Brussels, 18/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to the European Commission, the EU's growth and employment strategy is having a positive impact, but the EU has to do more to make use of its full potential and achieve greater social justice and economic cohesion. Against this backdrop, the EU unveiled a long-term 'active insertion' strategy on Wednesday 17 October for the most disadvantaged sections of the EU population. More specifically, Vladimír Spidla explained, this means helping member states to mobilise those who are able to work and provide suitable assistance to those who cannot. The EU social affairs commissioner said that social insertion went hand-in-hand with being present on the labour market, and the Commission's strategy combined three elements - appropriate income support, access to inclusive labour markets, and high quality social services.
Growth and employment are on the increase and unemployment is falling in the EU member states. Nevertheless, poverty still affects 16% of the EU population - one in every five Europeans lives in insalubrious accommodation, one in ten lives in a household where nobody has a job, and more than 15% of children in the EU regularly skip school.
The Commission argues that long-term integration of disadvantaged sections of the population into the labour market will require a structured methodology. Firstly, the people concerned have to have sufficient resources and access to social services and job seeking services adapted to their particular situation, which can help them find a role in society and increase their aptitude for work. Once they have found a job, the Commission believes it should be ensured that they keep it, noting in passing that the fact that somebody has found a job does not automatically equate with social re-insertion. The Commission also points out that work does not always ensure against poverty - within the EU, 8% of workers currently risk falling below the poverty line.
Successfully tackling poverty implies, the Commission believes, unreserved involvement by the public authorities at all levels, particularly the regional and local levels. It also believes that the social partners have an important role to play in improving the supply of jobs available to disadvantaged people by drawing up suitable recruitment procedures and taking action to ensure jobs are not lost.
Following on from a public consultation exercise in the spring of 2006, the Commission suggests extending cooperation on social policy at EU level through the adoption of a series of common principles governing the specific situation and needs of each member state. The principles will be set out in a recommendation, which will serve as the basis for a Council conclusions document and a European Parliament resolution. The Commission stresses that there are various EU funding instruments, including the European Social Fund (which invests over €10 billion a year for the benefit of citizens), which are there to back the active insertion strategy. The communication can be accessed at: http: //ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_inclusion/docs/2007/comm_620_en.pdf. (O.L.)