On Thursday 6 February, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Oliver Röpke, warned against the idea put forward by the Secretary General of NATO at the end of 2024 (see EUROPE 13544/14), Mark Rütte, that the countries of the European Union might consider giving up certain welfare state expenditure in order to invest more in the defence sector.
“If we cut social spending to invest more in defence, that will be the best way to lose overall consensus” on the social contract, Mr Röpke told a group of journalists.
The EESC President announced that the European Committee will present a number of opinions in the spring on the cost of living crisis in a number of areas, including “housing, energy, social policy and wages”.
The day after a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the former Brussels representative of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB) did not oppose the legislative simplification drive announced by the EU institution to boost economic competitiveness. “I haven’t heard anything about her wanting to backtrack on social rights. As long as these rights are preserved, we can support the initiative”, he said.
And to support the Commission’s desire to strengthen workers’ skills (‘Skills Union’) (see EUROPE 13511/20).
At the end of February, the EESC will also make recommendations on the follow-up to be given to the Letta and Draghi reports on competitiveness within the internal market, at the same time as the Commission presents an initial proposal for legislative simplification.
Mr Röpke also reported on his initiative to involve civil society from the EU candidate countries in the Committee’s work (see EUROPE 13170/30). Chosen by the EESC on the basis of a call for expressions of interest and in cooperation with the EU delegations, these organisations take part in the deliberations on an advisory basis. Helping them to prepare for enlargement is in “our mutual interest”, said the EESC President.
“We need results on enlargement during this mandate” to fight the “enlargement fatigue“ observed within the candidate countries’ societies, said Mr Röpke. He welcomed the idea of “gradual integration” of the countries concerned into EU policies and programmes on the basis of their own merits, pointing out that the European Commissioners had been given a mandate to put this idea into practice. In his view, the efforts made by “Montenegro and Albania” should be recognised.
Finally, the EESC President spoke of the cooperation between the Committee and similar international partner organisations, in particular the African Union. At a conference in Ghana, “we were the only non-African organisation present, apart from the Chinese”, he pointed out.
Next week, the EESC will be present in Paris at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit organised by the French authorities. We will be discussing the need to strengthen existing regulations, which remain “very fragmented”, said Mr Röpke, stressing the importance of “making sure that social rights are not undermined by AI”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)