No C 225/44 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 9. 90 
protective equipment, education and vocational training), 
there have been serious delays in such areas as the extension 
of freedom of movement and the right of residence within 
the Community, the transfer of social welfare entitlements, 
mutual recognition of qualifications, and the Community 
framework for social integration of third-country mig­
rants, even if such integration could be a source of tension 
in the countries or regions where high unemployment is 
accompanied by a high incidence of immigration. 
3.2. Social Europe 
The Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights — 
which is to be accompanied by a Social Action Programme 
— has been approved by the Council in the form of a 
declaration. The ESC gave its position on the Charter at an 
early stage, calling for a broader approach embracing wider 
societal and environmental values and covering con-
sumer,self-employed, cooperative and non-profit groups. 
The misgivings expressed by the Committee at that time 
did not elicit the appropriate response from the relevant 
authorities, so these comments still hold true. However, 
without wanting to detract from the welcome efforts 
undertaken on the social front, the Committee stresses that 
action will be needed to halt a certain slackening off in this 
crucial area. Of the many points still pending, the Committee would 
single out the legal basis of the proposals contained in the 
Social Action Programme. 
4. A final comment 
At the end of this opinion, having run through the most 
pressing European and world economic issues, the 
Committee would like to conclude by expressing its hope 
that this historic period will be remembered not so much as 
a watershed, but rather as a period when national and 
Community authorities resisted the temptation to put the 
brakes on the project initially symbolized by 1992, gathered 
mometum towards economic and monetary union and thus 
towards an agreed form of democratic political integration, 
and paved the way for a stronger, more united presence on 
the world stage. 
Done at Brussels, 5 July 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
Opinion on social developments in the Community in 1989 
(90/C 225/16) 
On 5 July 1990 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the fourth paragraph of Article 
20 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion on social developments in the 
Community in 1989. 
The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 17 May 1990. The 
rapporteur was Mr Liverani. 
At its 278th plenary session (meeting of 5 July 1990), the Economic and Social Committee adopted 
the following opinion by a majority vote, with four abstentions. 
10. 9. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 225/45 
1. Social trends (*) 
In 1989 the Community economy registered growth (albeit 
not uniform) of around 3,5 %. This represents a slight drop 
compared with 1988. Inflation rose to an average of 5 % 
(also with wide differences between Member States). 
Productivity continued to rise by 2,1 %, triggering a 
corresponding increase in firms' operating margins. Wages 
on the whole remained relatively stable, and real unit 
labour costs fell around 0,7 %. 
Employment in the Community rose by 1,5 % compared to 
the 1988 figure. Although unemployment has fallen from 
10 % to 9 % and despite a fall in the number of young job-
seekers, the situation is still aggravated by long-term 
unemployment and precarious employment, and continues 
to pose a testing challenge to a 'social Europe'. The search 
for competitiveness by firms is increasingly leading to the 
use of'non-standard' contracts, fuelling a secondary labour 
market which is sometimes lacking in social cover and 
protection. 
The Community Labour Force Survey shows how, on 
average, 30 % of men and 10 % of women working part-
time do so involuntarily — because they could not find a 
full-time job. Likewise 70 % of men and 50 % of women in 
temporary jobs would prefer more lasting forms of 
employment. The scale and intensity of these employment 
situations varies considerably from State to State and from 
region to region. Labour market imbalances are increasing 
in countries and regions with high unemployment, and 
there is a growing threat of undeclared (or worse still, child) 
labour even in some of the most developed countries. 
Absolute priority should therefore be given to measures to 
secure the right both to initial and continuing training, and 
to the provision of social protection throughout working 
life. At the same time, continued emphasis should be given 
to schemes to help the unemployed return to work. 
2. Community social policy in 1989 
European Community social policy in 1989 was a blend of 
concrete progress in certain specific fields accompanied by 
a tendancy towards hyperbole as regards the 'social 
dimension' as a whole. 
(*) Source: EC Commission: Eurostat, 'Employment in Europe' 
[doc. COM(89) 399 final]; Economic Report [doc. COM(89) 
497 final]. 2.1. Concrete progress was achieved in the field of safety 
and health at the workplace, partly through the adoption of 
a new Framework Directive plus three specific Directives 
on minimum health and safety requirements for the 
workplace, on work equipment and on personal protective 
equipment. A Directive on carcinogens was also adopted. 
