Brussels, 14/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - National action programmes for growth and employment aiming to implement the revised objectives of the Lisbon strategy were at the heart of the work carried out by the public hearing organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels on 8 and 9 November (see EUROPE 9056 and 9061). The socio-economic players were thus given an opportunity to bear witness to the situation in their country, and the majority of countries were able to submit their programme to the Commission (with the exception of Germany and Poland, due to elections in these countries) by the end of October.
The national action programmes, which have come into being since the launch of the Lisbon strategy in 2000, "adapt the European agenda to national competencies. This is a unique occasion to create a solid bridge between the debate at European level and at national level, if we hope to overcome current problems", said Professor Maria João Rodrigues, president of the group of advisers to the European Commission and one of the originators of the Lisbon strategy. "It is by building this bridge that we will manage to build Europe", she added. In the view of Ms Rodrigues, these programmes are "agendas for action, providing a platform which must be taken into account by the economic and social councils when they take position on subjects such as strategic orientations, funding methods and the involvement of civil society". If the Lisbon strategy is to succeed, the economic and social councils "must make their communication more efficient on the work they do (...). This means that we need more visibility and information (...). And it is the EESC which must serve as a bridge between the economic and social councils".
On the subject of the national programmes for growth and employment, Professor Rodrigues said that "internal coordination within governments in order to arrive at a concrete strategy is a bit too weak", which is why the EESC, the economic and social councils and civil society should also get involved. She went on to explain that the Committee must ask itself the following questions: are we making the right political choices?; - do these choices have effect on education, research and innovation?; - what is the role earmarked for civil society?; - what are the financial means at play? The Member States are also preparing their programmes for the structural funds, and "there should be more interplay between these two exercises", Professor Rodrigues observed, adding that there was a need for "tool boxes, for example for the group of innovators, businesses, universities, schools, young people, families, jobseekers, the local authorities, the social partners, etc, all of which groups are vital to implement the Lisbon strategy" (for more details on Ms Rodrigues's comments, see EUROPE 9061).
Answering questions from the floor, Professor Rodrigues noted that " the idea of combining competitiveness and social cohesion by investing in the knowledge-based economy" had kept its place in the renewed strategy, as had the balance between the pillars of the environment, social affairs, and the economy, but that there had been a new addition in the form of a clarification of priorities and the implementation of 24 guidelines. She also noted that "one of the major stakes of this new strategy is a change in the management culture at company level". As for the question of "who does what", Ms Rodrigues pointed out that the national reform programmes are the responsibility of the governments. "We must ensure greater consistency: we must not say one thing when we come to the Council of Ministers in Brussels and then forget it as soon as we go back to the capitals!", said Ms Rodrigues. She went on to stress the role played by "large companies, which are in the best position to spot opportunities and who have a key role to play (...) in the creation of new employment models".
The vice-president of the EESC, Roger Briesch, announced that the forthcoming Austrian Presidency of the EU had invited the Committee to draw up an exploratory opinion on the subject "towards the European knowledge-based society - the contribution of organised civil society to the Lisbon strategy" (which will be adopted by the December plenary). This exploratory opinion and the synthesis report drawn up jointly by the national economic and social councils, NGOs and civil society, will be discussed at the high-level conference on the Lisbon strategy, which will be held at the end of February/beginning of March 2006 in Budapest, just before the spring summit, confirmed Janos Toth , member of the EESC and Secretary General of the Hungarian economic and social Council.
During the debate, Tom Van der Wijst (Dutch economic and social Council) stressed the long tradition of consultation in the Netherlands. Will the Lisbon process lead to greater involvement and stronger commitment on the part of the social partners? He feels that the answer to this question is "no". Pauliina Haijanen, rapporteur for the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the integrated guidelines, stressed a few essential elements of good practice, including- the Member States should define clear objectives with the local and regional authorities, reinforce the capacity of companies, take account of municipal services and make them more competitive; -there should be reliable and efficient public services; the social players should become more involved in the Lisbon strategy. Anita Vium, rapporteur for the EESC on the opinion "Flexicurity: the Danish model", noted that this country, which "deems it realistic to offer an alternative to the European social model", is among the front-runners of Europe in terms of social cohesion. "Flexicurity involves both flexibility and the security of high levels of unemployment allowances", said Ms Vium, who went on to explain that in Denmark, allowances paid to jobseekers "go up to 90% of the most recent salary and that 70% is a flat rate". Zoe Tzotze-Lanara, of the Greek economic and social Council, explained that in her country, an ad hoc structure has been put into place, known as the Observatory of Social Partners, which works essentially on the impact of the quality of human resources.