n°39
12/2014 ISSN 1682-7783
SOCIAL AGENDA
Marianne Thyssen Employment, social affairs, skills and labour mobility
focus on
The new
European Commission
6
12
Social investment
Employment
Cities leading the way
The integrated approach
Social Europe
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EDITORIAL
© European Union
Rebalancing economic policy, on one hand, and employment and social affairs, on the other: this is very much what the new European Commission 2014-2019 is all about. Especially the mandate of the new Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility: Marianne Thyssen. In fact, for at least ten years, the EU has been upholding a very integrated and comprehensive vision of economic and social development. Every European election, every new European Commission has given rise to a deepening of this vision. In a new endeavour to break policy silos and accelerate crisis recovery, the new Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, has structured the College of European Commissioners into cross-cutting project teams, headed by Vice-Presidents.
“Making the vision happen”
Marianne Thyssen is a member of the project teams dealing with jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, the Euro and social dialogue, the digital single market and the Energy Union, as well as the one on better regulation and inter-institutional relations: all Commission proposals will be evaluated in terms of their impact on job creation and social fairness, i.e. inclusive growth, before entering the EU decision-making process. On 26 and 28 November 2014, the European Commission put forward two major policy initiatives which spell out what the EU vision could mean in practice when it hits the ground: a European Investment Plan and a new Economic Governance Package. The Investment Plan will translate over the next three years into investing in people, up-grading jobs and getting the ball decidedly rolling for the kind of growth Europe needs to be associated with: a model where economic efficiency and social fairness feed each other in a virtuous job-creating circle. While the Economic package proposes for 2015 a strategic policy mix based on investment, structural reforms and fiscal responsibility. It calls for urgent action involving governments, parliaments and social partners at EU level and in each Member State. Presenting the Economic Package to the press, Marianne Thyssen connected the two initiatives when she explained that “job creation, social policies are at the heart of our agenda (…). We should all take ownership of this. Member States that courageously reformed their labour markets have proven that reforms really pay off. This should inspire other Member States to follow suit. The € 315 billion Investment Plan that the Commission presented can boost the results to even higher levels.”. Michel Servoz Director General of the European Commission’s Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion department
A magazine providing information on European employment and social policies, Social Agenda is published four times a year in English, French and German by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Editor in chief: Michel Servoz, Director-General, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – European Commission, B-1049 Brussels. Subscription is free on request – please fill in the registration form available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=740&langId=en Notice: Neither the European Commission, nor any person acting on its behalf, may be held responsible for the use to which information contained in this publication may be put, or for any errors which, despite careful preparation and checking, may appear. • © European Union, 2014 Non-commercial reproduction authorised, subject to acknowledgement of the source. For any use or reproduction of photos which are not under European Union copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder(s). © Belgaimage
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CONTENTS
SOCIAL INVESTMENT Cities leading the way 6
EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND Operational partners 8
Making it known when it works 10
EMPLOYMENT The integrated approach 12
SPECIAL FEATURE The European Commission 2014-2019 14 Jobs on top 15 Breaking the policy silos 17 Marianne Thyssen: job creation and a fairer society 19
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8
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EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
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INNOVATION
Jolanta – Nimble fingers 24
OTHER VOICES Thomas Händel, MEP 26
19 26
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Jiri Plecity – auditing performance 27
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INTERVIEW
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NEWS IN BRIEF
The European Commission presented the Autumn 2014 Economic Governance package kicking off the new European Semester for 2015. In the Annual Growth Survey, the Commission recommends pursuing an economic and social policy based on a boost to investment, a renewed commitment to structural reforms, and the pursuit of fiscal responsibility. The Alert Mechanism Report indicates which countries warrant an in-depth review of their economies. The Joint Employment Report serves as a basis for further analysis, surveillance, and coordination throughout the European Semester. A review of the “Six Pack” and the “Two Pack” packages of EU legislation on economic and fiscal coordination, reveals areas for further improvement on transparency and complexity of policy making, and their impact on growth, imbalances and convergence. Finally, the Commission publishes its opinions on euro area countries’ draft budgetary plans for 2015.
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28 November 2014: Kick-off
Valdis Dombrovskis: The European Commission Vice-President presented the new Economic Governance package.
26 November: Investment plan European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker presented his Investment Plan for Europe at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, announcing a € 315 billion Investment Plan to get Europe growing again and get more people back to work. President Juncker said: “This is an investment offensive that optimises our economic policy.
We are focusing on long-term, large-scale European investment to create jobs. We are also targeting SMEs – Europe’s job creators – to give a boost to the real economy. We are turning a corner, completing fiscal responsibility and structural reform with innovative investment plans and instruments”.
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21 November: Twice as much risk
Non-EU: 48.7 % of non-EU citizens were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2013.
In 2013, non-EU citizens were twice as likely to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion as nationals in 2013. Almost half (48.7 %) of non-EU citizens aged 18 and over were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, while the levels for citizens of the reporting country, referred to as “nationals”, and for citizens of another EU Member State were much lower (22.8 % and 28.1 % respectively). The pattern was very similar for the severe material deprivation rate, one of the three elements contributing to being at risk of poverty or social exclusion. 1 out of every 5 non-EU citizens aged 18 and over (20.7 %) was severely materially deprived, meaning that they had living conditions constrained by a lack of resources such as not being able to afford to pay their bills, keep their home adequately warm, or take a one week holiday away from home. The share was 8.9 % for nationals and even lower for citizens of another EU Member State (7.4 %).
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NEWS IN BRIEF
The 3rd edition of the Education and Training Monitor shows that the EU average rate of early leavers from education and training fell to 12 % in 2013 (down 0.7 percentage points from 2012), and the EU average rate of tertiary education completion climbed 1 percentage point to 36.9 %. The respective goals set out in the Europe 2020 growth strategy, adopted by the EU in 2010, of below 10 % for early leavers and 40 % of third level education are within reach – however, these averages mask stark discrepancies between and within Member States.
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13 November: 12 % of early leavers
Uneven progress: Stark discrepancies between and within EU countries.
1 November: A new Commission The Juncker Commission officially started its term of office on 1 November 2014. It will run until 31 October 2019. Marianne Thyssen is the new Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility. She is part of six project teams, in particular the one on
Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, managed by Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, and the one on the Euro and Social Dialogue, managed by Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis (see special feature on the new Commission page 14 onwards).
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20 October: Rana Plaza, a year after
Missing son: Some measures still need to be taken urgently in Bangladesh.
