ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(75)647
Vol.1975/0241

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN -COMMUNITIES
COM(75)647final.
Brussels ,15December 1975
I
\
EUROPEANSOCIALBUDGET
(Communication fromtheCommissiontotheCouncil)
CCM(75)^47final.

COMMUNICATION TOTHECOUNCIL
ONTHE
EUROPEAN SOCIALBUDGET
FOLLOW-UPTOTHEFIRSTEUROPEANSOCIALBUDGET(1970-1975)
AsinstructedbytheCouncilatitsmeetingon
9November1972,theCommissionsubmittedthefirstEuropeanSocial
BudgettotheCouncilon4December1974•TheBudgetwasdrawnupin
collaboration withGovernmentexperts,coveredtheperiod1970-1975t
andconsistedo?aretrospective analysis(1970-1972)andaforecast
(1973-1975)*In"theapproachadoptedbytheCouncilinNovember1970
itwasdecidedthat"theEuropeanSocialBudgetisnotintendedtolay
downpoliticalobjectivestowhichMemberStateswouldbecommitted".
TheBudgetwastobeapurelyfactualdocumentcollatingcomparative
statisticsconcerningexpenditure onsocialsecurityand,moregenerally,
inallfieldsrelatingtosocialpolicy.Itwastoincludemedium-term
forecastsbasedonthelegislation governingthosevariousfieldswhen
theEuropeanSocialBudgetwasdrawnup.
Atmeetingsinthefirstquarterof1975»"theCouncil's
SocialQuestionsGroupreachedthefollowingconclusions :
-theCommissionwillundertakeanupdatingofthefigures
for1975,thisoperationbeingconsideredpartofthe
mandateforthefirststage,
-thedecisionastowhethertopublishtheupdateddocument
willbesuspended,takingintoaccountthereserves,
withoutprejudicetotheCommission'sfacilityof
establishing contactsonthi3subjectwiththedelegations
whichformulatedthereservesinordertoexamineappropriate
solutionstotherelevantproblems,
./

–asregardsfurtherstagesandwithoutprejudicetothe
mandatealreadygivenforexaminingtheextensionofthe
SocialBudgettothefieldofadultoccupationaltraining
andsocialhousing,alloptionsremainopenandtheCouncil
willpronouncelateronthebasisofpropositions ofthe
Commissiontakingintoaccountnotablytheworkprogramme
presentedbytheCommissioninSeptember1972
/doc.R/1900/72(SOC193)A
ThePresidentnotedthatalldelegations andthe
Commission'srepresentative couldagreeontheconclusions
setoutrnderthefirsttwosectionsabove.
Astotheconclusionsinthethirdsection,adelegation
1pointedoutthatthepresentmandaterelating'tothepossible
;extensionoftheBudgetwasnotadequateenoughforan
appreciation oftheobjectiveswhichtheSocialBudgetis
-intendedtofulfil. ~
WhilethedecisiononrevisingthefirstEuropeanSocial
Budgetwagbeingimplemented (therevisedtext,shouldbeavailablein
thefirstquarterof1976)»theCommission'sservicesmetthe
Governmentexpertsonseveraloccasions(inFebruary,Apriland
June1975)inordertodefinetheobjectivesoftheEuropeanSocial
Budget(seeII)andtodraftguidelinesforasecondEuropeanSocial
Budget(seeIII).
OBJECTIVES OFTHEEUROPEANSOCIALBUDGET
AtthemeetingofGovernmentexpertsinJune1975»"the
Commission'sservicesmadecleartheirviewpointontheobjectives
whichtheEuropeanSocialBudget,shouldmeet,afterdueconsideration
ofthewrittenandspokenremarksmadebythevariousdelegations.

-τ
Theseobjectivescanonlybeachievedinstagesby
futureSocialBudgets.
i
a/ThefirstobjectiveoftheEuropeanSocialBudgetis
tobeaquantitative sourceofinformation onpastandfuturetrends–
inthemedium-term-inexpenditure onthevariousfieldsofsocial
policyandinthewaythisexpenditurehasbeenfinanced*
Theachievementofanobjectiveofthiskindisa
difficultandlong-termtask:
(i)-AtCommunitylevel,itinvolvescompiling
comparativedataonanumberofsocialfieldswherethishasnotyet
beendone:vocationaltraining,low-costhousing,taxadvantagesfor
socialreasons,formationofassetsbyworkers,education,etc;
(ii)-Italsoinvolvestheconsideration ofcapital
expenditure (investment)aswellasoperatingexpenses,,
ThefirstiSuropeanSocialBudget(1970-1975)
onlydealtwithcurrentexpenditure (anditsfinancing)inthe
followingsectors: '
-socialsecunty,
employers 1voluntarycontributions ,
-benefitsforvictimsofpolitical /
eventsandnaturaldisasters,
-socialassistance,
orinotherwords,purelywith"socialprotection".
Thesearetheonlyareasatpresentwhereithasbeenpossibleto
makeanyserious'comparisons ,aftertheworkdonebytheStatistical
Officeoveraperiodofalmosttenyearsintheframeworkofthe
"SocialAccounts";'
(iii)Italsoimpliesachievingmorecomparabilityinthe
nationalforecastsintheEuropeanSocialBudgetandtherefore
forecasting methodswhichshouldatleastbeapproximatedifnotcommon.
(Agroupofindependentexpertsisatpresentexaminingthispoint).

