88,^ COfficialjournal of the European Communities ^oC^8A^9 
Opinion on social developments in the Community in 198^ 
^C^^l^ 
The Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 198 
of thelreatyestabhshing the European Economic Commumty,on social developments in 
the Community in 19855 
In anticipation of the referral, the Section for Social, Eamily, Educational and Cultural 
Affairs,which was responsible for preparing the Committee'swork on the subject, adopted 
its Opinion on 18 ^4ayl988^The rapporteur was ^irsRangon^^iachiavelln 
At its ^.eo^th plenary session^meetingof^]unel988^, the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion byamajonty in favour and two votes againsL 
foreword 
Although it devotes separate Opinions to the Com 
mumty'ssocial and economic situations, the Committee 
remains convinced that economic and social policies 
should complement each other. 
The comments and proposals set out below are founded 
on the firm premise that^given the necessary fle^i 
bihty,socialpohcycan support the economy, andd^ 
the economy can provideaguarantee of improved social 
conditions. 
1. Social statistics 
1.1. Inl98^the Community economy grew by nist 
over ^,eo^.Average inflation fell to just over^^o,while 
profits and productivity generally roseD Labour costs 
remained more or less stable, and investment rose. 
Eoespite this, employment did not increase significantly 
^0,8^ on average compared to!98^, although some 
member States recorded more substantial improved 
mentsin fact, there are quite considerable differences 
between the statistics given below for the Aiember 
States and for thedifferent regionsof themdividual 
countries. 
1B^. The continued failure to secure standardised 
comparable statistics in the Aiember States makes it 
impossible to giveadetailed picture of unemployment 
patterns. ldowever,the chronic nature of massunem^ 
ployment totalling overly million jobseekers is undis 
puted. Phis statistic is the main economic indicator of 
social margmah^ation. 1.^. In the Community as a whole, attempts to 
reduce unemployment and alleviate other social prob­
lems have so far had little success, although ^^o^ 
training and placement schemes have cut youth unemD 
ployment figures by^. 
At the same time,however,adult unemployment has 
risen by ^.Bo^ and over half of those registered as 
unemployed have been so for over twelve months. 
lm. The workforce, like overall employment and the 
number of women in paid employment, has risen in 
the Community in absolute terms, however, female 
unemployment too has risen by B^, partly because 
more women are now seeking regular jobs. 1^,1^ of 
the female labour force is looking for work, as against 
9,9^of the male labour force. Amongst young people, 
the figures are ^9,^ of young women and^^ of 
young men. 
l.eo. There has also beenamarked expansion in part 
time work, which was responsible for much of the 
overall increase in employment in 198^.PartDtime jobs 
now account for leo^ of total employment in the 
Commumty,although there are significant differences 
between the member States. 
Although some member States have found interesting 
contractual and^or statutory ways of providing 
adequate social cover,not all parttime workers benefit 
from this. 
l.D. This situation affects the increasing number of 
workers invanous types of temporaryand badly proD 
tected employment. 
It also applies to undeclared work, and the use of child 
labour. Apart from the adverse social aspects, this can 
also lead to unfair competition. 
No C 208/40 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 8. 88 
1.7. Such statistics as are available confirm that eth­
nic minorities in Member States are hit even harder by 
the difficult employment situation, and are frequently 
exploited. We should also stress the difficult living 
conditions of many immigrants from developing 
countries, who are very often obliged to accept unfair 
terms of employment. 
1.8. Geographical disparities in unemployment levels 
have also widened. Unemployment in the Community's 
25 least-advantaged regions now averages 25%, as 
against 6,6% in the most prosperous regions. The 
disparities are of course reflected in per capita gross 
domestic product (GDP), which is 45% below the 
Community average in Greece and Portugal, 35% 
below in Ireland, and 25 % below in Spain. 
1.9. There have been heavy job losses in virtually all 
traditional agricultural and industrial activities. The 
creation of new jobs in the service sector has not had 
any appreciable impact on overall unemployment or its 
make-up. 
1.10. The number of people without work, without 
income, and in some cases without even minimum 
social assistance, is thus increasing. Although more 
wealth is being produced, traditional forms of poverty 
are reappearing, flanked by growing inequalities in 
economic, civil, social and cultural conditions and 
opportunities. 
2. EEC social policy 
2.1. The main Community social policy initiatives 
in 1987 were enshrined in Council Decisions. These 
concerned: vocational training for young people, adults 
and women; the adaptability of the economy; the cam­
paign against long-term unemployment; promotion of 
local employment initiatives and small businesses; 
measures to help the disabled find jobs; promotion of 
teacher and student exchanges; and health and safety 
at the workplace. Most of these decisions are not bind­
ing on the Member States. A good many are purely 
informative (communications), while others such as 
ERASMUS have been hit by budget cuts. 
