As the end of the mandate approaches, the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen, gave a brief assessment of her work on Tuesday 9 April, on the sidelines of the conference on the future of work, discussing in particular the virtues and limits of soft law, before addressing the medium- and long-term challenges in the social field, whether on the profound transformations of working conditions in the digital age or the risks of British social dumping due to Brexit. (comments collected by Pascal Hansens)
Agence Europe - Your mandate was marked by the return in force of soft law in the social field with the European pillar of social rights and the strengthening of the social dimension of the European semester. Do you think that soft law is enough to rebalance European policies in favour of social issues?
Marianne Thyssen - First of all, I don’t believe that soft law is enough. Secondly, I do believe it is working. After the proclamation of the social pillar, we started delivering. We have to lead by example. So we did proposals for legislation. First of all, on the work life balance, then transparent and predictable working conditions. That is not soft law! That’s hard law. For some, very hard law…
AE - But do you think that the Member States have committed themselves to respecting the priorities of the social pillar? Some might argue that this is not quite the case.
MT - The pillar is a compass, as we said at the time [the base was adopted in Gothenburg in November 2017 - see EUROPE 11907/1, 11906/2 - ed]. And we repeat: the pillar is not here to be implemented in all its dimensions within 2 or 3 years. Member states committed to that pillar. And what makes me happy is that since then in the documents of the Council, we see references to the pillar. For instance, when they mention something, they put between brackets “priority number X” [the pillar contains 20 priorities - ed]. I think I would not do it myself. But they are doing it. They mention it explicitly. And this shows that at least there is a will to implement it.
AE - Only one piece of legislation is still on the table, namely the coordination of social security systems. It seems to be blocked for the moment. Is it still possible to close this file as part of your mandate?
MT - There are still 2 days and a week left where this Parliament is working. So we continue and there is still a little bit of hope. And I think if you are in politics, optimism is a moral duty. So I am still optimistic, until it is blocked. Then at that moment I would say it’s a pity. It’s a missed opportunity. Because it’s a balanced agreement. I am really convinced about that. Because there are things which are not regulated as they should be. There are uncertainties, there are things on the A1 document that you have to improve to be sure that the internal market is working according to rules that are enforceable. Because there are things they are not regulated as they should be. If we would have had a little bit more time, it would have been good. Because convincing people takes time. But, if it is not finalised, the proposal will still be there anyway.
AE - Now we look to the future. What do you think will be the main areas of work for the next European Commission?
MT - It’s first of all about transposing legislation and implementing legislation. Because it’s not just enough to say: "That's it! Here is our legislation, our work is done!" No, no. It must be transposed, it must be implemented, and it must be monitored. And then we go again to soft law to see how we can come closer together. Skills for instance is very important, but this must be developed also on the ground. And I think there is a need to use ESF (European Social Fund) money very well and invest there where it is needed. Making sure that there is more investment in humanity, in human capital, in human beings.
AE - Don't you think that in the future, priority should be given to new legislative acts?
MT - That is up to the next Commission to decide. They must choose their own tools or instruments they want to use. What I hope, and what I think, is that they continue to work alongside the path of the social pillar together with the sustainable goals. We will have to prepare, the European institutions, the successor of the Strategy EUROPE 2020. Here, I think, the pillar can guide them together with the SDOs. Sustainability is also about human capital, about social sustainability.
AE - What do you think of the project for a ‘social pact’ which would take its inspiration from the fiscal pact, as proposed by European trade unions, to really strengthen the social dimension of the EU in the long term?
MT - It all depends on the content at the end. It's not that easy. I know what the difficulties were with the fiscal pact. I was an MEP at the time. For us, at the beginning it was not acceptable! We wanted it to be integrated into the Treaty according to the normal procedure.
AE - The Commission will present its contingency measures to the Member States. Do you think that in the future, in the event of a ‘no-deal Brexit’, the United Kingdom will try to exploit fiscal and social dumping in order to gain competitiveness?
MT - First, let’s see what our leaders will decide during the Summit. I know that Michel Barnier, our chief negotiator, is still working hard. Let’s see where we land. And especially what is in the end the wish of the UK. It’s an internal question at the end. I hope now they come to something that can be supported also in the European Parliament. And that we know what we are talking about and how we come together. And then let’s see what the danger can be afterwards. Let’s do things step by step.