A4-0122/94

Resolution on the White Paper on European Social Policy - A way forward for the Union

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission White Paper on European Social Policy - A way forward for the Union (COM(94)0333 - C4-0087/94),

- having regard to its resolutions of 10 March 1994 on the social policy implications of the EMU process ((OJ C 91, 28.3.1994, p. 230.)) and on employment in Europe ((OJ C 91, 28.3.1994, p. 224.)),

- having regard to the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers,

- having regard to the Green Paper on European Social Policy - options for the Union (COM(93)0551 - C3-0490/93),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Social Affairs and Employment and the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights (A4-0122/94),

A. whereas the dynamics of the internal market make it necessary for a genuine European social area to be established,

B. whereas this area must be based on the common values which constitute the 'European social model' and which must be preserved, in particular the fundamental right to social protection,

C. whereas unemployment poses a threat to economic and social cohesion, which is a fundamental goal of the European Union as laid down in Article 2 of the EC Treaty; whereas job creation must be the priority objective of the European Union,

D. whereas, given the diversity and complexity of national systems (social legislation and social protection), it is justifiable to take Community action, whose value derives precisely from the fact that it is a common endeavour, with a view to achieving a minimum standard of provision within the Union and coordination between the national systems,

E. whereas subsidiarity should permit the development of social policy,

F. whereas the process of establishing economic and monetary union must be accompanied and underpinned by a process of social convergence, aimed at improving social protection levels and preventing possible adverse social consequences,

G. whereas the groups most affected by poverty, unemployment and low pay are likely to consist mainly of women,

H. whereas tackling social exclusion and the marginalization of the most vulnerable social groups, including the homeless in both urban and rural areas, is a phenomenon affecting all economies in the European Union; whereas while primary responsibility rests with the national and local authorities, it is nevertheless essential that this major problem be fully addressed by all Union policies, particularly through the next programme to combat exclusion and promote solidarity,

Guiding principles of the Union's social policy

1. Believes that unemployment is the most critical problem facing the European Union, and supports the priority objectives of promoting employment and recognizing and upholding the Community-wide goal of providing a job for every European citizen who wishes to work, and hence the obligation of public authorities to create conditions capable of generating jobs, and recalls the need for greater flexibility in national and European social policies in order to respond more suitably to the new labour market challenges; warns, however, against covert attempts to dismantle the social model under the pretext of seeking to promote employment;

2. Considers it necessary to seek consensus at Union level on the concept of competitiveness and on minimum standards of social progress; points out that social progress, economic prosperity, competitiveness and increased productivity must not be seen as conflicting ideas; believes that the European Union must improve competitiveness while maintaining the welfare state;

3. Confirms its commitment to the European social model on the basis of the social market economy; takes the view, moreover, that standards must be established at European level in order to prevent unfair competition in the social field;

4. Considers that a basis of minimum legislative provisions in the social field, to be binding and to apply throughout the Union, constitutes a suitable instrument for the gradual achievement of a social union in parallel with EMU;

Instruments

5. Considers that, rather than allowing a certain trend towards deregulation, legislation must remain the essential instrument for enshrining social rights in law, although it may be appropriate to simplify and update certain provisions in cooperation with both sides of industry;

6. Supports the Commission's aim of using all the opportunities offered by the social policy agreement in order to promote the Union's social policy in cooperation with both sides of industry; any absence of agreement in the social dialogue should not be used to block advances by the legislative route;

7. Takes the view that the acquis communautaire in the social field should be accepted by all the Member States;

8. Calls on the Commission also to step up the monitoring of transposition and implementation of existing Community social legislation by means of:

- greater attention to citizens' complaints;

- prompter implementation of infringement proceedings;

- recourse to the procedure provided for by Article 171 of the EC Treaty;

- monitoring of transposition through the development of exchanges with national labour inspectorates and involving specialized bodies, such as the Bilbao Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the Dublin Foundation for Living and Working Conditions and CEDEFOP;

and considers that the Commission has enough staff to permit it to achieve these objectives;

9. Considers that the revision of the Treaty on European Union in 1996 and the likely consequences of monetary union at the end of this decade are a sufficient reason to give the Union a genuinely social dimension by including in the Treaty the fundamental social rights embodied in the 1989 Charter (especially the principle of non-discrimination), incorporating the social policy agreement in the Treaty, extending the powers of the Union as regards the use of qualified majority voting and the codecision procedure on social policy issues;