Action on the most urgent issue — the campaign against 
long-term unemployment — has largely taken the form 
of 'exchanges of experience', and the promotion of 
'demonstration projects'. However, measures on health and safety are an example 
of a concrete commitment on the part of the Com­
munity. 
2.2. A number of other draft directives (!) prepared 
by the Commission and backed by European Parliament 
and Committee Opinions, were still blocked at the 
Council in 1987. Once again this was the result of the 
Community's poor decision-making procedures, its lack 
of resources, and the inadequate resources of its struc­
tural funds. 
2.3. With its formal enshrinement in the Single Act, 
social dialogue has become a major Community policy 
instrument. Useful convergence has been achieved on 
macro-economic policy, new technologies and training, 
and motivation, information, and consultation. 
As part of the steps taken to underpin economic and 
social cohesion, social dialogue requires the support of 
the Community institutions in order to define minimum 
common rights which can pave the way for a gradual 
alignment of living and working conditions in the Com­
munity (preamble to the Treaty), and for the develop­
ment of consultation and negotiation machinery 
between the social partners at the various levels. 
This will also mean the establishment of legislative 
employment-protection measures (already in force in 
some Member States), including action to ensure the 
extension of collective or occupational bargaining rights 
to workers in non-traditional forms of employment 
such as part-time or temporary work, job-sharing or 
home working. 
2.4. The Committee reiterates its view that the com­
pletion of the internal market is a vital instrument 
both for progress towards European unity and for the 
Community's economic development. According to the 
forecasts contained in the Cecchini report on Europe 
1992 - The Overall Challenge, the single market has 
particular potential for reducing costs and prices, and 
for boosting the economy, innovation and job creation. 
However, the experts stress that these goals will only 
be feasible under certain conditions; at all events, econ­
omic measures must be backed by appropriate social 
and infrastructural measures to help iron out the diffi­
culties caused by unemployment and the inequalities 
(') For example, the draft Directives on: undeclared work (1978), 
worker information and consultation (1980), part-time work 
(1982), temporary work (1983), parental leave (1983), a num­
ber of directives on protection of workers at the workplace, 
and the draft recommendation on the reduction and reorgan­
ization of working time (1983). 
8. 8. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 208/41 
between the different regions of the Community and 
the different social and ethnic groups. 
2.5. The results of the Brussels summit of 11/12 
February 1988 help salvage the Community's credibility 
and open up new areas for Community policy initiat­
ives. The steady increase in the resources of the struc­
tural funds which will accrue from the decision to 
double these resources by 1993 can help to tighten up 
social policy. The Committee sees this not simply as a 
question of increasing financial support, but also of 
improving and fine-tuning assistance by reforming the 
funds along the lines sketched out by the Commission. 
2.6. The switch from support for individual projects 
to support for multi-annual integrated regional pro­
grammes has potential. Firstly, this provides a concrete 
and positive response to the five priorities listed in the 
Commission programme: structural backwardness, the 
decline of traditional sectors, agricultural restructuring, 
long-term unemployment, and vocational training for 
young people which takes account of labour-market 
trends and helps them find jobs. Secondly, it helps 
involve the public — through their representative 
organizations at the various levels — in the preparation 
and execution of the programmes, exerting the pressure 
needed to extract additional financial assistance from 
the national and regional administrations. 
This might also include measures to launch new econ­
omic activities aimed at meeting the growing demand 
for a better environment: protection of the natural 
heritage, refurbishment of inner cities, development of 
'clean' technologies in all production sectors, and safer 
agricultural and industrial products and services. 
In all this, particular attention must be paid to simpli­
fying and speeding up the approval and implementation 
procedures, in order to eliminate the difficulties encoun­
tered in the past. 
3. Towards a 'people's Europe': guidelines and pro­
posals 
3.1. Unemployment levels remain alarmingly high 
and are the main source of poverty, particularly the 
new forms of alienation whose human, social, edu­
cational and psychological effects are so acute. These 
in turn lead to unemployment, poverty and discrimi­
nation. 
All this, coupled with the rise in crime and drug abuse 
(which often entails the risk of Aids), calls for more effective action at all levels, encouraged by a Com­
munity policy capable of harnessing the full potential 
of real cohesion and closer, more dynamic cooperation. 
The Committee would here reiterate the need for Mem­
ber State governments to give the Community insti­
tutions the political clout and instruments to ensure 
that Community action can exert real influence on the 
changes taking place. 