The adoption of the Eurotecnet, Lingua, Erasmus II and 
Comett II programmes, as well as the launching of the 
Force programme, reinforced the much-needed Com­
munity dimension in training and education. Likewise, the 
setting up of a European employment survey, and the 
initiative by the Commission to draw up an annual 
employment report, should help to provide a more 
coherent and consistent European-wide assessment of the 
trends and challenges in this vital Community policy 
sphere. The Commission's comparative study on rules 
governing working conditions in the Member States was 
also a welcome and necessary step (2). 
2.2. Despite the European Council's pronouncement at 
Madrid in favour of the free movement of persons as a 
'priority for 1992', the positive proposals by the Commis­
sion for updating and extending free movement and the 
right of residence (3) failed to be adopted by Council in 
1989. It must be regretted that swifter results were not 
forthcoming. In this same field, it is hoped that the 
complementary draft Directive on mutual recognition of 
education and training diplomas will be improved and 
speedily adopted (4). Likewise, appropriate action is 
needed to follow up the Commission Report on the social 
integraton of third-country migrants (5). The Community 
must also frame a systematic response to the problem of 
political refugees. 
2.3. 1989 was, of course the year of the Community 
Charter of Fundamental Social Rights (6). It should be 
noted once more that the Economic and Social Committee, 
when asked to give a preliminary opinion, rejected the 
concept of a Charter involving a mere formal declaration. 
In the Committee's view, 'the instruments and procedures 
specified in the Treaty are the ones to be deployed to (a) 
ensure that basic social rights are protected under the 
Member States' legal systems and (b) facilitate implemen­
tation of those social measures which are a sine qua non for 
the internal market to operate smoothly. Such action 
(2) See Social Council conclusions in documents 7189/89 (Presse 
109), 9517/89 (Presse 189) and 10309/89 (Presse 228), plus 
documents 10903/89 (Presse 249), COM(89) 399 final and 
COM(89) 360 final. 
(3) Doc. COM(88) 815 final — SYN 185, doc. COM(89) 275 final 
— SYN 200. 
(4) Doc. COM(89) 372 final — SYN 209 of 21 December 1989. 
(5) SEQ89) 924 final of 22 June 1989. 
(6) See Conclusions of the Labour and Social Affairs Council 
Meeting of 30 October 1989 [9517/89 (Presse 189), op. cit.]. 
No C 225/46 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 9. 90 
should be conducted in close liaison with the representat­
ives of the social partners' (1). Within this Community 
framework, the Committee consequently proposed a range 
of rights which went beyond a 'Workers' Charter', as such, 
embracing broader societal and environmental values as 
well as covering consumer, self-employed, cooperative and 
non-profit groups. Disappointment must therefore be 
expressed that the Commission and Council did not follow 
the method advocated, preferring a more 'solemn' and 
narrow approach, only partly salvaged by the accompany­
ing Social Action Programme (2). 
2.3.1. Given this limited context, the Social Action 
Programme for the implementation of the Charter must at 
least succeed in concrete form and be enlarged upon. 
— As regards implementation, the key question is whether, 
in the light of the Strasbourg Summit, there will be 
enough political will in Council to approve the 47 
proposals and actions foreseen when introduced in 
specific form. The legal basis for most of these 
proposals was not clarified in the Social Action 
Programme. Moreover, hitherto the Commission has 
not used Article 118a other than in the undisputed 
sphere of health and safety at work. This would lead 
some to doubt as to how one or a small minority of 
Member States will be dissuaded from again blocking 
such initiatives, thereby rendering much of the exercise 
meaningless and 'inoperationaP. 
— As regards enlarging the process, in parallel to the Social 
Action Programme, the Committee would urge the 
drawing up of a Community legal framework guarante­
eing basic rights in the consumer, cooperative, self-
employed and environmental fields. A European Statute 
for the liberal professions should also be envisaged, and 
for the cooperative and non-profit sector. 
— In addition, in order to make a success of the single 
market and 'ensure balanced progress in all the sectors 
concerned' (Article 8b of the Treaty), specific cross-
border labour market problems, which if left could 
result in unfair competition and market distortion, need 
to be tackled. This is why in order to avoid such 
distortions, the Committee has repeatedly stressed the 
urgent need to adopt Community instruments concern­
ing: 
(!) ESC Opinion on Basis Community Social Rights, 22 February 
1989, OJ No C 102, 24. 4. 1989. 