10. Welcomes in this regard the commitment made by the Commission to organize during 1995, in collaboration with the European Parliament, a joint hearing to assess the achievements, problems and perspectives following the adoption of the Social Charter;

11. Notes that the priorities set out in the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment (COM(93)0700 - C3-0509/93) - in particular those approved at the European Council in Brussels in December 1993 - continue to apply, and deplores the fact that sufficient budget appropriations have still not been earmarked to cover all projected investments, in particular, the Edinburgh and Essen Council decisions on the availability of resources, including a European Investment Fund, to finance the trans-European networks;

12. Calls on the Commission to give greater attention to the interrelationship between family policy and social insurance schemes and the problems related to the ageing of the population;

13. Reiterates its demand for social and environmental clauses to be included in international trade agreements and accordingly awaits specific proposals for the implementation of the guidelines adopted for the new ten-year international trade reference system;

Jobs

14. Reiterates the need for an efficient economy and society, sustainable economic growth taking account of ecological obligations and accompanied by financial operations reflecting the real economy, dynamic structural changes, flexible and improved labour market functioning, accompanied by measures to promote professional training and active and effective public employment services, taking care to ensure that social protection is not undermined by the introduction of the necessary flexibility;

15. Observes that, in order to combat long-term unemployment, comprehensive measures by manpower services organizations are necessary in respect of individual motivation, education, retraining, work experience and placement services; refers in this context to the Delors White Paper, which indicates that a budget increase from 0.17% of GNP to 0.5% of public employment services over a three-year period will result in a drop in unemployment of 100 000 the first year, 400 000 the second year and one million the third year; recalls that this budget increase should not lead to an overall increase in the national budgets; underlines the importance of intergovernmental cooperation in this field; calls on the Commission to have an ongoing dialogue with the Council on this subject;

16. Urges the Commission to pursue its efforts to:

- develop the Eures system, while stressing the irreplaceable role of both sides of industry and accordingly urging the Commission to step up cooperation with them, and also pointing out that border areas provide a testing ground;

- extend the system to the local labour markets, in close cooperation with those responsible for administering it;

- devise a programme of accompanying social measures (language instruction, installation aid, relocation allowances) for workers taking advantage of the right to freedom of movement;

17. Stresses the importance of:

- investing in clean technology;

- direct aid in the form of risk and start-up capital for ecological production and local initiatives forming part of the social economy;

- the need to support SMUs and small craft industries by means of tax concessions or other forms of financial or management assistance;

- supporting successful and innovative job-creation schemes and promoting entrepreneurial initiatives by young people and women (such as the NOW Programme);

- the need to support employment in the services sector, Community initiatives and local development programmes;

18. Requests the Commission to include in the future social action programme the operational proposals contained in Parliament's resolution of 8 July 1992 on the European labour market after 1992 ((OJ C 241, 21.9.1992, p. 51.)) and its aforementioned resolution of 10 March 1994 on employment in Europe;

19. Notes the importance of the self-employed sector in the EU; calls on the Commission and the Council to pay more attention to the fact that, in matters of fiscal and social security policy, this sector needs more support than it currently enjoys;

Vocational training

20. Considers education and continuing vocational training to be both a basic right of each individual and a positive response to unemployment, and therefore attaches great importance to financial measures at Community level specifically directed at education, training and further training; attaches great importance to the Commission proposal for a European collective agreement on continuing education, to be negotiated by both sides of industry, and considers that the latter should also be invited to negotiate at European level, at least in certain areas, conditions for the recognition of professional qualifications; and calls on the Commission to ensure the full implementation of current rules for the recognition of professional qualifications;

21. Supports the Commission's aim of promoting apprenticeship schemes as a gateway to employment; considers it essential to lay down progressive objectives up to the year 2000 to eliminate illiteracy and the lack of basic qualifications among school leavers; proposes that the Commission should draw up a cross-border programme to help SMUs;

Legislation

22. Considers that it is a matter of urgency to clear the bottleneck of legislative proposals which were still pending before the Council on 1 January 1995; those which cannot be adopted by the Fifteen must be adopted under Protocol No 14, which will not be possible for matters relating to fundamental rights;

