Andor and CoR agree EMU must be reformed to halt rising poverty and job losses in Europe
The implementation of the EU's Youth Guarantee, the shortcomings of Europe's growth strategy, as well as reform of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) introducing new tools to absorb cyclical shocks were the hot topics of discussions between Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner, László Andor i, and local and regional leaders yesterday.
The Committee of the Regions only recently expressed deep concerns on growing disparities within Europe as well as on the implementation of the EU's growth strategy, Europe 2020, particularly when it comes to delivering jobs and reducing poverty. Those concerns were confirmed and shared by Commissioner Andor during the CoRs' April plenary session yesterday. He pointed out that the employment rate headline target (75% by 2020) will be "extremely difficult to achieve", since to do so the EU should see an extra 16 million people getting a job by the end of the decade. Concerning the fight against poverty, the ongoing assessment shows that the situation is even worse. Following the rise in the last four years, Europe must reduce the number of people at the risk of poverty and social exclusion by 26.6 million by 2020 to meet the target. The Commissioner reaffirmed that lack of progress on Europe 2020 targets should prompt EU leaders not to water down or abandon the Strategy, but to step up the policy response.
In this context, regional and local leaders shared with Commissioner Andor the need to speed up current EU employment initiatives but also to take stock on how the EU has managed the crisis in order to ensure that the management of "cyclical shocks" does not bring "extremely high social costs" that should "not be acceptable in the EU". This aspect was underlined by the CoRs' First Vice-President Mercedes Bresso i (IT/PES) who insisted on the need of ensuring an adequate follow-up to the precious work brought forward by Commissioner Andor on the introduction, at EU level, of an unemployment insurance scheme: "Vetoes and obstacles to the enforcement of the social dimension of the EMU, as well as to the introduction of the EU unemployment insurance scheme must be urgently overcome. We cannot leave citizens alone in dealing with the consequence of the crisis and of the ongoing reforms". According to Bresso: "If the EU won't be able to react to citizens' growing disappointment with ambitious measures, the eurosceptical propaganda will keep on gaining momentum and harming the European democracy".
With regards to ongoing measures, the Youth Guarantee - which looks to ensure that all young people under 25 get a concrete job offer within four months of them leaving formal education or becoming unemployed - emerged as one of the most challenging active labour policies put in place by the EU. "Some 22 member states already presented their national plans to implement the guarantee scheme", said Andor, adding that: "The mobilised investment is around 70 billion Euros, including EU and national funding. Regions and cities play a key role in targeting interventions in order to help young unemployed people entering local labour markets". A role that was underlined by. Constance Hanniffy (IE/EPP) who argued that: ""It is imperative that students acquire the skills that the market needs, the ones that employers are looking for. During the crisis policy makers at EU and national level have too often neglected to look at the local and regional level. Now the territorial dimension of the EU's growth strategy should be adequately introduced so that regions and cities can better contribute to the achievement of national targets". This change in growth policies should be ensured, according to Satu Tietari (FI/ALDE), by integrating new regional indicators within current monitoring mechanism, whilst decisions taken at all levels should be based on the evaluation of their impact on jobs creation according to Witold Krochmal (PL/EA). Adam Banaszak (PL/ECR) underlined the tough task ahead of generating growth and jobs given the aging population and shrinking workforce. He noted the solution was not in legislating or spending more but in doing more with less, starting with improving regions' and cities' capacity to absorb resources e.g. the European Social Fund. The ESF management was indeed a critical issue in the debate, especially with regards to the centralised approach adopted in several member states. In this perspective, the Commissioner highlighted the shift of France and Poland towards a stronger role of regions.
For more information:
Watch the video-interview with Commissioner Andor
The Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives
from all 28 Member States. Its mission is to involve regional and local authorities and the communities they represent in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are obliged to consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law infringes the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.
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