Member States’ ambassadors to the EU reached agreement on the Porto Social Summit declaration on Thursday 6 May, after 2 days of heated talks.
The agreement on the declaration (see EUROPE 12712/2, 12708/15) was reached early Thursday afternoon. However, at the time of writing, the Italian and Spanish delegations were still awaiting endorsement from their capitals to finally approve the declaration.
“The fact that the negotiations on a text with a declarative scope were so tough shows its importance”, confides a diplomatic source. The discussions focused on three main points: – the issue of subsidiarity; – alternative indicators to complement GDP; and – gender equality.
Social Europe will be present
The Nordic states and some of the ‘frugal’ states (such as Austria) have been reluctant from the outset to have a text affirming the role of the Union in the social field, while Member States—such as Spain, Italy, and France—wanted something more ambitious, with France insisting in particular on convergence of the minimum wage. It was successful (§9), with the declaration confirming, in addition to the Member States’ commitment to reducing inequalities, the “defence of fair wages”.
However, according to the latest version of the declaration, as seen by EUROPE, the term “Social Europe” should be retained from the first paragraph, where it was mentioned that Europe is a continent of “social cohesion and prosperity”, a formulation preferred by the Nordic states. The “social dimension” has been added to the objectives of the recovery, alongside the principles of resilience and competitiveness (§3).
The national delegations agreed (§5) on “deepening” of the implementation of the European pillar of social rights, rather than “continue” to implement it. Later in the declaration (§7), they state that “relevant legislative and non-legislative work should be pursued at EU and Member State level” to implement the pillar.
The reception given to the social partners’ proposal to develop alternative and complementary indicators to GDP—a request made by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the Autumn 2020 Tripartite Social Summit—has been debated.
Some were reluctant to “welcome” these indicators, as the document had not yet been analysed by experts from national delegations. Ultimately, the declaration in its final wording “will welcome” indeed the social partners’ proposal.
Finally, the issue of promoting gender equality was problematic for Poland and especially for Hungary, as the latter made it a red line, whereas for some Member States, such as Finland, Austria, and Spain, gender equality was non-negotiable.
In the end, the promotion of ‘gender equality’ was abandoned. Nevertheless, the declaration states that Member States “will work actively to close the gender gaps in employment, pay, and pensions”. In addition, the second principle of the foundation, dedicated to gender equality, has been added in this same paragraph (§10).
Social partners in the spotlight
Thus, the Member States will meet on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 May in Portugal, more than 3 years after the Göteborg Social Summit (see EUROPE 11907/1), to revitalise social Europe in the difficult context of the pandemic.
The choreography of the social summit was unclear up to the last minute, not least because of the pandemic. In the end, the summit will be held face-to-face with 24 Heads of State or Government, with the exception of Germany, the Netherlands, and Malta. Several members of national governments are currently already in Porto to meet with social partners and members of civil society.
On the first day, the high-level conference with social partners, civil society and representatives of, among others, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) will take place as planned.
This high-level conference will have three components: – an opening plenary session, followed by a session consisting of several workshops involving Heads of State or Government, social partners and members of international organisations, and the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12704/27). There will be three workshops: a ‘work and employment’ workshop, a ‘skills and innovation’ workshop, and a workshop on social protection.
At the end of the day, stakeholders will adopt a declaration that will support the action plan on the European pillar of social rights with, for the first time, the social partners. This is a strong signal in favour of social dialogue, according to several sources. At the closing ceremony, the social partners will hand over their report with new indicators to Mr Michel.
EU leaders will meet for a working dinner on Friday evening to discuss the management of the pandemic and the global vaccine response (see other news), preparations for Saturday’s lunch with India by videoconference (see other news), and the EU’s relationship with Russia (see other news).
The following morning, Member States will meet at an informal European Council meeting on social issues, where they will support the Action Plan on the European pillar of social rights and adopt the ‘Porto Declaration’. It will be an opportunity to take stock of the progress made in the social field since Gothenburg and to discuss social measures in the context of the national recovery and resilience plans.
The question could be raised, under the impetus of France in particular, of a new budgetary impetus in Europe, with the priority remaining the ratification of own resources and the validation of the various national recovery plans. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Mathieu Bion)