Brussels, 11/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - Belgian trade unionist Olivier Derruine is to submit his draft opinion on the fourth report relating to economic and social cohesion to the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Thursday 13 December. The main messages of the report are to: - revalorise the role of social partners and other organisations that represent the civil society, link regional policy more to sustainable development strategy, focus more on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita during the next phase of Structural Fund allocation, and create a new Demographic Fund. Welcoming the fact that territorial cohesion is finally included in the Treaty, which means “we can now get down to action”, the rapporteur explains:
(1) The role of social partners and other organisations representing civil society has been ignored despite how important they are for good administration, the implementation of Structural Funds and the management of public money. As Olivier Derruine points out, regional policy thus remains the prerogative of administrative and political circles alone. He went on to confirm that the European Commission will present a Green Paper on territorial cohesion in September 2008. It being a matter of establishing a new kind of “multi-level governance” to facilitate participation by the parties concerned, this is therefore an occasion to revalorise the players, Mr Derruine states.
(2) Regional policy must take sustainable development strategy into account in a more balanced manner. It is a long term strategy that goes beyond the European framework thanks to its external dimension. Its priorities are, among other things, to respond to climate change, promote quality healthcare, fight against social exclusion and react to demographic changes, ensure better management of natural resources, and make transport more sustainable, etc. This strategy would allow wealth, jobs and activity to be shared out more evenly over the whole of the territory, fostering the emergence of decentralised poles of development (outside the London-Hamburg-Munich-Milan-Paris limitation), the rapporteur states.
(3) In addition to the GDP per capita indicator as a reference to asses the amount of Structural Funds to which each region is entitled, the following indicators also should be taken into account: - the percentage of employment, the percentage of unemployment, an indicator reflecting access to services of general interest and a last indicator showing the effectiveness of social protection.
(4) On the subject of the demographic challenge, which is of European scale, Olivier Derruine considers it interesting to reflect upon the creation of a Demographic Fund. The aim of the Fund would be to support national efforts to increase the birth rate and the participation of women on the labour market by allowing greater financing of European origin to enhance minding facilities for children and the elderly and old, as well as investment for renovation and modernisation of schools, especially in rural areas.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is meeting in plenary on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 December in Brussels. For the agenda, see http://www.eesc.europa.eu . (G.B.)