The Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, spoke to EUROPE about the Porto Social Summit, the action plan for the European pillar of social rights, and the future of social action at European level. (Interview by Pascal Hansens)
Agence Europe – The European Commission presented an action plan on the European Social Rights Framework, and then a Social Summit was held to “move forward” ... Does this mean that the European pillar of social rights was in danger of being forgotten and needed to be relaunched at a time of pandemic?
Nicolas Schmit – Not at all! The pillar is more alive than ever! As soon as it took office, this European Commission launched a communication for the implementation of the pillar, that must not be overlooked. Before this summit, the Commission had already taken action, the directive on adequate minimum wages, the European child guarantee, the reinforced youth guarantee had been proposed... Even under the ‘Juncker’ Commission, there were already very concrete proposals. The European pillar has triggered a concrete movement of proposals and actions since its proclamation in 2017.
When and why was it decided that this Social Summit was to be organised?
I was still a Member of the European Parliament, but I was already being considered for the post of Commissioner for Social Affairs. There was a visit from the Portuguese Prime Minister, who had asked to see me. Under his Presidency, he had already planned to organise a Social Summit to follow up on the Gothenburg Summit (see EUROPE 11907/1) and to anchor social issues in the green and digital transition. And I was very much in favour of it.
Now, the Porto Summit has allowed European leaders to endorse the pillar once again. The blessing of the European Council is needed from time to time to continue the implementation of the Pillar. This was done at the Sibiu Strategic European Council, where there was a very positive mention of the social dimension. It was therefore important to reaffirm the social dimension once we emerge from the pandemic.
Moreover, the social dimension is very present in the recovery plans. At the moment, delegated acts are being prepared on the methodology for monitoring social expenditure.
The social partners have submitted proposals for indicators to complement GDP. Will you take this into account in the revision of the social scoreboard?
At the conference, a declaration was signed by the social partners, civil society, the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Portuguese Presidency. This is the document that was sent to Charles Michel. In terms of the complementary indicators, the President of the European Council had spoken to me about this and had told me that he was very attached to this project.
This has not yet been discussed in the college. Our growth strategy is already linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We are already in a broader approach than GDP.
There are elements of the social partners’ proposal that are already in the social scoreboard, such as NEETs, and others that are not, such as the one on entrepreneurship. We are going to look at how we can integrate the indicators that are not already included in the scoreboard.
In the latest version of the Social Summit declaration, it was added that there will be follow-up “at the highest level”. What does this mean?
This means follow-up at European Council level. There were just shy of 4 years between Gothenburg and Porto. That’s a lot! More regular monitoring is needed.
Of course, it was necessary to give the pillar the opportunity and the time to become established in European policies. Now, there is no European policy without an explicit reference to the pillar. This was Jean-Claude Juncker’s idea: to sow a seed. The social tree is growing and spreading its roots in all areas and directions.
One of the major political landmarks of your mandate is the Minimum Wage Directive. Some parties are calling for a geographical exemption from the Directive. Do you consider this to be an option?
I don’t know what that means. I have always told my Swedish friends that in a way they have an exemption, because it is written that countries which have a system based exclusively on collective bargaining cannot be obliged to introduce a statutory minimum wage in any way. It is a negotiation process, and each Member State is free to make proposals. I briefly discussed the issue with the Swedish Prime Minister in Porto, but I have not yet seen such an amendment. I trust the Portuguese Presidency to come up with acceptable solutions.
Some say that Luxembourg has benefited from an exemption on the coordination of social security systems...
No, no! I am very familiar with the subject. Luxembourg did not have an exemption. Luxembourg had a longer transition period.
The proposal that was on the table—and still is, by the way—could have direct and important consequences for the stability of the Luxembourg system (see EUROPE 12047/21). In fact, there is an article on social security in the European Treaty which allows a Member State to bring the issue to the European Council.
So it can’t really be compared. The Minimum Wage Directive has no financial impact, no impact on the Swedish or Danish system, as they are guaranteed to keep their system as they are!
Recently, the European Parliament voted on a report calling for legislation at EU level on the right to disconnect (see EUROPE 12640/12). Some suggest that the European Commission should do this in the strategic framework on health and safety at work... What do you think?
It is an own-initiative report of the European Parliament, and the European Commission will give it all the attention it deserves, but there is one element in this report that raises a problem. We are told that we must act, and at the same time we are told to give the social partners time to implement an agreement they have reached on the digitalisation of work in general, and this within 3 years (see EUROPE 12511/20).
I am very clear that the right to disconnect is indeed linked to both health and safety. So, for me, this is a right that must be consolidated at European level. We now need to see how to implement it. What the European Parliament is proposing goes a long way. I advocate a broad negotiating capacity of the social partners, and I am in contact with them.
You mentioned the Child Guarantee. The European Parliament proposes the creation of a new Children’s Authority. What are your thoughts on that?
I am reluctant to multiply any kind of external European authorities. The Commission has the task of following up on the measures proposed. There are, of course, areas where an external authority is useful, such as the European Ombudsman.
Above all, the European Parliament has proposed this authority in connection with the much broader strategy on the rights of the child. For the Child Guarantee, I don’t see the point. Each Member State is asked to appoint a coordinator to monitor the Guarantee.
The day after the Social Summit, the Conference on the Future of Europe was launched. What changes would be desirable to improve European action in the social field?
The change from unanimity to qualified majority voting would already be a good measure. The “passerelle” clauses are an idea, but the decision is unanimous. It should be easier for us to make decisions, because we are going to have texts that will come up against language and formulations of the European treaties that do not fit in with today’s economic and working world.
What about a social protocol?
Such a protocol has already been used for the Maastricht Treaty, to move forward without the UK. There is a growing demand for a social protocol to establish the equivalence of social rights with economic rights, especially after some judgements of the EU Court of Justice (such as the Viking and Laval judgments—editor’s note). The case law has since evolved. The European texts should be developed in line with case law.
Do you think that the EU could eventually join the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe?
I am open to further reflection on this, especially as there is a reference to the European Social Charter in Article 151 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, but we need to look at the legal consequences of such an accession for the Union as a whole and for the Member States individually.