(2) Doc. COM(89) 568 final. '— dismissal of cross-frontier workers and unfair 
exploitation of their non-typical terms of employ­
ment, 
— the right to information and consultation in the 
event of the restructuring or merger of firms, 
— the application of existing social legislation and 
collective bargaining agreements when awarding 
public contracts'. (3) 
3. The Community social model and events in Eastern 
Europe 
3.1. The European Community has undoubtedly acted 
as a political magnet and a reference point for Eastern 
Europe in the recent and often dramatic social, civic and 
democratic events. With its long-established machinery for 
social dialogue, the hallmark of democratic systems, it has 
acted as a 'social market' model: 
— matching competitive economic performance and 
prosperity with the need for social consensus and 
economic and therefore social cohesion, 
— reconciling economic and commercial interests with 
fundamental social policy objectives and well-being, 
— recognizing that appropriate social policy intervention 
is as much a source of sustained economic growth as is 
the latter a source of ensured social standards, 
— attempting to blend market prospects with societal 
needs through a policy mix 'responsive to and 
integrated with, but not merely a variable of, fluctuating 
market demands' (4), 
— introducing procedures for social dialogue, designed to 
provide a reference framework for collective bargaining 
at all levels. 
In short, the European Community has played a key role as 
a unique transnational union of democracies 'in the pursuit 
of social justice, an area of liberty allowing for private 
initiative and the development of collective under­
takings' (5). It must continue in this role. 
(3) OJ No C 102, 24. 4. 1989. 
(4) ESC Opinion on Social Developments in the EC in 1988, CES 
753/89, 22 June 1989, point 3.1.4. 
(5) See ESC Resolution for an EC Action Programme 1989-1992, 
CES 1267/88 of 23 November 1988, point 1.3. 
10. 9. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 225/47 
3.2. In the same way, the Community has also acted as a 
magnet as a People's Europe, in which civic standards and 
democratic behaviour are guaranteed by the Rule of Law, 
by individual awareness and by social responsibilities. In an 
increasingly interdependent international setting, ac­
countable self-determination will require a supranational 
democratic legal framework, for which the People's Europe 
is an embryo in terms both of basic rights and free 
movement — two vital aspects of liberty hitherto lacking in 
Eastern Europe. The Community has a responsibility to 
uphold and extend these rights, on the basis of a common 
consensus to be secured by involving the population in 
decisions on the development of social structures and the 
siting of production facilities. 
4. The European Social Area — an integral part of the 
European Economic Space 
4.1. The EC-EFT A Ministerial Declaration of 19 
December 1989 on the creation of an 18-member European 
Economic Space (EES) pointed to the integral social policy 
challenges involved, including free movement, education, 
working conditions, social welfare, and economic and 
social disparities (*). In an important speech to the 
European Parliament on 17 January 1990, President Delors 
suggested that, short of full membership of the European 
Community, the EFTA nations should be assured a form of 
'osmosis' with the Community rather than any joint 
decision-taking as such (2). The Committee would suggest 
that, in order to help bridge the two processes, a range of 
possible forms of cooperation at EES level could be 
attempted regarding pertinent EC social policy projects and 
activities such as: the extension to EES level of measures to 
achieve regional economic and social cohesion; a phased 
extention of free movement of workers/citizens between 
EC and EFTA countries; EFTA participation in SEDOC, in 
the LEDA programme in the Elise network, in Cedefop and 
in the Dublin foundation as observers; in the EC 
employment survey, in Erasmus, Comett, Lingua, Petra, 
and Youth for Europe. The question of basic social rights 
must also be addressed jointly. 
(!) See Press Release 10949/89 — Presse 252, 19 December 1989, 
points 5-6. 
(2) Delors speech, page 13 (French version). 5. 1990 — 'Social Europe' at the decisive crossroads 
5.1. 1990 is clearly a key year as regards the deepening 
and widening processes of the European Community as a 
whole. It is vital that 'social Europe' does not miss this 
opportunity. 