Since the tragic collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in 2013, the EU has been active to improve labour rights, working conditions and factory safety in the ready-made garment and knitwear industry in the country. In a stocktaking meeting organized in Brussels, it was found that labour law has been amended to strengthen freedom of association, collective bargaining and occupational health and safety; new trade unions have been created; more labour, fire and building safety inspections have been carried out. However, other measures need to be taken urgently, such as better guarantees for freedom of association, protection of workers and trade unions from intimidation or discrimination, and ensuring that all workers have the same rights, including those working in Export Processing Zones. 2015 will be the European Year of Development, more information: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sectors/ employment-social-inclusion-social-protection_en
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SOCIAL INVESTMENT
Cities leading the way
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Innovative practices are being collected at city-level by Eurocities
Smart investiment: Smarter public spending today (e.g. in early childcare) can prevent social problems and create saving in the future.
City authorities have an important role to play in delivering social investment, in line with the recommendations of the Social Investment Package (see box page 7) to make social policies more efficient and effective and to implement more active strategies for social and labour market inclusion.
Particularly helpful for cities is the concept of social expenditure as social investment, to support people as they deal with life changes and challenges. This is one of the core messages of the Social Investment Package. It is based on the principle that smarter public spending today can prevent social problems tomorrow and create savings in the future.
Typically the overall framework for employment and welfare policies is set at national level. But it is at local level that policies are implemented, becoming tangible and meaningful for people. Cities are the level of government closest to citizens. This advantage of proximity gives a better insight into the real issues that people are facing and into new emerging trends of poverty and social exclusion.
Success factors
Even in affluent cities, there are neighbourhoods with persistent social problems and high levels of inequalities that cannot be ignored by the local administration. This is why reshaping policy intervention, improving service delivery and investing in preventative measures are all issues that lie at the heart of cities’ concerns.
EUROCITIES - the political platform for major European cities towards the EU institutions, which networks the local governments of over 130 of Europe’s largest cities and 40 partner cities - has identified a number of successful approaches that are guiding the reshaping of social policy intervention in cities. It did so as part of a project funded by the European Commission programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI, see Social Agenda n°35). The first factor is flexibility in the delivery of services. Local administrations are moving away from the ‘one-size-fits all approach’ to better respond to the specific and often changing needs of individual people.
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Good practice: Le Relais Nord provides a single service point for childcare services in the Northern part of Nantes, France.
The second one is a stronger focus on preventative approaches than in the past. This means more investment in children and young people, and also to prevent people from ending up in dramatic situations such as becoming homeless.
responsive to people’s needs and challenges and that eventually lead to better outcomes.
More information: The third factor is improved coordination and integration of different policies and services, leading to ‘single access points’ or ‘one-stop-shops’ for multiple services, and combining access to social services with, for example, labour market activation measures.
Early childcare One example of good practice is the approach taken to social investment in early childcare services by the city of Nantes, France. There is a strong and positive correlation between attending early childcare and better social and cognitive skills in children, as well as between access to early childcare and female and single parent household employment rates. Nantes has set up a pilot project to improve early childcare in an area of the city with the highest level of unemployment and of single parents, mainly women on low income. The pilot project is based on the provision of early childcare in a highly flexible way. Childcare is available outside standard working hours on a short-term basis. Emergency childcare is also offered, and children can be enrolled in the facilities at any time during the year. To simplify the life of parents, a ‘single service point’ – le Relais Nord – has been set up to manage family requests and to identify solutions to fit individual family needs. The service also brings together several city departments and NGOs to improve coordination between the provision of early childcare, family allowances and measures to support employment. The pilot project has had positive results: service users have been able to return to employment, or enrol in training and education programmes. The plan is now to roll out the project throughout the city. This is one of the numerous examples of how cities can develop and test social interventions, which are more
Eurocities publication “Social Investment in cities: Developing coordinated and integrated services at local level”. European Commission website http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1044 Social investment in cities http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/publications/ Intergrating-services-at-local-level-WSPO-9REKN6 Nantes best practice http://bit.ly/1znglkj
A child’s rights approach Failure to invest in children’s up-bringing and education would make it very difficult for many to live up as adults to their full human, social and economic potential, and generate higher costs to the EU countries’ welfare states. As part of a package of social investment measures (see Social Agenda n°33), the European Commission put forward in February 2013 a Recommendation entitled “Investing in children – Breaking the cycle of disadvantage”. The Recommendation takes a child’s rights attitude and its implementation is being monitored through the European Semester, the EU’s economic governance coordination process. The Semester leads to annual Country Specific Recommendations which EU countries must take into account when drawing up their national budgets for the following year. In 2014, seven countries received EU recommendations calling explicitly for doing more to reduce child poverty. More countries received recommendations on inclusive education and increasing early childhood education and care service provision.
8 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 Second chance: France will receive €620 million of EU funding to counsel and train less skilled young people.
EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
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Operational partners
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One by one, EU countries agree with the European Commission on how to spend EU funding
Skills adaptation: The European Commission and Denmark agreed to strengthen labour supply by taking training initiatives.
For the first time, common rules have been set down for all the European Structural and Investments Funds: the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. This will ensure a more strategic and complementary use of the different funds. The new set of rules and legislation governing the 2014-2020 cycle of EU investments came into force on 22 December 2013. It requires a much stronger link to the European Semester process of EU economic governance and to the objectives of Europe 2020, the EU’s strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It must also focus on results and goals which can be measured and monitored throughout the period. A minimum share of 23.1 % is guaranteed for the ESF within the total of cohesion policy funding. Current programming documents show that Member States are even going beyond this share: € 12 billion are likely to be invested each year via the ESF. Moreover, at least 20 % of the ESF allocation to each country must go to social inclusion.
Partnership agreements Member States must draw up and implement strategic plans called Partnership Agreements – one per country, covering the five funds. In so doing, they consult regional and local authorities, interests groups and civil society. The partnership agreements build upon the position paper the Commission sent to each country in 2012, which set out how EU investments should support the Europe 2020 strategy. They are adopted by the European Commission (see Social Agenda n°37). The Member States had until the 22 April 2014 to submit their Partnership Agreements. The European Commission had three months to make observations and has four months to adopt the agreement if its observations have been adequately taken into account.
Denmark On 5 May 2014, the European Commission adopted the first partnership agreement, from Denmark. It outlines the country’s priorities and objectives to spend €400 million, of which
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over €200 (around 3 billion DKK) from the EU budget under the ‘Investment for growth and jobs’ objective. The adopted strategy will boost competitiveness and growth by promoting education and innovation. Investments will also promote entrepreneurship, fight against social exclusion and support an environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient economy. In particular, the European Commission and Denmark agreed to strengthen labour supply by taking initiatives in the fields of inclusion, adaptation of skills and training. They also agreed to boost national and regional competitiveness and job creation through investing in innovation and business development, promoting entrepreneurship and fostering the agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Operational programmes Each EU country also draws up Operational Programmes (OP) for each specific Fund or for several Funds combined. These programmes break down the objectives of the Partnership Agreements into investment priorities and concrete actions. For the ESF, 187 such programmes are currently being drawn up, addressing specific challenges in European countries or regions. Just like for the Partnership Agreements, the European Commission negotiates with Member States the OPs with the national and regional authorities. And social partners and civil society are involved in the programming and in the actual management of the Operational Programmes. The Operational Programmes should be submitted by Member States at the latest three months following the submission of the partnership agreement. The European Commission makes observations within three months and adopts the programmes no later than six months from the date of its submission, if the country concerned has adequately taken into account its observations. The managing authorities in each country and/or region then select, implement, monitor and evaluate each project, according
to the priorities and targets agreed with the European Commission for the programmes.
