Europe 2020 Strategy
GMB and our European trade union colleagues are increasingly
worried that the European social model is under threat and the
European Union is moving further and further away from its
citizens. Most Europeans feel that the concept of social Europe has
been under attack as the EU pursues neo-liberal economic policies,
wrongly arguing that protection of workers' rights, regulatory
"burdens" on business, and spending on social protection and
welfare must be reduced if Europe is to compete in a globalised
economy. Recent decisions by the European Court of Justice
(Laval, Viking, Rüffert, Commission v
Luxembourg and Commission v Germany), which favour economic
freedoms over fundamental rights, have merely heightened these
concerns.
Together with our trade union colleagues, and supported by our
political allies, we have been demanding a change in EU policy
direction and a New Social
Deal in Europe, giving stronger emphasis to achieving social
and environmental development, as well as economic progress.
In November 2009 the European Commission opened a
public consultation on the future "EU 2020" strategy – the
successor to the
Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs (2000 – 2010). According to
the Commission, the EU 2020 Strategy "should enable the EU to make
a full recovery from the crisis, while speeding up the move towards
a smart and green economy."
Trade unions, social NGOs and progressive EU politicians were
very critical of the consultation document for its lack of vision
and its failure to raise many of the fundamental policy issues
required for a proper debate on the EU's future strategy. The GMB
response warned that a change of direction was imperative if the EU
is to regain the trust of its citizens – "we need a Europe that
puts people and the planet, not business and the internal market,
first".
The European Commission published concrete proposals for the
EU's future jobs and growth strategy in March 2010 in its
Communication
Europe 2020 – A European strategy for smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth. The main advance on the earlier
consultation was that the Commission outlined five "headline
EU-level targets" on employment, research and development, climate
change and energy, education and poverty reduction, as well as
seven "flagship initiatives" the implementation of which will be
the shared responsibility of the Member States, and regional and
local authorities. The proposed education and poverty targets
caused widespread disagreement among some of the Member State
Governments during their discussions on the new Strategy.
On 4 June 2010 the European social partners adopted a joint
statement on the Europe 2020 outlining their policy priorities
regarding combining exit and entry strategies from the crisis,
promoting the knowledge triangle (education, research, innovation),
employment and social policies and a supportive public environment
and access to high-quality, affordable and effective public
services.
The European Parliament adopted a Joint Resolution on the Europe
2020 Strategy on 16 June 2010, calling for more concrete targets to
be inserted into the Strategy.
The
European Council formally adopted the Europe 2020 Strategy on
17 June2010.
For further information:
GMB response to European
Commission consultation on the Future "EU2020" Strategy
European Commission – Europe 2020
European social partners –
joint statement on the Europe 2020 Strategy June 2010
Civil society network calls for on EU leaders for
bold EU 2020 Strategy
Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament –
EU2020 Vision for Europe
European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) – What's wrong with
EU2020?