Brussels, 16/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held on 14-15 February under the chairmanship of Anne-Marie-Sigmund was marked by an extremely fruitful exchange of views with the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Joaquin Almunia, on issues that included the development of a civil society network for putting into practice the Lisbon strategy and economic governance. During the debate Mr Almunia spoke on the own initiatives of Susanna Florio (Italy, Workers Group) and Umberto Burani (Italy, Employers Group), “Strengthening Economic Governance - Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact” and presented the Commission's point of view on prospects for the European economy. Mr Almunia immediately highlighted the importance he has always given to the social dialogue and the need to look at the different point of view expressed by economic and social agents and civil society. The Commissioner indicated that he would fully utilise “the channels of the cooperation protocol” signed in 2005 by the Commission and the Committee (EUROPE 8 November 2005) in requesting the opinion of the EESC on the recommendations made by his services in 2006. In his presentation of the results of Tuesday's Eurogroup and Ecofin Council (EUROPE 9131), Almunia highlighted some of the challenges facing Europe: 1) low potential growth. According to the Commissioner, “the brakes are structural (productivity is weaker than that of Asian or US competitors, bad use of human resources and under-qualified workers”; 2) adaptation of the European social model to a new age pyramid; 3) the environment, ecology, energy prices.
In connection with the own initiative recommendations of Ms Florio and Mr Burani on reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, the Commissioner highlighted the renewed pact sought to place more emphasis on the finite nature of public finances. He disagreed with Ms Florio on the question of the Commission's role having been weakened in comparison to the Council's, following reform of the pact: “On the contrary, the Commission's role has become more complex” and added, “application of the Pact is being done harmoniously and peacefully and there is absolutely no conflict between the Commission and Council in this respect”. He also explained that Europe was certainly not paralysed but had problems linked to ratification of the Constitution and global conflicts but the EU was going forward by providing responses to these challenges. Mr Almunia stressed the importance of dialogue between social partners and the dialogue on macro-economic questions (to be held at a European level on 13 March). In reply to a number of questions, Mr Almunia highlighted the necessity of “protecting those who are vulnerable during the process of change and helping them to swiftly adapt”. The Commissioner concluded that they needed to face up to the challenge of the ageing population and look towards the North of the EU where they would be able to find their reference models and not over the Atlantic.