More information:
http://ec.europa.eu/esf/home.jsp
Youth-specific programmes EU countries may draw up Operational Programmes specifically geared to implementing the EU Youth Employment Initiative, which targets young people not in employment, education or training in regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25 %. The first such programme was adopted by the European Commission on 3 June 2014, for France where around 1 million young people are out of employment, education or training. France will receive €620 million from the Youth Employment initiative and the ESF to counsel and train the less skilled, as well as give a second chance to those who left school without any diploma or qualification, through work experience or traineeships. On 11 July, the Commission adopted another such programme, for Italy. The country will mobilise €1.5 billion from various sources, including €1.1 billion from the Youth Employment initiative and the ESF. This money will mainly serve to implement the Youth Guarantee: a scheme ensuring that everyone living in the EU under 25 (or up to 29, if a national government so decides) receives a good quality offer for a job, apprenticeship, traineeship or continued education within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed.
10 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 A gender perspective to ageing: PROGRESS funded a project called “policies and instruments for a healthy and dignified active ageing for elderly women”.
INNOVATION
Making it
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known when it works
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The results of the best projects funded by the European Commission will be better disseminated
The first ever: PROGRESS funded the first ever European Sectoral Skills Council, in the leather, textile and clothing industries sector.
A “simulated enterprise” to help young people in their transition from education to the labour market; a multi-service community centre for women over 70; European Sector Skills Councils to better anticipate the need for skills in specific sectors: These are the kind of projects which the European PROGRESS programme funded between 2007 and 2013.
programme which also funds the European Employment Services Network (EURES), the successor to the European PROGRESS Microfinance facility, as well as social entrepreneurship (see Social Agenda n°35).
PROGRESS also financed analytical, knowledge sharing and mutual learning activities supporting the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy, as well as EU wide campaigns such as Youth on the Move.
A final evaluation of PROGRESS was published in July 2014. It shows how this programme has contributed to improving the design and implementation of EU policies and laws. It has also provided support to various actors, including EU-level Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Managed directly by the European Commission, PROGRESS supported the development and coordination of EU policy in the areas of employment, social inclusion, social protection, working conditions, anti-discrimination and gender equality. It did so, not just in EU countries but also in candidate and potentially candidate countries, as well as in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. In 2014, PROGRESS was replaced by the programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI): an umbrella
Evaluation
The main weaknesses of PROGRESS relate to a bad translation of results into action and insufficient take-up of its results by other, bigger programmes such as the European Social Fund (ESF). EaSI will therefore boost the identification and dissemination of good practice projects, starting with those funded under PROGRESS in 2011-2012. This will help decision makers, socio-economic partners, NGOs, academia, the media and civil society at large benefit from good practice.
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Simulated enterprise For example, during those years, PROGRESS funded a project called “First Step to First Job – Innovative methods leading youth to a solid career”. It involved universities, research centres, consulting companies and ministries from Romania, Portugal, Austria, Italy and Spain. It was coordinated by a Romanian body: the National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection. The project generated a knowledge base on the impact of innovative measures, which helped to assess to what extent these measures were really making a difference on the European labour market. The most successful actions to overcome the crisis and youth unemployment in particular, seemed to be those taken by Austria. This country managed to secure a more balanced labour market with a young labour force. While Spain, Portugal and Italy, in spite of a multitude of measures specially tailored to young people, had very high rates of youth unemployment. The project found that one innovative measure in particular, the “Simulated Enterprise”, had great potential for transfer and replication in other EU countries. It is increasingly used by tertiary education institutions in Austria, Romania and Spain in particular. Students are highly motivated if they can use theoretical knowledge in “real” situations and translate the competences into practice. It is also highly important that young people benefit from personal support throughout their transition from school to the labour market.
Therefore, the role of elderly women - both as main providers and main users of care services - becomes a crucial gender issue and needs specific policy measures. PROGRESS funded a project called “Policies and instruments for a healthy and dignified active ageing for elderly women”. It developed a knowledge base on active ageing factors and policies, in a gender perspective. It collected policy and practice examples from Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands, with a more detailed comparison between Italy and Germany. Implemented by the Italian Department for Equal opportunities, the project designed innovative policies and interventions for elderly women, such as a community services centre for women. A feasibility study for creating such a centre was carried out and one of the Italian municipalities involved in the project has planned to create a pilot one.
Sectoral skills PROGRESS has also funded the creation of the first ever European Sectoral Skills Council, in the textile, clothing and leather industry sector. The project generated a knowledge base which provided the Council with information on the evolution of supply, employment and skills, including needs foresight and prospective analysis. Good practices for reducing the mismatch of competences were identified, as well as innovative tools, national and regional strategies, local initiatives and methods which could be used for peer learning. The experience gained through this project can be transferred to other sectors which, since then, have established similar councils.
Elderly women Inadequate or obsolete work skills are the main obstacles for elderly women to remain in or re-enter into the labour market, not to mention unpaid care workloads and responsibilities.
More information: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=327
12 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 Single brand: Austria has integrated all voluntary and supportive climate change mitigating measures under a single brand.
EMPLOYMENT
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The integrated approach
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Connecting employment, climate change and green growth
Circular economy: Repairing smartphones (here in Brive, France) is good for the environment, competitiveness and employment.
The stakes are high, both in terms of opportunities and challenges: The EU’s annual spending on foreign oil and natural gas reached €400 billion, or approximately 3.1 % of the EU Gross Domestic Product, in 2012; and its energy dependency is set to grow from the current rate of 54 % to that of 70 % in 2030, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) projections. A structural shift towards a resource and energy efficient circular economic model (where existing materials and products are reused, repaired, refurbished and recycled) would not only be environmentally sound: It would also provide an economic competitive advantage for the EU, with overall positive employment effects. This is why, in July 2014, the European Commission issued a Communication on “A Green Employment Initiative”. It sets out a single framework to tackle a whole range of issues: from fostering the development of appropriate skills and better forecasting skills needs; to shifting taxation from labour to pollution, improving the quality of data and strengthening international cooperation in this area.
It was part of a larger policy package, including a further Communication on the Circular Economy and a Green Action Plan for small and medium size enterprises.
