Luxembourg, 04/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - During a public debate held in Luxembourg on 4 October on the social services of general interest, the Employment and Social Policy Ministers of the enlarged EU provided a certain amount of grist for the Commission's mill, for its preparations for a communication on this subject, to be presented early next year. Amongst other things, they called upon the Commission to take account of social services of general interest in the single market rules, and to establish a European legal framework for these services, which respects the principle of subsidiarity. They also said that the open method of co-ordination together with EU recommendations was a good method, much better than laying down rules, to organise these services. The Ministers stressed the importance of the availability of quality social services fully justifying any relaxation of the competition rules.
During the exchange of views, Germany said that the Commission's communication should ensure coherence between internal market initiatives and competition, and give the lot a concrete legal basis. Slovakia stressed the link between social services of general interest and the internal market, but wondered how all of this could be made to coincide with "free market rules". The Slovakian minister also drew attention to the fact that like Germany, Slovakia is a country "where the regional, local and even municipal authorities are important", and that the Commission ought to take this into account in its communication. "The decentralisation element is very important", he said. For Belgium as well, local services, charities, social workshops and social economy companies should not be neglected, as they are difficult to include in the employment market. Belgium also hopes for a European legal framework to deal with social services of general interest. For Sweden, there are enormous differences between the Member States in how they organise and pay for social and healthcare services. However, there are principles of solidarity and security, and we should not function solely on the basis of market rules when regulating these sectors, said the Swedish minister. The European social model is "a real success", she added, calling for her colleagues to "go further and achieve the Lisbon objectives". Noting that there is no "contradiction between strong economic growth and setting up fair systems of access to healthcare", the minister warned against "getting carried away by the demographic factor". "We may be on the verge of reaching a crossroads with solutions linked to the internal market and the European social model. We must combine both and keep working on the principles of solidarity, universality and equality", she said. She believes that the Commission's communication on social services "will be a good framework for discussions for the future, because we must establish legal certainty" on this issue. Finland said that the "role of the EU in this field is one of cooperation, which is carried out thanks to the open method of co-ordination and led by the Member States". Poland called for a clear definition of "the services in question- those linked to the economy and those which are not". It feels that each State should proceed on the basis of its own legal framework, and that the European framework should be based on the open method of co-ordination. The Netherlands consider that "the role of the EU in the reinforcement of social services of general interest is to ensure a judicious exchange of practice on the ground".