times of crisis, those who bear greatest responsibility should also bear the cost. This is a principle of fairness. If we look at how things have developed over the last 30 years, the logic of the growth model, which is no longer working, was based on cutting taxes, making the labour market more flexible, the invention of all kinds of contracts and deregulation. This was done to ensure growth in investment and job creation. In fact, however, and we made this point in a recent report, A New Era of Social Justice, over the last three decades, the level of investment in the real economy has remained fixed. The cogency of this system and the associated promises have been torn apart. With a financial economy that has the power to cause states to take the measures which it wants, I don't believe that it is the type of labour contract which will change things. It has been tried and re-tried, without bringing anything. What is needed today is for greater responsibility to be placed on those who caused the crisis, and it was certainly not the workers who brought about the crisis or who benefitted from indebtedness. The central point is social dialogue - a key instrument in times of crisis. What workers don't understand is that it is not the situation in itself but the level of injustice of the solution that are being proposed. European construction is founded on a number of values, the most important is which, perhaps, is peace. Alongside that, however, are values related to a balanced economy and a social market economy. We have to get back to fundamentals to see how to address this crisis.
Agence Europe: In the current crisis around Greek sovereign debt, the main players are France, Germany, European bodies and the Greek government. What is surprising, and perhaps worrying, given what is at stake economically, is the absence of the various social partners, the trade unions, for example. As a result, there is more talk about budgetary austerity than about jobs. What is your take on the situation, and should the ILO have a role to play in this process?
J.S.: I believe that the approach chosen for the austerity plans, which in the main affect workers without offering the opportunity for dialogue, clearly has its limits. These limits can be seen in the street. When there is no dialogue, people take to the streets. The best solutions are always those discussed together. When implementation of policies becomes too top down, too authoritarian, the distance between the people and the authorities grows. This goes for states and for businesses. What is at stake for the former is the confidence of the people in the management of our democracies. If we do not recognise the growing distance between ordinary citizens and the system of governance, we will cause democracy to lose credibility. In the face of that, the European Parliament can play a major role, because it is the only elected parliament in the world where the members stand for transnational values - those of the EU. This parliament has the capability and skills needed to play a historic role in the defence of European values. This role of “political conscience”, protector of the acquis communautaires, is one which falls quite naturally to the European Parliament. The ILO has also a role to play, particularly in discussions on the austerity plans to be implemented. For example, at the last ILO conference, we received a request from the Greek trade unions concerned about the austerity measures which, they believed, were impacting on a series of ILO conventions. A team from our organisation will set off within the week for discussions. We also work with the IMF to see how macro-economic policies can be integrated with labour market and employment policies. One thing that must be avoided at all costs is the crisis being used as an excuse to erode workers' rights that are protected by ILO conventions. We stand ready to play our part, to put genuine social dialogue in place.