Continuous up-skilling Whilst a number of jobs in the energy intensive sectors (e.g. chemicals, iron and steel) and in the high-emission ones (e.g. energy, transport, agriculture and building) would be shed, the bigger changes are expected to come as a result of skills being redefined upwards: This process is set to raise the skills levels of many workers across the economy. It will therefore have a positive impact on European productivity and company competitiveness. Indeed, the trend of continuous skills adaptation and upgrading is to become a feature of the EU countries’ economies, as they seek to make their workforces more flexible and resilient to structural and cyclical shifts. Most of these new emerging activities will be less likely to undergo delocalisation: they will be rooted in the local
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economy (e.g.in the areas of energy efficiency of buildings, pipe insulation, recycling and innovative renewable technologies). Developing the correct skills policies will require that the necessary information, data and analytical tools are put in place. Mobilising and bringing together the relevant labour market actors (trade unions, business organisations, public employment services, vocational training bodies, national education systems) will also be critical to anticipate change and service labour demand as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Klimaaktiv A few EU countries (Austria, Finland, France and the United Kingdom) have already started developing an integrated approach, linking up the governance of green growth and employment. Fourteen years ago, Austria integrated all voluntary and supportive climate change mitigating measures (training, consulting, quality management, networking and awareness campaigns) under a single brand: Klimaaktiv. Klimaaktiv brings together the construction, energy efficiency, transport and renewable energy areas in a “market transformation” approach: raising the share of energy efficient products and services in the Austrian economy. Its main activity is to provide education and training to professionals, develop standards, ensure quality, inform and inspire rethinking and bring together players from business and the public sector into a single climate protection network.
constructed between 1900 and 1980. In addition to energy efficiency, Klimaaktiv looks into the choice of location, ecological quality, comfort and the quality of the work carried out in buildings. Between 2008, when the financial and economic crisis broke out, and 2012, the turnover of Austria’s green sector increased from €31 billion to €35 billion -12 % of GDP!
More information: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-765_en.htm
Sustainable and quality jobs The Green Employment Initiative put forward by the European Commission in July 2014 presents the shift to a greener economy as a dual opportunity: to invest in more sustainable jobs; and to underline the importance of job quality as a source of productivity and competitiveness. But what is a quality job? In 2002, the EU agency for the improvement of living and working conditions, Eurofound, defined quality jobs as those which ensure career and employment security, maintain the health and well-being of workers, develop their skills and competencies and enable reconciliation of working and non-working life.
Buildings old and new
Moreover, Eurofound produces a “Trends in job quality in Europe” report which assesses job quality at the level of the job itself, independently of the personal circumstances of the worker holding it and of the wider labour market setting, with even more criteria. Results show that, at present, 20 % of jobs in Europe are lowquality jobs putting the health and well-being of jobholders at risk.
In Austria, around 40 000 new apartments are built every year and approximately 1.5 million buildings were
http://eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2012/ other/trends-in-job-quality-in-europe
As a result, 900 building specialists now actively exchange on an e-learning platform and 9 000 plumbers, master builders, fuel-save trainers and energy consultants have been trained. New trainings have been put in place in areas like e-biking, bicycle mechanic and bio heat plumbing.
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S PE CIAL F E AT U R E
The European Commission 2014-
2019
Structured to mainstream employment and social affairs “Investing in people – this is what the social market economy is about” said the new European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, when he presented an investment plan for Europe to the European Parliament on 26 November 2014. “In Europe, we spell ‘social’ with a capital ‘S’”.
In particular, she works hand in hand with two VicePresidents: Jyrki Katainen, in charge of Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, and Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue. From now on, all Commission proposals are scrutinised to ensure that they have a positive impact on job creation and social fairness. Not to mention the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, for the respect of which the First VicePresident of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, has a specific responsibility.
Skills and labour mobility
Other voices
The new College is structured in cross-cutting project teams, headed by Vice-Presidents. As she explains in an interview page 19, the new European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, belongs to six project teams.
On page 26, in the “Other Voices” section, the chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Thomas Händel, presents his own views and priorities in a policy area which is key for ensuring that economic recovery, when achieved, will last.
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On 1 November 2014, a new College of European Commissioners took office following the European elections of June 2014. This special feature explains how it perceives employment and social affairs and how it has organised itself to address these policy areas.
Social with a capital S: “Investing in people is what the social market economy is all about”, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said when presenting an EU investment plan.
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Accelerating: The new Commission wants to accelerate and progressively broaden the implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee scheme.
Jobs on top Job-creating growth is the number one priority of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Job creation, economic growth, social fairness and democratic change: this is how Jean-Claude Juncker, who took office as European Commission President on 1 November 2014, sums up his programme for the next five years. Addressing the newly-elected European Parliament in July 2014 to present his candidacy, he started by saying that: “More than 6 million people lost their job during the crisis. Youth unemployment has reached record highs (…) The measures taken during the crisis can be compared to repairing a burning plane whilst flying. They were successful overall. Yet mistakes were made. There was a lack of social fairness”.
On 26 November 2014, he presented an investment plan for Europe, built on three strands: the creation of a new European Fund for Strategic Investments, guaranteed with public money, to mobilise at least €315 billion of additional investment from 2015 to 2017; a project pipeline coupled with an assistance programme to channel investments where they are most needed; and a roadmap to make Europe more attractive for investment and remove regulatory bottlenecks. “If Europe invests more, it will be more prosperous and create more jobs”, he said on this occasion. “Now is the time to invest in our future, in key strategic areas such as energy, transport, broadband, education, research and innovation”.
Investment plan Job creation comes first whenever he enumerates his ten priority policy areas, starting with “A new boost for jobs, growth and investment”: “My first priority will be to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and to stimulate investment for the purpose of job creation”, he said.
The new President regularly points out that “85 % of new jobs are created by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)”. An important part of his programme will be to “free them from burdensome regulation” and “identify ‘red tape’ both at European and national level that could be swiftly removed”.
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SPECIAL FEATURE
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Free movement an opportunity
Keeping the pole position: Jean-Claude Juncker wants the EU to maintain its global leadership in strategic sectors such as chemicals.
The skills challenge The skills issue comes up in connection to several of JeanClaude Juncker’s priorities. First of all, in relation with creating a connected digital single market which could “generate up to € 250 billion of additional growth in Europe in the course of the mandate of the new Commission, thereby creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, notably for younger job-seekers, and a vibrant knowledge-based economy”. This will require boosting digital skills and learning, and facilitating the creation of innovative start-ups. His ambition is also that the EU become “the world number one in renewable energies” and to significantly enhance energy efficiency. It is also to bring industry’s share of the EU’s GDP back to 20 % by 2020, compared to less than 16 % today. He wants the EU to maintain its global leadership in strategic sectors with high-value jobs such as the automotive, aeronautics, engineering, space, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. For this to happen, it is crucial to ensure that “workers have the skills industry needs”. The skills issue also crops up under another of his priorities: a new European policy on legal migration, which would help “address shortages of specific skills and attract talent to better cope with the demographic challenges of the EU”. He wants Europe “to become at least as attractive as the favourite migration destinations such as Australia, Canada and the USA”. As a first step, he intends to review the Blue Card legislation and its unsatisfactory state of implementation.
