'Social Europe' still missing in EU 2020 draft, say activists

French MEP Pervenche Berès, head of the European Parliament's employment committee, told EurActiv that "the draft Commission communication on the EU 2020 strategy ignores the weak outcome of the Lisbon strategy and focuses on exit strategies in terms of fiscal consolidation instead of working towards a Europe of solidarity and sustainability after the crash".

She added that "the ill-named 'new jobs agenda' should focus on job creation, not on flexicurity and mobility. As regards the fight against poverty and social exclusion, the Commission is paying a minimum service tribute to the European Year 2010. Its approach to poverty reduction is closer to charity than to a real commitment to fighting social inequalities. This shows a complete lack of understanding for the causes that lead to the current crisis: i.e. social inequalities, growing divergences within the EU and global imbalances".

On a more positive note, Conny Reuter, president of the Social Platform of European NGOs, argued that "it's very encouraging that the Commission has agreed to propose a more social EU 2020 agenda and to make the fight against poverty one of the priorities of the strategy. But you can't score without knowing where the goalposts are – the strategy needs a poverty reduction target with the delivery mechanisms and financial resources to reach it".

He went on to note that "the EU 2020 agenda should also include what can be the only logical response to the social crisis people are currently living through: a strong anti-discrimination dimension and a commitment to reinforce universal protection systems and policies, to give all people in the EU quality jobs and a decent quality of life.

In a statement to EurActiv, the European Women's Lobby (EWL) said that "the 2020 strategy is designed as Europe's vision of where the EU wants to be - economically and socially - ten years from now, and frankly, we are alarmed by the vision, or lack of vision, the Commission has presented: the current draft overemphasises short-term economic recovery rather than long-term strategies for real socioeconomic growth and well-being".

"The Commission's 'crisis-approach' operates under the false assumption that the global financial meltdown was somehow an external, unforeseeable event. In contrast, we believe that unregulated financial markets, putting capital before people, growing inequalities and the absence of women in financial decision-making were not unrelated symptoms but root causes of the current recession," it said. 

The lobby went on to say "we are even more concerned that this vision does not sufficiently address equality between women and men, even as women have accounted for a quarter of economic growth every year since 1995. Despite this, women still face a persistent gender pay gap, glass ceilings in corporations, high levels of part-time work and insufficient care options for children and other dependants".

"EWL therefore calls for equality targets to be put at the heart of the 2020 strategy, for a firm commitment to close the gender pay gap by 2020, for the development of a care sector that offers its employees better working conditions and those employing them more options, and for real lessons to be drawn from the financial crisis," it said.

In a letter to the Commission and Council presidents, the European Disability Forum explained that "the disability movement is anxious to ensure that EU 2020 also delivers for some of the most excluded citizens, namely the 65 million Europeans with disabilities. We, therefore, strongly  urge you to support the proposal for a European Disability Pact as put forward by the European Disability Forum. The Pact needs to be included in EU 2020 to give direction for the next decade and have an impact".