Brussels, 25/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the special European Council at Hampton Court near London on Thursday, the President of the European Council, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, EU heads of state and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, have been urged by civil society and the European trade unions and employers to ensure the Hampton Court Summit gives people renewed confidence in the future of European society and responds to their concerns about social models.
In an open letter, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Anne-Marie Sigmund, called upon the heads of state 'to create confidence and hope among EU citizens around a vision of the future of European society. Concrete action at EU level is necessary in order to mobilise Europeans across the board. To do this successfully, it is vitally important to strengthen the principle of participatory democracy and, therefore, to involve civil society organisations fully in this process.' She calls on the heads of state to 'maintain the balance of the European social model and European identity… to reform and modernise the European model… to make the European social model sustainable… and to rebuild the European consensus: to restore confidence, the European Council must lead by example. It must seek to bring about a consensus on the basis of which it should be possible to pursue the European integration process…'
Expressing the European Anti-Poverty Network's 'concerns that having announced an informal summit on the European Social Model, the focus on Social Europe is now getting lost. 'If this is the case, this is likely to have the impact of further alienating people concerned about Social Europe from the European Project,' states Fintan Farrell, Director of EAPN.' EAPN 'urges EU governments to contribute to developing a vision for a Social Europe in which economic and social policies would be placed on an equal footing, at all levels of governance over all the EU25.'
Hans-Werner Muller, Secretary General of the 'voice of SMEs in Europe', UEAPME, said: 'Europe's political leaders must address the legitimate anxiety of citizens concerning their social models.' 'In the context of this analysis of the interdependence of social and economic reforms, UEAPME is calling for greater efforts to define some common principles and aims for social reforms in Europe, such as 'flexicurity', re-establishing consumer and investor confidence and support for the project of European integration, increasing the involvement of stakeholders (social patterns) in the reform process; and a European checklist of a review of national social models with regard to their compatibility with a competitive open economy.'
Caspar Einem, President of the European Centre of Public Enterprises (CEEP) says 'reforms must be given priority in order to safeguard European values. Instruments must be modernised.' 'Member States should lead the modernisation of the European social model, and by doing so create sound macroeconomic conditions that are essential to the setting up of solid infrastructure, a pre-condition for viable services of quality, accessible to all citizens. The providers of services of general interest, which CEEP represents at European level, shall do everything to improve these services in order to provide best value for citizens' money and general welfare all over Europe.'