Under a priority called “a deeper and fairer internal market”, Jean-Claude Juncker calls for a change of perception regarding the free movement of workers from one EU country to another: “We should see free movement as an economic opportunity, and not as a threat. We should therefore promote labour mobility, especially in the fields with persistent vacancies and skills mismatches”. He will ensure that the posting of workers directive (see Social Agenda n°30) is “strictly implemented”. He will also initiate a “targeted review” of this directive “to ensure that social dumpling has no place in the EU. In our Union, the same work at the same place should be remunerated in the same manner”. And under a priority called “a deeper and fairer economic and monetary union”, the new President calls for a “targeted fiscal capacity at Eurozone level” and for “re-balancing” the way in which the EU grants support to Eurozone countries: “We should be able to replace the ‘troika’ [the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund] with a more democratically legitimate and more accountable structure”. He proposes that “any support and reform programme goes not only through a fiscal sustainability assessment but through a social impact assessment as well. The social effects of structural reforms need to be discussed in public”.
The free trade altar Jean-Claude Juncker also calls for a “reasonable and balanced free trade agreement with the US”. However, he “will not sacrifice Europe’s safety, health, social and data protection standards or our cultural diversity on the altar of free trade”. Finally, he insists on the fact that the EU is a “Union of shared values” and he has entrusted his First Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, with a specific responsibility for the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Mr Timmermans is also in charge of better regulation, inter-institutional relations and the rule of law.
More information: http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 / 17
SPECIAL FEATURE Breaking the
policy silos
© Belgaimage
The commissioners work in teams managed by vice-presidents
Teamwork: Presenting the 2015 Economic Package to the press (from left to right, European Commission Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioners Thyssen and Moscovici).
One of the novelties of the new European Commission is that the commissioners now work in project teams managed by vice-presidents, most of who were prime ministers or Foreign Affairs ministers and are therefore used to coordinating policymaking on cross-cutting issues. The vice-presidents are in charge of a number of priority projects. They steer and coordinate the work of several commissioners. This ensures a dynamic interaction of all members of the college of commissioners, breaking down silos and moving away from static structures. In this new set up, vice-presidents and commissioners are mutually dependent on one another. A commissioner depends on the support of a vice-president to bring a new initiative into the Commission work programme or onto the college agenda. At the same time, a vice-president will depend on his/her project team commissioners’ contributions to successfully complete the project assigned to him/her.
Part of six teams For example, the new Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen is part of the project teams on Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, the Euro and Social Dialogue, the Digital Single Market, the Energy Union and Better Regulation and Inter-institutional Affairs, as well as the European Commission budget and human resources. Her mandate is in itself quite cross-cutting as it is very much about rebalancing the economic and social agenda: ensuring that employment and social affairs are at the heart of the EU economic governance process – the European Semester - by further involving the business organisations and trade unions in this process, and re-launching social dialogue in general; ensuring also that all Commission proposals and activities take their potential employment and social impact fully into account; and giving a social dimension to Economic and Monetary Union.
18 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014
SPECIAL FEATURE An emphasis will be placed on skills and youth employment. Marianne Thyssen will also step up the fight against inequality and poverty and ensure decent and safe working conditions and equal opportunities for all on the labour market. Another important part of her mandate is to promote free movement of workers throughout the EU so that people can take up vacant jobs in other EU countries and employers can adequately fill vacancies. She will also help national governments resolve possible abuses or fraudulent claims in relation to free movement (see the interview with Marianne Thyssen page 19).
was Vice-President responsible for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration and Health and Consumer Policy. The composition of the project teams may change according to the need and to possible new projects developing over time.
More information: http://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019_en
Showing the way The Vice-President in charge of the Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness team is Jyrki Katainen, former Prime Minister of Finland - the country which showed the way for the EU Youth Guarantee scheme.
The Digital Single Market team is managed by Vice-President Andrus Ansip, who was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 2005 to 2014, and the Energy Union one by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, from Slovakia, who in the previous Commission
© Belgaimage
The Euro and Social Dialogue team is led by Valdis Dombrovskis, who was Prime Minister of Latvia from March 2009 to January 2014. Latvia joined the euro area in 2014 and has become one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.
The Euro and Social Dialogue: The portfolio of Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis.
Right-hand man Breaking policy silos is one of the hallmarks of this new European Commission. A key person in this respect is First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who was the Netherlands’ Minister for European Affairs from 2007 to 2010 and Foreign Affairs Minister from 2012 to 2014. He is responsible for better regulation, interinstitutional relations, the rule of law and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Frans Timmermans is in charge of applying the principle of political discontinuity, a first for the European Commission. It entails discussing with the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers the list of legislative proposals pending from the previous Commission (including a few proposals relating to employment and social affairs) and determining whether to pursue them. He is also managing the process of checking the regulatory fitness and performance of EU laws presently in force - a process that was launched under the previous Commission, as far as 24 EU occupational health and safety laws are concerned (see Social Agenda n°38). It is also Frans Timmermans’ task to check any Commission proposal against the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: a charter which has a strong social component, as it brings together all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights people enjoy in the EU into a single binding instrument.
SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 / 19
SPECIAL FEATURE
Marianne Thyssen:
job creation and a fairer society
© Belgaimage
The new European Commissioner hopes that by 2019, people will perceive Europe as taking action to facilitate job creation and make social security systems sustainable
Marianne Thyssen: “Take any problem, it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs and social protection too”.
“Citizens is what Europe is all about”, you said to the European Parliament when you presented your candidacy to become a European Commissioner. In fact, one could say that citizens is what politics are about. We are here to look at what problems people have, suggest solutions and show results – especially right now, in Europe, after the crisis hit us so hard. This is the only way to keep people’s trust or regain it, as opinion polls and studies show that trust has gone, in political institutions in general as well as in the EU institutions. If we see what problems 1, 2 and 3 are… it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs – and social protection too. So we have to work very hard on that and show results. That’s why I am so happy with this portfolio because I think I am really
at the heart of the problems. But I cannot do this alone. The whole agenda of the Juncker Commission is focused on jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change. The entire European Commission agenda focuses on people’s problems.
Has trust been damaged by the measures taken in an emergency in the face of the crisis? People think that things are not fair, by a long way. Personally, I understand that feeling but I think that what we have done, all together – the European institutions and the EU countries – to survive in the middle of the storm and then the structural improvements and reorganisations, with the banking union and the budget union… All this was necessary. But now that,
20 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014
SPECIAL FEATURE hopefully, the crisis is behind us, what do we see? Growth is not coming spontaneously: we have to help it come about. There are many people without a job, young people especially, so we have to do something about that. We need to go further in terms of budgetary consolidation but we also have to look for growth and investment, with the aim of creating jobs and offering opportunities to people. In everything we do from now on, we have to look for the right balance between economic efficiency and social fairness. The two have to go together, otherwise whatever we do will not last.
