The European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) expressed their concerns, in a study published last week, about the “sidelining” of social affairs players under the new Recovery and Resilience facility.
While both organisations welcome the European Commission’s response, a far cry from the austerity policies decided in 2008, they regret that the European Commission’s DG EMPL (the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), the Employment and Social Policy Council as well as the social partners and NGOs have “lost much of the voice that they had, slowly but surely, gained during the European Semester over the last decade”.
They are concerned about the role of the European Parliament, which has been marginalised in the European Recovery Plan. They hope that the Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen will put things right in the coming months, particularly at the Porto Summit on 7 and 8 May, which should be the social high point of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12616/19).
At the beginning of February, the ETUI and the ETUC (the European Trade Union Confederation) will organise a conference to renew the social contract at European level in the presence of several members of the European Commission.
To consult the full study: http://bit.ly/3nUVv8W (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)