Brussels, 03/11/2008 (Agence Europe) -After the second forum on the social services of general interest (SSGI) in Europe, which was held in Paris on 28-29 October (EUROPE 9770) a roadmap on the priorities of the French Presidency of the EU for the sector of SSGI has been sent out to the member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament. With a view to continuing the debate on this highly important dossier, the French Presidency has proposed that this forum be made an institution and held every other year, which the European Commission has agreed to. These biennial forums would thus echo the report on the SSGI, which the Commission has also committed to producing with the same interval of time.
Opening the work of the forum, the high commissioner for active solidarity, Martin Hirsch, stressed that the SSGI play a vital role in the social cohesion of the European societies. On the basis of this observation, Mr Hirsch announced the three priorities of the French Presidency of the EU, which are:
(1) the SSGI dossier is the dossier of all Europeans. Whether they relate to childcare, assistance of the elderly, help on seeking employment, social housing or training for adults, these services provide activities which are of specific importance for maintaining social cohesion between European citizens. They are, therefore, Martin Hirsch continued, one of the very pillars of the European social model and their access and quality must be guaranteed for all. The high representative described it as a "strong signal" that all 27 member states of the EU were represented at the forum, as were the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, along with associations, the local authorities and representatives of civil society.
(2) the specific nature of SSGI at European level. It has now been achieved, Martin Hirsch commented, that: -the rules on the internal market, notably the principle of the freedom to provide services, do not apply to the SSGI; - the SSGI may enjoy public funding for the extent to which they compensate for charges resulting from the activities of general interest. Lastly, the high representative noted, the member states have agreed to add a protocol on services of general interest to the Lisbon Treaty, which stresses, amongst other things, the essential role and broad discretionary powers of the national, regional and local authorities.
(3) there is still more to be done if we hope to respond to the expectations of the European citizens. In the view of Martin Hirsch, we must "make further progress in clarifying the legal framework applicable to the SSGI and in setting in place a European framework for the quality of the SSGI".
What will the Commission do? One of its priorities will be to continue to ensure that the players on the ground, particularly the local authorities, "take on the European framework". Specific training work will be dedicated to this next year, announced Vladimir Spidla, European Commissioner for Social Affairs. He pointed out that the Commission was also taking a very active part in the follow-up work of the Spiegel group, an informal group set up by the Social Protection Committee. Last July, this group sent a questionnaire to the member states and stakeholders at European level, the objective being to gather their comments on the "questions & answers" documents, go into greater depth on certain subjects and to identify specific issues which may still be surrounded by some uncertainty. The answers to this questionnaire will feed into a report on the application of Community law to social services, to be presented to the Council by the Social Protection Committee in December. The Commission will examine this report, in line with the commitment taken in the 2007 communication to carry out regular re-examinations of the application of Community law to the services of general economic interest, in order to adapt it to the actual situation, if needs be. Lastly, Mr Spidla recalled the work started by the Commission on the subject of quality, which is of decisive importance for the social services to play their part towards greater cohesion. (G.B./trans.fl)