You are a lawyer by training. Does that make you particularly sensitive to fundamental rights?
Gender is very important for me. After a spell working at university, I applied for a job in an organisation defending the interests of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs, see box) primarily because they were looking for someone to work on the status of female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs’ spouses: their legal, tax and social security situation. At that time, the law itself was discriminatory! So I was interested in giving them equal rights. We live in the 21st century! A lot has been done but we are not yet where we want to be. So those who fight for that can find in me an ally, and I will fight for it too!
A lot still remains to be done for SMEs too, like in the field of health and safety? In a small enterprise, the entrepreneur shares the same workplace and conditions as the people he hired! You cannot put all the entrepreneurs and all the enterprises on the same level and if you have to make a law, then make it in such a way that it’s useful for SMEs: then it will be useful for everybody else. “Think small first”! Also, if you want to fight in favour of the weakest in society, then you have to fight for the small enterprises. The big ones are important too of course, but in general, they have better means to defend their interests.
© European Union
If we look at the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, lawyers would say it is a kind of modern constitutional law. There are many social rights in it that you do not find in every Member State constitution. On the other hand, you cannot go to a court and say: “this right is in the Charter”. You cannot have an individual claim on the basis of the rights it contains, so we have to do politics to achieve what the Charter promises. That’s why we have a political agenda. Human rights are of course the basis of everything and the rights contained in the EU treaty – primary law – are fundamental for European citizens. It’s up to us to make good use of all these rights and use them as a hook for better policies and a better balance.
The right to gender equality, for example?
Taking over from László Andor: Skills and labour mobility have been added to the actual name of the new commissioner’s portfolio.
SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 / 21
© Belgaimage
SPECIAL FEATURE
Gender equality: “Those who fight for that can find in me an ally, and I will fight for it too!”.
Skills and mobility are two words which have been added to the name of your portfolio. We have a labour market that is not functioning excellently. One of the problems is that there are many unemployed people but also many unfilled vacancies. It’s not only a matter of having good public employment services. It’s also a matter of skills. Do people have the right ones? We know that we need more skills for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professions. If we look at the unemployment figures, we see that the worst situation is that of the lowest skilled. Vocational and other training is a very important tool for employment and social policy because if you can train people in an apprenticeship, in a traineeship, in vocational training when they are still young, they will have a lot more chance to succeed on the labour market.
Intra-EU mobility has become rather controversial lately… It’s on our agenda. First, we must defend mobility and the free circulation of people as a fundamental right and one of the corner stones of the internal market. You cannot say we have an internal market but only for goods and capital, and that people may not move! You cannot have free establishment if you cannot move. You cannot have freedom even of services if you can’t bring people with you to work in another EU country for a certain period. But of course we must not turn a blind eye to problems that may exist. That is why we must look at the legislation we presently have. I am happy that we have already adopted an enforcement directive for
the posting of workers. Lets’ hope this really helps but we also need to look into the posting of workers directive itself, hopefully in 2015. We also need to look into the EU regulation on the coordination of the social security systems. If somebody moves to another EU country or is in a cross-border situation, to which social security provisions is he/she entitled and when? How are they calculated, on what basis and who pays? Social tourism has never been the objective of free movement, so this is something we have to avoid. We need to check and see whether there are problems. If there are a lot of them, then there might be something wrong with the legislation and we might have to open the box of Pandora…
You said “the word social is to regain its full meaning”. What I associate with the word “social” is a society in balance. One that encourages people who have a lot of talents to use them, take responsibility and go ahead, innovate, invest… but also a society which looks at other people who are at risk of getting left behind. We have to take them on board too, giving them the possibility to participate in the labour market. And if they can’t, we have to give them adequate social protection so that everybody can at least participate in society and have the chance to develop the talents they have. Balance also means considering that economic growth and social advancement are not contradictory. I am convinced that you need both! Growth and economic prosperity won’t last if people don’t benefit from it. It’s also about fairness, something difficult to define but everybody knows what it’s about!
22 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014
© Belgaimage
SPECIAL FEATURE
European social summit: “It would be great if we could be in the history books for having managed to give a fresh start to social dialogue after the crisis”.
How do you intend to boost the implementation of the EU youth guarantee? The money is available at this stage but is there enough administrative capacity in all the EU countries to absorb it and to do what was agreed? We are trying to help the Member States to use the funds in the best possible way. However, the best thing that can happen is that we have growth and that more jobs are created. People can enter into a transition to a job but there must indeed be a job at the other end of the tunnel!
You want to rebalance the economic and the social agenda. Are you confident that the European Semester of economic policy coordination can be rebalanced? This was the message of President Junker at the start of our mandate and if we look at the agenda on which we were all elected, and at that of my own portfolio, then I will surely have the support of the President and of the other commissioners. I am happy that under the previous Commission, auxiliary social indicators were introduced but now it is time to use them
in a better way, at the same level as other macroeconomic imbalances indicators. Indeed, when in some EU countries youth unemployment is above 50 %, you cannot deny that it constitutes a macroeconomic imbalance which spills over and has an impact on other EU countries.
As an MEP, you were used to connecting social and economic affairs. Yes, you have to connect them: it’s all about people. If you are busy tackling economic problems, you do so for the people, not just for the functioning of a system. In the European Parliament, I was rapporteur for the Common Corporate Consolidated Tax Basis (CCCTB) for enterprises operating in the EU. Fairness also applies to tax levels and I was very happy that we could find a good majority to strengthen some of the European Commission proposals. We could come to a system where enterprises that work cross-border and have activities in several EU countries only have to work with one tax administration, within one tax system where losses and gains are consolidated, with one tax base only. The benefits would be distributed among the different countries according to an apportionment formula that
SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 / 23
SPECIAL FEATURE avoids enterprising, tax planning etc… It’s much fairer. It might not be possible to harmonise the taxation systems but if only we could have the CCCTB, we would take a significant step forward.
How can the EU Economic and Monetary Union become more social? We should think in terms of minimum standards. For example, having a minimum income in every EU country, based on a reference budget. People are working on that right now. We definitely need a more social economic and monetary union. The social indicators I mentioned before can also play a key role in this process. And so can strengthening the social dialogue.
What would you like to have achieved by the end of your present mandate? Considering my portfolio, having less unemployment and less poverty would be a success, not just for me but for the whole team of commissioners. I don’t know whether we will be able to do that within five years. But I hope at least that people will have seen that we took action to bring about a fairer society and that Europe is protecting them. I hope they understand that we are inciting the Member States to undertake structural reforms, not to take away their rights but to have sustainable social security systems and ensure that the next generation of people will also enjoy those rights. If they perceive Europe this way again, then I will be happy.
