Werkgelegenheid en mensenrechten centraal tijdens Europees Jaar van de bestrijding van armoede en sociale uitsluiting (en)

At the launch of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in Madrid, the Prime Minister of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero i, and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barroso i, both highlighted the right to a dignified life as one of the fundamental values of the European project, as well as the creation of employment, as the cornerstones for combating poverty.

Awareness, commitment and action are the objectives of this campaign, which aims to reduce the number of people living in poverty in the EU, currently estimated at 80 million, a figure that Durao Barroso called “unacceptable”.

Rodríguez Zapatero said, “Above all, Europe is a project of coexistence and solidarity between generations, regions, countries and people that have varying degrees of vulnerability. This is the strength and the raison d'etre of Europe and that is how it will continue to be in good times and bad”.

The Spanish Presidency of the EU, he said, will give its full backing to the Commission to develop Europe's social agenda, to improve active policies for creating employment and for promoting social inclusion programs at the heart of the EU, primarily aimed at the young, the elderly and ethnic minorities.

Zapatero pointed out that by 2025 a total of 30% of Europeans will be over 65 years of age, which will create "growing pressure on our social protection systems” and will lead to “a decisive balance in the relationship between the economic model and the social model”, since “those of us working cannot be fewer”.

Barroso highlighted the “solid legislative foundations” that support the Treaty of Lisbon and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, with special emphasis on the “horizontal social clause” - Article 9 of the Treaty - which will require the social impact of all the policies that the EU approves to be taken into account.

Both men stressed the importance of the new 2020 Strategy for creating a competitive growth model based on a green and socially sustainable economy. “Europe can only grow from social cohesion and for social cohesion”, declared Zapatero.

For Barroso, the 2020 Strategy will have “a wide-ranging scope” which will include specific initiatives to stop unemployment becoming structural. These will include combining short term employment with training policies and work qualifications, or supplementing the allocation of appropriate minimum incomes with better access to childcare and housing.

Another point where they agreed was the need for unity of all social agents. Zapatero reiterated his proposal for a far-reaching social pact between European institutions, business organisations and unions. Durao Barroso concluded by saying that "we will only win this battle if the whole of society, including public authorities, associations, companies, social partners and civil society, all make their contribution".

One of the most awaited speeches was by the former Spanish Prime Minister, Felipe González, who currently chairs the Spanish think tank on the future of the EU, but who said that he would be expressing his own personal views in order not to compromise the group, whose conclusions have still not been published.

After emphasising the “virtuous circle” of the EU in the 1950s and 60s, when economic and employment growth allowed social cohesion to improve, González warned that Europe is going to need a working population and that immigration “is a medium and long term necessity, but which generates negative emotions in the short term”.

He explained that within 20 years, “there will be a shortage of 30 million active (workers), and within 50 years this will rise to 70 million”. But the solution not only lies in immigration, but in adopting “mixed, demographic and growth policies”.

According to González, productivity in Europe is stagnating and has lost competitiveness compared to the USA and the emerging economies. However, he said, it continues to be extraordinarily attractive to the rest of the world. The paradox is that the heads of state of other countries, such as the USA or Brazil, “continue to look to the European model, even when that model is in crisis”, he added.

The challenge facing the EU is “how to ensure, with the existing population, that the economy grows, employment is created, the environment is respected and social cohesion is allowed to improve”, he said. The solution, in his opinion, lies in a model that “generate employment, increases productivity in order to raise social expenditure and to combat any structural failings”.