(iiii)EveniftheEuropeanSocial-Budgetinitspresent
statewereextendedandimprovedinthisway,itwouldstillonly
amounttoaquantitative sourceofinformationformeasuringtrends
insociallegislation,particularly inthefieldofsocialprotection ,
andespeciallythefinancialproblemstheypose,butnotforexplaining
thereasonsforthesetrends.
Ananalysisoftherelativeinfluenceofthevarious
factorswhichgovernexpenditure shouldthereforebeincludedsoasto
highlightthereasonsforconvergingordivergingtrends.
b/Itshouldbeevidentfroma/thattheSocialBudget
couldatacertainstageindevelopmentalreadyhavebecomeanaidto
decision-making .Furthermoreifitfitsinwiththeguidelines
explainedabove,itthenbecomesevenmoreeffectiveasanaidto
decision-making ,bothnationallyandatCommunitylevel.
InfacttheforecastscontainedintheBudget,whichare
reallytheessenceofit,highlighttheproblemsposedbythevarious
trendsinreceiptsandexpenditureinthesocialsphereiflegislation
remainsunchanged.
Theseproblems •shouldthenbeexaminedjointlyandeach
MemberStateshouldexplainwhatapproachithasalreadyfollowed
orintendstofollowtosolveitsownproblems.InthiswayeachMember
StateandtheCommissioncouldlearnfromthisexperienceandalso
assesstheconsequences for,ontheonehand,otherareasofsocial
policyand,ontheotherhand,forotherpoliciessuchaseconomic
andtaxationpolicy.
Ashasalreadybeenpointedout,thesemeasurescanonly
beimplementedgraduallyonthebasisoftheinformationthrownup
bytheforthcomingEuropeanSocialBudgetsaseachofthemisanalysed.
O •**

-5-
III.GUIDELINES FORTHESECOITDEUROPEANSOCIALBUDGET
AswasthecasewiththefirstEuropeanSocialBudget,
theforecastsforthesecondSocialBudgetwillhedrawnupinthe
lightofconstantlegislation andofanumberofeconomicand
demographic parameters.
(l)Likethefirst,thesecondEuropeanSocialBudgetwill
be.restrictedtotheactualcontentoftheSocialAccounts^which
correspondstothatofsocialprotection.
Justification
Howevergreatthedesiretoextendthescopeofthe
analysis,itisafactthatforthemomentonlythefieldofsocial
protectionisinapositiontofurnishsufficientlyreliable
comparativedataviatheSocialAccountsoftheStatisticalOffice
oftheEuropeanCommunities.
i••
(2)WhilethesecondSocialBudgetisbeingprepared,efforts
willbemadetotrytoextendtheapplicationofoomparablestatistical
methodstootherareasofsocialpolicy.Theareasofpriorityconcern
arevocationaltrainingforadultsandlow-costhousing,wherework
hasbeenunderwayatCommunitylevelforsomeyearsnow.
Itishopedthatthisworkwillbecompletedwithinthe
nexttwoyearssothatitcanbeincludedinafutureEuropeanSocial
Budget.
Justif1cation
BoththeCouncilmandateofNovember1972andtheCouncil
ResolutionofJanuary1974mentionedextendingtheEuropeanSocial
Budgettoothei*areasbesidessocialprotection,especiallyvocational
trainingforadultsandlow-costhousing.

(3;TheforecastsintheEuropeanSocialBudgetwillcover
theperiod1976-1980and,retrospectively ,theperiod1970-1975•
Thereferenceyearwill"be1975**
..Justification .v
Becauseofthetimeittakestocompileforecastsat
nationallevelandthentoutilisethematCommunitylevel,asthe
draftingofthefirstEuropeanSocialBudgetclearlyshowed,itseems
preferabletoextendthethree-yearly("short"medium-term)forecasts
tofiveyears.Thereshouldalsoheacertainamountofcoordination
betweenthemedium-term socialforecastsandthemedium-term economic
forecasts(fourthmedium-termeconomicprogramme)*
- Theyear1975waschosenasreferenceyearsinceworkon
thesecondEuropeanSooialBudgetwillnotreallygetunderway
beforetheendofthesecondhalfof1976,andbythenprovisional
generalinformationwillbeavailablefor1975*■.
(4).EuropeanSocialBudgetswillbedrawnupeverytwoyears,
startingwiththesecond,EuropeanSocialBudget#
Justification
TheworkloadinvolvedindraftingaSocialBudget,for
boththenationaldelegations andtheCommission,makesitunrealistic
tocontemplatebringingoutanannualEuropeanSooialBudgetinthe
foreseeablefutureasprovidedforinthemandateofNovember1970*