Why do you want to re-launch the European social dialogue? Social partners are important stakeholders. I met them even before officially starting as a Commissioner. So did VicePresident Dombrovskis. And we met them again once in office, in November 2014. This gave them the opportunity to influence the EU Annual Growth Survey, the adoption of which, on 28 November 2014, launched the 2015 European Semester economic and social policy coordination process. We also agreed that in spring 2015, we will hold a high level summit with the EU-level cross-industry and sectoral social partners. We will also invite the national social partners, whom we want to involve more in the country-specific recommendations stemming from the European Semester so that they are better implemented. It would be great if, in ten years’ time, we could already be in the history books for having managed to give a fresh start to social dialogue after the crisis, just as the Val Duchesse process had re-launched social dialogue back in 1985!
You belong to six project teams chaired by different Commission Vice-Presidents: the ones on Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, the Euro and Social Dialogue, the Digital Single Market, the Energy Union, Better Regulation and Inter-institutional Affairs and the Budget and Human Resources. Will this kind of cross-sectoral team work help mainstream the employment and social dimension into all policy areas? That’s my objective. In most policy areas, it all comes down to job creation and fairness. We therefore need to check if all our proposals have the potential to achieve these two goals. We have a horizontal, across-the-board social clause in the treaty, so let’s use it!
More information: http://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/thyssen_en
From SMEs to Europe via Belgian politics A long standing Member of the European Parliament, from 1991 to 2014, Marianne Thyssen took part in key parliamentary committees. She ended up as Vice-Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee. She was also a member, at various stages, of the Internal Market, International Trade and Climate Change committees. At national level, the new European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility was also one of the leaders of the CD&V party of Flemish Christian-Democrats, of which she was President from 2008 to 2010 and VicePresident from 1996 to 2001. A lawyer by training, Marianne Thyssen was a legal adviser at Unizo, an organisation representing small and medium-size enterprises, from 1980 to 1988, before becoming Director of the Unizo research department. She became acting Secretary-General of this organisation in 1991, before moving on to European politics.
24 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014
EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
Jolanta – Nimble fingers
Šviesos raštas – © European Union
Deaf and mute, Jolanta is a seamstress for a famous designer in Vilnius, Lithuania
A passion for sewing and embroidery: Jolanta made it with European Social Fund support.
During her secondary schooling, Jolanta developed a passion for sewing and embroidery. Thanks to a training centre supported by the European Social Fund, she joined a school specialised in those crafts. There, a teacher suggested she do a traineeship with a famous designer, who has her own brand and whose first name is Daiva. At the end of her traineeship, her teacher persuaded Daiva to give Jolanta a trial job. Daiva liked the way Jolanta embroidered and the designs she made, so much so that she involved Jolanta in the launching of a new line of church garments and accessories.
tried to find something to blame for my disability. They said it was my mother’s fault. My mother took their absurd criticisms to heart. She didn’t know how to react. She cried a lot. Opinions have changed a bit. My mother is stronger now. She has moved on from the things the doctors said. She learnt the sign language to communicate with me.
Over to Jolanta:
We were not very hopeful that one day I would have a ‘normal’ job, a rewarding one that I really like. I’ve loved embroidery since secondary school. I used to take a lot of photos and tried to reproduce them through embroidery. I’m lucky to do what I love, something that, at the beginning, was a hobby for me. The training centre and the European Social Fund allowed me to get a job that I love.
“I was three years old when the doctors detected my disability. My mother told me that people, at the time, were very close-minded. They were afraid of deafness. The doctors
I’m the only deaf person in the workshop but my colleagues and I understand each other really well, in every sense of the term. It’s important for me to feel of use to society.
Šviesos raštas – © European Union
SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 / 25
Trust: Designer Daiva (right) involved Jolanta in launching a new line of church garments.
They respect my difference and my little flaws. That’s what matters, in my opinion. Being deaf is not always easy. People’s reactions can be a bit silly. Sometimes, when I am going to work, young people see me signing with another deaf person or even with my mother and they make fun of me. I just ignore them now. My disability obviously limits my interactions with others. But, in my work, I always find ways to communicate with my colleagues and to understand each other. I sometimes just use my phone to write phrases. I am very sociable. I have lots of deaf friends. Deaf people are a community. On the street, we ‘talk’ really quickly to one another. I also chat with my friends online. When we meet up in town, I take my dog. We love watching him play. We normally meet at the square in front of the cathedral. I always take lots of photos. When I travel, I do too. My mother encourages me to take advantage of opportunities I’m given. I’ve been on all the trips organised by school and have already been to Russia, Belarus and Poland. I get on well with my colleagues even if we are not particularly close. We work together so that creates a connection. They love bringing in photos of their children and talking about what they did at the weekend. I take photos of the embroidery I do at home and show them to Greta and my colleagues. We get together to have coffee and sometimes I bring chocolate. My mother often comes to see me and I show her my work. Daiva, the owner of the company, is always full of new ideas. She is very creative. And she seems to like the way I embroider and the designs I am capable of. She wants me to be involved in launching her new line of church garments and accessories. I am working very meticulously on this project, because I don’t want to let her down. I am very flattered by and proud of her trust in me.
I get on well with Greta, Daiva’s assistant. Greta is the one who tells me about my work for the day and organises my schedule. To communicate with her, I write. I can read on her lips. Greta always encourages me. I know that I am sometimes slower than the others but I am also very diligent in my work. And quality is very important to us. That’s what our clients expect. I am surrounded by family and I love my job. I wouldn’t change things for anything in the world”.
Taken from: “Seven lives – on the road to success with the European Social Fund”, ISBN 978-92-79-30126-1
Video: http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=564&langId=en&portr aitId=257
More information: http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=564&langId=en
Towards work Jolanta was helped by the “Towards Work” programme, run by the Lithuanian Deaf Community and supported by the European Social Fund. The aim of this programme is to develop mediation services which facilitate the recruitment of people with hearing disabilities.
26 / SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014
OTHER VOICES
We need a
Marshall Plan 2.0 having a job is not the only thing that matters: the conditions under which people are expected or able to do their work are important too. “Back to work – at any cost” is not the way forward for a social Europe. The European Union has a particular responsibility here. This comes explicitly within its powers.
© European Union
Strong labour laws
Thomas Händel: Back to work – at any cost- is not the way forward.