23. Warns the Commission against the dangers of settling for a directive (adopted by fourteen Member States) on parental leave alone and urges it to persevere with its intention of proposing a framework directive covering all the problems of reconciling family life with professional life;

24. Urges the Commission to put forward proposals to safeguard people's equal employment opportunities, irrespective of their age, race, sex, disability or beliefs;

25. Considers that the Commission should study the possibility of proposing a framework directive on possible voluntary work-sharing arrangements, together with directives on individual dismissals, data protection for workers and the right to consultation and information in companies employing more than 50 workers; considers that the Commission should continue to develop policies relating to safety and health at work and aiming to minimize industrial hazards; calls on the Commission, accordingly, to submit a fourth action programme on safety and health at work;

26. Calls for the rapid introduction of a new regulation on cross-border workers, including, in particular, provisions concerning social insurance and taxation;

27. Insists that the new proposals for directives on the various forms of atypical work should include social protection and pay equivalent to that offered for other forms of work;

Equal opportunities between women and men

28. Calls on the Commission to ensure equal opportunities concerning access to all European Union training programmes and to devise measures to promote the acquisition of skills and refresher courses providing professional qualifications for women, particularly in non-traditional activities;

29. Notes that access to employment depends also on the existence and availability of appropriate provisions concerning facilities and services for the care of children and other dependants; calls on the Commission therefore to replace the 1992 recommendation with a more binding legal instrument with a wider scope and to draw up as soon as possible a report on the implementation of existing recommendations on the subject;

30. Stresses that the third programme of action should be the subject of a detailed assessment so as to improve the structure of the various measures and prepare the way for the fourth programme;

31. Rejects the Commission's plan to settle for a communication on the reversal of the burden of proof and reiterates its demand for a directive;

32. Reiterates its request to the Commission to submit as early as possible a proposal for a directive on equal treatment of men and women for the purposes of taxation;

33. Urges the Commission to introduce codes of conduct regarding equal pay for equivalent work, training and the elimination of 'vertical segregation';

34. Notes the Commission's intention to secure an amendment to the directive on the principle of equal treatment in respect of social security; calls on the Commission to take account of the considerable difference between men and women with regard to career patterns;

Trade-union freedom and the role of management and labour

35. Points to the decisive role which, given that they form an integral part of the European social model, will have to be played by the two sides of industry, collective regulation of work, and peaceful settlement of labour disputes with a view to upholding and furthering the interests of the parties concerned and promoting economic development and social progress; considers, therefore, that trade-union freedom and collective bargaining must be guaranteed at all levels and that the powers-that-be must refrain from resorting to repression;

Social policy and social protection - active participation in society for all

36. Calls for the concept of European citizenship to be defined more explicitly so as to ensure that the right of citizens to freedom of movement and the rights of abode and residence can be effectively exercised - in this connection, Community rules relating to all areas of social security should be updated;

37. Supports the Commission in its intention to support a plan of action to eliminate illiteracy and in its efforts to secure the adoption of a fourth programme to combat exclusion as part of an overall policy of combating poverty and safeguarding human rights, taking into account the particular situation of women; considers, nevertheless, that the Commission should go further in combating exclusion, particularly by tackling the problem of housing; insists on the need to facilitate the integration of disabled people and to take comprehensive measures to outlaw discrimination against such people, and stresses the need for solidarity between generations; and reiterates the substance of its resolution of 24 February 1994 on measures for the elderly ((OJ C 77, 14.3.1994, p. 24.)), while supporting endeavours to find ways of permitting full use of the contribution made by older people;

38. Reiterates its concerns about the continuing threat and consequences posed to society by the availability of drugs and the misuse of chemical substances or products including solvents and the resulting dependency problems, particularly among young people, all of which have links to the major social scourges such as exclusion, unemployment and crime in both urban and rural areas and calls for intensified Community actions, initiatives, and pilot projects covering not only prevention, information exchanges and cooperation among the Member States and NGOs but also training on a continuing basis for health professionals and teachers from primary level upwards;

39. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, further to the Commission communication of 23 February 1994 on immigration and asylum policies (COM(94)0023 - C3-0107/94), to draw up the specific proposals needed to guarantee that third country nationals are granted equal treatment with Community nationals;

40. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive containing measures to strengthen legal instruments applicable in the Member States concerning racism and xenophobia;

41. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the representatives of both sides of industry.