Brussels, 20/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Today, few member states would be able to deny that their social model and the functioning of their welfare state need to be reformed. This revision is necessary, as it comes not only in the framework of national budgetary cleansing plans, which are more or less inevitable, but also because the EU has laid down common objectives to be achieved by 2020, which it no longer seems to be in a position to achieve. It was against this backdrop that the European Commission on Wednesday 20 February presented its social investment package, which is based on a somewhat clearer message: it is time to invest, better or more, depending on the case, in human capital and social cohesion.
It is the end of a cycle, said Commissioner Laszlo Andor (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), at the presentation of the latest “package”. From the White Paper on pensions (February 2012), via the “employment” package (April 2012) and “youth employment” (December 2012), ending with the presentation of the package on social investment, the Commission has done the rounds of the social and employment issues. Today, all of the ingredients are there to improve the coordination of the social and employment policies, with a view to preparing the future of the European social model.
Andor believes that social investment is at the core of the welfare state. It determines who is included and who is excluded from the employment market or from society as a whole. When the Commission calls for greater investment in social issues, the procedures and results anticipated are hardly any different from those carried out in the field of the economy. Capital must be invested in such a way as to allow it to engender a growth in production and a better yield.
The Commission has just shown best practices in the field of social investment, handing the member states a recommendation on a plate (“Investing in Children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage”), a report on social services of general interest and six working documents (on the role of social policies, active inclusion, long-term care, the fight against homelessness, investment in the field of health and the role of the European Social Fund).
It was this kind of concept which led the Commission to opt for a holistic approach to the social issue. One example: the resources proposed to improve the situation of children call upon the states to offer “quality education and health and social services, housing, extracurricular activities, and measures to improve the family's economic situation, such as employment support, that helps to avoid inactivity traps for single parents and second earners, as well as through efficient, adequate child and family benefits”.
Will modernising the social protection systems as a whole equate to increasing their budget? Not necessarily, the Commission argues, because there is a great deal of margin in many states to increase the effectiveness of the current systems. However, to support the presentation of the new “package,” the Commission used a graphic which illustrates the relationship between social protection expenditure (not including pension payments) and the reduction of the risk of poverty. Behind the constellation formed by the different situations in the member states, the same trend emerges. The more expenditure increases, the greater the effectiveness of the anti-poverty programmes. And so the final message is loud and clear: “Social Investment today helps to prevent member states having to pay much higher financial and social bills tomorrow”, Commissioner Andor warned.
The institutional context within the EU has changed today, particularly with the new economic governance and procedures of the “European semester”. Although the Commission strongly encourages the member states to adopt the measures it has just proposed, thanks to the existence of new tools, at the same time it warns that it will judge the implementation of its recommendations: “The Commission will closely monitor the performance of individual member states' social protection systems through the European Semester and formulate; where necessary, country specific recommendations.”. (JK/transl.fl)