Unemployment, poverty, a fragmented labour market – we are facing historic challenges. Unemployment in Europe is at a record level, with almost a quarter of the people in Europe living in poverty or at risk of poverty. Fewer and fewer people in Europe have permanent jobs with wages above the poverty line. Precariousness is eating away at European societies like a cancer. This is unworthy of a modern society – let alone in the richest period in Europe’s history. We need to talk about a European minimum wage level. Our most pressing task right now, however, is fighting youth unemployment. In some Member States, 60 % of young people do not have a job or a decent income. An entire generation is being robbed of its future. This is a disaster for a social Europe. The EU has the obligation to keep its promises of prosperity and employment. Youth guarantees alone will not bring this about. A comprehensive investment programme for new jobs is needed. The re-industrialisation of Europe has a key role to play here. What Europe needs is a “Marshall Plan” 2.0. However, the citizens of the EU expect qualitative as well as quantitative improvements, such as improved rules for health and safety in the workplace or better cooperation between the Member States to tackle the situations of abuse, including undeclared work or the circumvention of laws designed to protect workers, for example when they are posted abroad. Simply
If we want a single European labour market in the future, we must also renew our commitment to common, strong labour laws. We still find employment categories subject to different European laws. This further exacerbates the segmentation of the labour market. We need to discuss how we can reduce exceptions to the laws and make it more difficult to circumvent them. We need to introduce effective measures to fight social decline and put into practice the principle of “equal pay and equal rights for the same work in the same place”. We need to discuss the issue of strengthening the European definition of an employee to prevent phenomena such as bogus self-employment, abusive practices in employment contracts and new forms of “day labour” including zero-hour contracts. A recast of the European Working Time Directive needs to reinforce the positive effects of the existing directive without sending flexibility skyrocketing. The debate on the creation of a new free trade agreement must be strictly based on the defence and reinforcement of our labour and social security standards. Labour and social security standards are not barriers to trade. I will direct my energies towards strengthening the social dimension of the EU as a whole. The crisis management policies pursued over the last few years have not solved the problems: on the contrary, they have made them even more pressing. Fairness and solidarity in a social Europe is only possible if we have good jobs, good pay, good pensions and social progress for everyone, protecting us against poverty and ensuring that we can live without fear. Enough new jobs – and an increase in the target employment figures – will only become realistic goals if there is massive investment linked to measurable employment targets. People should speak of the EU in the same breath as hope and good prospects in life, not associate it with fear and depression.
Thomas Händel MEP, Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament
SOCIAL AGENDA / DECEMBER 2014 / 27 Jiry Plecity: Audits look more and more at how programmes actually performed.
INTERVIEW
© European Union
Jiri Plecity is in charge of control, audit and legal procedures in the European Commission’s department for employment, social affairs and inclusion since 16 February 2014
You were 13 when the 1989 Velvet Revolution broke out in what was then Czechoslovakia. Two years later, you left for France to spend the last three years of your secondary schooling. Yes, in 1991, I was part of the second bulk of 10 young Czechs to benefit from a cooperation programme. Suddenly, the borders had opened up, there were many new opportunities. My intention to come to Brussels at some point was born from the very beginning of those three years.
You went back to France a few years later to study at the prestigious Ecole nationale d’Administration (ENA). After the lycée in France, I decide to go back to the Czech Republic so as not to lose touch with my country, which was undergoing fast and dramatic change. I studied economics and specialised in international relations and European integration. Then I did a competition to be part of ENA’s long international cycle. There, I learnt more about methodology than substance: how (French) public administration works in a wide array of areas ranging from economics to law.
You were involved in designing the EU’s successive growth strategies. What do you think of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, with its precise employment and social inclusion targets? Considering the complexity of the EU decision-making process, it is extremely useful to have policy targets towards which we all work together. Member States tend to be relatively short-term oriented, in line with the budgetary and political cycles, while the
Auditing
performance EU delivers a more long term perspective. Europe 2020 fulfils that role. Of course, there has been a mismatch between the long term ambitions of Europe 2020 and the short term challenges brought about by the financial and economic crisis. We had to adapt our instruments and policies but we should not drop the objectives of Europe 2020, which are still as relevant as ever.
You now work in the field of audit and control of EU programmes in the employment and social areas. This is crucial to ensure that tax payers’ money is spent according to the rules that have been specifically designed for this purpose. But what I find really interesting is the increasing importance of audits looking at the actual performance of programmes and policies.
How do you measure the performance of programmes supporting people? On a case by case basis. There are two aspects to the development of human capital. One aspect is to empower people, so that they are able to achieve their aspirations, e.g. have a decent, high quality job. The other aspect is the macro-economic dimension: investing in human capital is not only about helping people; it is also about promoting economic growth and productivity and this is much more difficult to measure. You can only see the effects of human capital investment in the long run and it’s not always easy to distinguish its impact on competitiveness from that of other factors. However, there are very robust studies which show that countries that have decided to prioritise investment in human capital, such as Finland in the EU or Singapore and South Korea in Asia, tend to be better off and more productive than others.
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EUEMP12A-1464-I01 - EGF Leaflet - Booklet A5 Accessibility V16.indd 1
05-09-14 15:19:54
Employment across Europe has suffered due to the impacts of globalisation and the worldwide financial and economic crisis. This leaflet focuses on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), which co-funds support to EU workers who find themselves unemployed after the closure of a large company, major dismissals or when production in a sector shifts outside the EU. Personalised assistance measures, channelled through regional or national authorities, aim to help those people who qualify for EGF support to find another job or set up their own business. This report is available in all EU languages. Catalogue No.: KE-04-14-739-EN-N
Adequate social protection for long-term care needs in an ageing society
Adequate social protection for long-term care needs in an ageing society Adequate social protection for long-term care needs in an ageing society Report jointly prepared by the Social Protection Committee and the European Commission
ption
23-10-14 14:52:43
KE-04-14-706-EN-C
te-General
an Commission’s free ial/e-newsletter
Catalogue No.: KE-02-14-709-EN-N Social Europe
Report jointly prepared by the Social Protection Committee and the European Commission
22-08-14 14:05:39
This report examines to what extent innovative approaches to social protection against the risk of long-term care dependency – such as prevention, rehabilitation and support for the independent living of frail older people – can help EU Member States ensure that adequate provisions for long-term care needs can be organised in a sustainable way even at the height of population ageing. It argues that national policy makers should move from the present primarily reactive to an increasingly proactive policy approach seeking both to prevent the loss of autonomy and thus reduce care demand, and to boost efficient, cost-effective care provision. Published by the Social Protection Committee (SPC), the report identifies promising innovative approaches around the EU and suggests how the Union can support the efforts of Member States by facilitating the exchange of best practices, by researching and testing new solutions and fostering technical and social innovation. Catalogue No.: KE-04-14-706-EN-C
Useful websites The website of Commissioner Thyssen: http://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/thyssen_en The home page of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion: http://ec.europa.eu/social/ The website of the European Social Fund: http://ec.europa.eu/esf To download or to order these publications, please go to http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en To subscribe to the ‘Social Agenda’ magazine or to other publications of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, please fill in the registration form available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=740&langId=en
