On the morning of Wednesday 20 October, MEPs voted by a slim majority (347 votes to 162, with 191 abstentions) to approve the report by Lina Gálvez Muñoz (S&D, Spain) on employment and social policies in the euro area in 2021, which calls, among other things, for reforms to the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process in order to strengthen its social dimension, drawing on the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It was not easy to convince the parliamentary arc, but we have reached a consensus on social Europe, putting the interest of citizens first”, the rapporteur commented soberly on his Twitter account. The results of the vote show that the rapporteur has built his majority on the left flank and part of the centre right, provoking a massive vote against from the ECR group and the Identity and Democracy group and the abstention of almost the entire EPP.
Two days earlier, during a debate in the plenary session, the rapporteur had insisted on the importance of reforming the European Union’s economic and fiscal governance, including strong social conditionality. Ms Gálvez Muñoz highlighted the concept of “sustainable well-being”, which was given prominence during the Finnish Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 12290/15).
MEPs therefore call on the European Commission to learn the lessons of the pandemic and to reflect on an improved sustainable governance architecture based not only on solidarity, social justice and inclusion, but also on fair distribution of wealth, gender equality, and improved public services.
They suggest aligning the ‘European Semester’ with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the European Pillar of Social Rights, and the ‘Green Deal’. To this end, they support the paper submitted by their social partners to the Porto Summit (see EUROPE 12715/2) on the development of indices complementary to GDP. The new indicators should also cover the consequences of the pandemic.
In particular, they detail the social scoreboard expected for the ‘European Semester’. The indicators should focus in particular on decent working conditions, social justice, equal opportunities, and social protection schemes. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Child Guarantee and the Youth Guarantee. The Parliament has indicated that it will analyse in detail the delegated act that the European Commission intends to prepare.
Derogation clause. MEPs also call on the Commission to carry out an overall assessment of the economy, taking into account the issue of inequalities, before “deactivating” the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact. They believe that the revision of the EU’s economic governance framework should be carried out before deactivating the clause. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)