3.2. The Committee considers that a start could be 
made at once on improving the quality of Community 
assistance. The measures outlined below, to be taken 
either by the Commission or by the Council in line with 
their respective responsibilities, are both feasible and 
necessary in the short term. 
3.2.1. Firstly, a more effective system must be devised 
for compiling social (and particularly, employment) 
statistics, in order to give a clear breakdown of the 
components. Technological and sociological change, 
the spread of new and ill-protected forms of work, and 
the growing use of casual and undeclared labour, have 
blurred the distinction between employed and unem­
ployed. A clearer picture is needed of a whole range of 
activities whose legality is sometimes questionable, in 
order to combat them or regulate them as apropriate. 
The different regional aspects of the various social 
parameters also need to be more clearly distinguished. 
The survey should also cover the living and working 
conditions of immigrant workers from third countries. 
3.2.2. This is important not just for assessing the 
labour market, but also for the internal compatibility 
of the social-security systems. It is no coincidence that 
many Member States are discussing ways of reforming 
these systems, which are stretched not only by the 
factors cited above but also by demographic trends, 
particularly the (albeit welcome) ageing of the popu­
lation. At such a time, special care is needed to preserve 
the social fabric of the Community by achieving the 
greatest possible convergence of the various social-
security systems. 
Greater solidarity must be fostered between generations 
and social groups if social-security systems are to fulfil 
No C 208/42 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 8. 88 
their dual role of protecting the citizen and supporting 
economic activity. 
3.2.3. The questions of how to maintain and extend 
an effective social 'safety net', and of how to structure 
and finance social security in general, require urgent 
and careful consideration. These problems constitute 
the key challenge facing the Member States and the 
Community as such, not least because of the need 
for them to be compatible with other economic-policy 
decisions. They must be tackled responsibly, bearing in 
mind that the founding principles of the EEC include a 
commitment to enhance the well-being of its citizens, 
and to improve social and economic cohesion. 
3.3. The building of a free and democratic Com­
munity rests on the priority principles of consensus and 
social justice. Mindful of this, the Committee calls for 
action in three main areas: 
3.3.1. Support should be given to the Social Council's 
(draft) statement of 26 May 1987, in which eleven 
Member States voiced their support for a set of 'funda­
mental social guarantees'^). The European Council 
should be directly involved in this issue, which will in 
any case be one of the main issues in the next European 
Parliament elections. 
3.3.2. More information should be targeted on the 
various groups who make up the general public, to 
involve them more closely in institutional decision­
making. 
(!) 6736/87 (Presse 85), op cit. The (draft) statement by the 
Council on the adaptability of the European economy also 
states that the fight against unemployment, and the challenge 
offered by the new technologies, require adjustments to be 
made to the organization of work. The Council reiterates its 
support for social dialogue, and calls for negotiations on 
flexibility between the social partners. Lastly, it refers to the 
fundamental rights of workers which cannot be called into 
question by pressures of competition and the search for 
competitiveness. 
Done at Brussels, 2 June 1988. 3.3.3. Debate should be broadened to cover the sub­
jects involved in a 'people's Europe', with more forceful 
Community action to ensure the proper application and 
extension of Community citizens' rights. 
3.4. Forty years ago, the United Nations adopted 
the Universal Declaration of human rights. This was 
followed by the Council of Europe's Convention on 
human rights, and the 'Social Charter'. All these are 
founded on the defence of human dignity. 
Consequently, European citizens may not be subject to 
discrimination on grounds of sex, health, age, race, 
religion, political beliefs, social status, etc., either at 
national or Community level. The Committee calls on 
the Council to approve and implement the Com­
mission's draft Directives on the social policy goals and 
priorities which form an integral part of a people's 
Europe. 
Lastly, the Committee would point out that all Com­
munity citizens should be guaranteed rights in the fol­
lowing areas: 
— freedom to reside, work, form associations, conduct 
business and study in any EC Member State, 
— voting rights at their place of residence in European 
Parliament and local government elections, 
— fair access to justice, 
— safeguard of family values and rights (parents and 
children), 
— equal opportunities, and therefore equal rights, for 
men and women, 
— protection of different cultures and of the rights of 
all minority groups, including ethnic minorities, 
— assistance for citizens with incomes below the mini­
mum living wage and for the most vulnerable and 
disadvantaged groups (invalids, disabled, the eld­
erly, etc.), 
— health and environmental protection, 
— access to education and vocational training, 
— consumer information, education and protection, 
— protection of privacy and the integrity of the per­
sonal sphere, in particular in connection with the 
use of computerized systems and data banks. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT