B4-0367/95

Resolution on the European Union's priorities for the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, March 1995)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the UN Charter,

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

- having regard to its resolution of 9 March 1994 on the Commission White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment ((OJ C 91, 28.3.1994, p. 124.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 27 October 1994 on a medium-term action programme to combat exclusion and promote solidarity: a new programme to support and stimulate innovation (1994-1999) ((OJ C 323, 21.11.1994, p. 188.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 19 January 1995 on the White Paper on European Social Policy - a way forward for the Union ((Minutes of that sitting, part II, item 2.)),

A. whereas social development aims to achieve the practical satisfaction of the spiritual, cultural and material, individual or collective needs of all human beings by encouraging their emancipation; whereas the specific combination of the three topics adopted for the conference - combating poverty, social integration and increasing the number of environmentally compatible and socially useful jobs - constitutes a concrete approach to the question of social development,

B. whereas, however, these three topics result from an approach to social development which is exclusively economically oriented, and whereas the social policy aspects of the question should not be neglected, and it should, in particular, be realized that measures to combat poverty and achieve social integration are primarily issues relating to respect for the dignity of the individual and human rights,

C. whereas respect for human rights and democracy, including dialogue between the two sides of industry, cannot be dissociated from social development and whereas social justice and social development are essential in the achievement and preservation of peace, whilst poverty and social exclusion are a source of tension which may destabilize peace and democracy,

D. whereas economic development should be at the service of social development; whereas economic phenomena such as the globalization of trade, the international division of labour and national budgetary policy should therefore be considered from the point of view of their social consequences,

E. whereas the possible introduction of a social clause in international trade agreements should not, under any circumstances, serve to increase protectionism towards developing countries; whereas, on the contrary, it will enable the objectives of social justice and fair competition to be achieved,

F. whereas the globalization of economies, as the work of the UN has shown, leads to accentuated differences between the poorest and the richest regions of the world, a hastening of the disintegration of traditional social structures, widespread poverty and uncontrolled urban development, but also may provide for increased human mobility, better communications and exchanges of values, increased trade, employment and capital flows as well as important technological developments,

G. whereas the globalization of economies is nevertheless increasing the complex of problems relating to poverty, exclusion and the lack of productive jobs, since the wealth of 'developed' societies does not of itself protect them from these problems,

H. whereas the European Union, which is not immune to difficulties of this nature, may nevertheless become the bearer of a message of hope, both as a rich region, because of its history and because it represents an ambitious tradition of social and cultural development,

I. whereas the European Union can only affirm its identity if it can prove both to the rest of the world, and to its own citizens, that it is not only an economic but also a social union,

J. whereas the Treaty on European Union has given both sides of industry new responsibilities, and they have a duty to play an active part in social development both within the Union and with our economic partners,

K. whereas over one billion people worldwide constantly live in abject poverty and, according to UN statistics, 18 million deaths annually are caused by factors directly related to poverty,

L. whereas one tenth of the world's population have no form of employment which could provide them with even basic nutrition,

1. Notes the increase in world summits and considers that if such summits, including the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development, are to be successful, a sustained effort must be made at the level of the United Nations with the full cooperation of the member states to ensure that the commitments entered into by national governments are speedily put into effect and regularly monitored;

2. Considers that the European Union, which has set itself as one of its prime objectives 'the promotion of economic and social progress which is balanced and sustainable¨ is in a unique position to contribute positively to the successful outcome of the Copenhagen Conference and, in this regard, highlights the agreement made by the Labour and Social Affairs Council in December to examine positively the commitments to be proposed to the Summit, including the commitment to increase significantly resources for social development and allocate them more efficiently, through national action and international cooperation;

3. Recognizes that the subjects considered are of crucial importance for the future of our troubled societies;

Measures to be taken at national level

4. Approves the declarations which the UN member states, according to the Draft Final Declaration and Action Programme, propose to take in the context of the Copenhagen Summit to create an economic, political and legal environment favourable to social development, to combat poverty and all forms of social exclusion, to increase the number of productive jobs, to promote social integration, to implement full equality between men and women, to ensure that structural adjustment programmes include social development objectives, to increase the resources allocated for social development, and to enhance international cooperation on social development;

5. Stresses in particular the individual importance of programmes in favour of women and measures to achieve social development, without which no lasting prosperity and no sustainable mutually supportive communities can be maintained; underlines the importance of measures for young people, the elderly and the disabled;

6. Calls for the ratification and implementation by the year 2000 of all the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Nairobi programme of action for women, the Geneva declaration concerning women in rural sectors and the programme of action adopted by the international conference on population and development in Cairo;

7. Recognizes that debt represents a huge obstacle to development, particularly as regards the poorest countries; and calls accordingly for the alleviation of debt to be tackled as a top priority; considers that the European Union should take debt reduction and rescheduling measures, in particular for the Lomé countries, for whom the European Union has a particular responsibility;

Measures to be taken with regard to international solidarity

8. Considers that the European Union, whose economy depends to a far greater extent on trade with the rest of the world than do those of the other great economic areas, consequently has a special responsibility in this field; considers it important for the European Union, as a regional cooperation organization, to give the right example and also make a clearly-defined contribution to the follow-up process of the summit conference by selecting a number of measures for the purposes of job creation, combating poverty and promoting social integration;

9. Stresses that a further contribution towards social development should come from the expansion of free and fair trade; in this regard, believes that access to the EU market should be improved for goods of countries that, with a view to combating the spread of ecological and social dumping, make concrete steps towards respecting the agreements of the International Labour Organization especially concerning:

(a) child labour

(b) forced labour

(c) freedom of association of workers and the right to organize and bargain collectively;

(d) elimination of discrimination;

(e) social minimum standards;

10. Calls for a reduction in the arms trade and in arms exports; expects developing countries to cut their military and arms expenditure and devote the funds to better medical care and education for their peoples;

11. Considers that the trend towards the globalization of economies and the emergence of a world market provides a positive environment for social development through trade and the free flow of financial resources but can only serve social development if sufficient financial resources are made available to developing countries and in this context:

- stresses that, to maximize the beneficial effects of this new environment, adequate funding should be directed towards productive investment of which 20% should be social-oriented; it should enhance the competitive advantage of developing countries and create the premises for sustainable development; such a development policy should promote the selection of projects that are labour-intensive and the evaluation of those projects to reduce environmental damage;

- supports a new multiannual development programme;

- calls on the industrialized nations to demonstrate their willingness to contribute through development aid to the alleviation of poverty and the elimination of its causes and to earmark at least 1% of their GNP for this purpose;

12. Calls on the Commission to examine ways in which the Union can take the initiative in introducing a levy of 0.05% on speculative currency movements with a view to generating new financial resources for an international social development fund;

13. Considers the existence of political stability within a democratic institutional framework an essential condition of sustainable economic and social development; acknowledges that the absence of a stable institutional environment based on the rule of law is a powerful deterrent against productive investment in developing countries and countries with economies in transition;

14. Considers that the governments and organizations represented at the Copenhagen Summit should adopt as a common goal the creation of secure, sustainable and properly-paid employment; to this end, account must be taken of the basic principles and fundamental rights embodied in the ILO conventions; priority must be given to prohibiting forced labour and child labour, the right of association and collective bargaining and the principle of non-discrimination;

15. Considers that the Union should call for resources for developing countries to be used to fund the creation of environmentally compatible and socially useful jobs in those countries, particularly those linked to environmental protection, rural and urban employment, SMEs and very small enterprises, education, training, lifelong learning, health and public works and to tackling the problems associated with social exclusion;

16. Requests a closer coordination of policies between the main bodies involved in development funding, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, with the other relevant bodies of the UN, as well as an improvement in their functioning, in order to have a better implementation of the goals and commitments agreed to by the Summit;

17. Urges the EU to set up an 'export guarantee scheme' providing sufficient insurance coverage against 'country-risk' in developing countries, as a concrete incentive for steering more financial resources to these countries; strongly suggests that such a scheme be funded by Member States according to the basis of their contributions to the EU budget; calls on the Member States of the EU to provide guarantees for productive investments in developing countries;

18. Welcomes the fact that the General Affairs Council of 19 December 1994 agreed to include the following additional provisions in the Union's new system of generalized tariff preferences for the period 1995-1998:

- the launching, as of 1 January 1998, of special incentive schemes in the form of an additional preferential margin for all countries respecting certain social provisions concerning the rights of association and collective bargaining (social incentive clause);

- the possibility of total or partial temporary withholding of benefits under the generalized system of preferences from countries engaging in any form of slavery or exporting products manufactured in prisons (social penalty clause);

19. Declares its willingness to support, within the framework of the WTO, an in- depth discussion between all contracting parties on the link between respect for fundamental social rights and international trade and, to this end, requests the Commission and Member States of the Union to take all necessary steps to launch a serious dialogue on this subject with the developing countries and, on the other hand, calls on the developing countries not to reject the idea of such a dialogue; calls also on the Secretary-General of the WTO to set up as soon as possible within the WTO a task-force on social development to be concerned with poverty and social exclusion;

20. Considers that further thought is necessary on the indicators of social development along the lines established by the OECD and the European Union;

21. Calls on the European Union, for the purposes of granting development aid programmes, firstly to bear in mind that developing countries, in particular the poorest among them, must be assisted - in addition to employer organizations and trade unions, the NGOs, agricultural organizations and cooperatives also have an important role to play - and secondly to establish specific social development objectives in accordance with a timetable based on the level of development, and objectives in respect of nutrition, primary education, housing, drinking water supplies, basic health infrastructures, education, sanitation, employment, fair access to the market and the means of production, progressively developing welfare arrangements, higher education and continuing training;

22. Recognises the important and additional contribution made by NGOs, especially voluntary organizations, in dealing with poverty, social exclusion and homelessness, and in helping to alleviate the economic, social and health problems related to famine and civil wars; believes that these groups should be supported in every possible way at national and European Union level to enable them to continue to carry out their invaluable humanitarian work;

23. Asks that special attention be paid to the needs of small island communities and land-locked developing countries in implementing the outcome of the Social Summit;

24. Welcomes the commitment in the draft Copenhagen Final Declaration and Action Programme to address the problems of crime, violence and illicit drugs as factors of social disintegration but regrets that it is limited to actions to be undertaken at national rather than international level;

25. Urges the United Nations and other countries involved to closely follow-up the implementation of the commitments and particularly the Action Programme adopted in Copenhagen and to strengthen the role of the Economic and Social Council in this context;

26. Supports Jacques Delors' proposal to create a security council for economic and social issues, by analogy with the UN Security Council;

27. Believes that, given their know-how and availability, it is essential for NGOs to be fully involved as equal partners in implementing the recommendations contained in the final declaration of the Copenhagen Summit;

28. Urges that the International Labour Organization play a central role in the follow-up to the summit conference in view of its impressive record of achievement, in terms of not only employment but also support for social progress;

29. Considers that the dialogue between the two sides of industry must be promoted at international level, a suitable instrument for this purpose being the tripartite consultation referred to in ILO Convention No 144 which should be adopted by all ILO member countries;

30. Instructs its delegates in Copenhagen to pass on the message of this resolution to the Conference, and instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, all official delegates to the Copenhagen Summit, and the United Nations.