5.2. The deepening and widening processes must be 
complementary, not conflictual. As argued earlier, the 
social market model and People's Europe ethic, which are 
central to the progress towards closer union, are also a 
prime source of the Community's attractiveness for the 
emerging democracies in Eastern Europe and a firm 
anchorage point for developing relations with the EFTA 
countries. Likewise, the embryonic cultural renaissance of 
Eastern Europe and its quest for protective democratic ties 
and renewed cultural and social links with Western Europe, 
especially the European Community, should be a source of 
enrichment and of motivation for the deepening process 
which the Community should develop in order to 
consolidate the social and democratic unity so necessary at 
this historic juncture. The Community's commitment to 
Eastern Europe must be stepped up in tandem with its 
commitment to strengthening North-South ties. 
5.3. Community social policy has a crucial role to play 
here. It must be allowed to do so on a firmer and clearer 
footing than hitherto. The inter-governmental conferences 
on the adaptation of the Treaties, scheduled to start under 
the Italian Presidency, must take this into account, 
especially in view of the unanimous policy approach 
established at the Madrid Summit that 'in the course of the 
construction of the single European market, social aspects 
should be given the same importance as the economic 
aspects and should accordingly be developed in a balanced 
fashion' (3). In this light, and in line with President Delors' 
subsequent declaration of the Commission's commitment 
'to exploit the potential of the Treaty, and Articles 100a 
and 118a in particular, to the full' (4), the Committee 
would again propose (5) that: 
— Article 100a could indeed be used to tackle the cross-
border labour market impediments to the proper 
functioning of the single market, indicated in point 
2.3.1, 
(3) Madrid Summit 'Conclusions', 26/27 June 1989, point 2. 
(4) Delors speech, op. cit. 
(5) See the statement by the rapporteur of the Sub-Committee on 
Basic Social Rights, ESC Plenary Session of 1 February 1990. 
No C 225/48 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 9. 90 
— the use of Article 118a be further clarified in line with 
the Madrid European Council conclusions, 
— an inter-governmental conference should tackle the 
revision of the Treaty and the need for balance and 
parity between the social aspects and the economic 
aspects. 
5.4. An authentic People's Europe, similarly, must be 
accorded more concrete form in parallel to the widening 
Community horizon taking shape. In view of the Com­
munity's vital role in this respect (point 3.2), and in 
addition to specific forms of cooperation outlined in point 
4.1, '1992' and the emerging 'Europe without frontiers' 
urgently require: 
— the early adoption of the draft Directive on local voting 
rights for Community nationals resident in another 
Member State (*), 
— a common legal framework agreed by the Member 
States as regards immigration and the free movement of 
third country residents throughout the Community, 
including itinerant peoples irrespective of their citizen­
ship, 
— a transnational display of the Community's firm 
attachment to basic civic and development rights, for 
(!) Doc. COM(88) 371 final, 25 January 1989. 
1. The Commission proposal 
1.1. In 1987 the Commission proposed single rates for 
the whole of the Community. 
To introduce an element of flexibility in the case of VAT, 
the Commission proposed that standard rates be allowed to example Community accession to the European Con­
vention for the Protection of Human Rights and 
Fundamental Freedoms — a fitting condition and 
protective rallying point for future membership, 
— the ratification by all Member States of the Conventions 
and the recommendations of the ILO. 
5.5. In all this, the role of the social partners, and of the 
multifold socio-economic groups represented in the 
Economic and Social Committee, must be highlighted. As 
the deepening and widening processes take place, and new 
social and civic fora emerge together with new free trade 
unions and new entrepreneurial activities, European union 
will require an appropriate consultative framework for the 
momentous transformation which we are privileged to 
witness. The time has thus come for the Community to 
define the institutional position and role of the Economic 
and Social Committee. 
Done at Brussels, 5 July 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
vary within a band of six percentage points whilst reduced 
rates would have a spread of five percentage points. In the 
case of excise duties, however, the Commission opted for 
rigidity, claiming that: 
'any flexibility in the rate of duty which might be 
permitted would be compounded with the permitted Opinion on the Commission communication to the Council entitled 'New Commission approach 
to excise-duty rates' 
(90/C 225/17) 
On 22 January 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the Commission 
communication to the Council entitled 'New Commission approach to excise-duty rates'. 
The Section for Economic, Financial and Monetary Questions, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the matter, adopted is opinion on 21 June 1990. The 
rapporteur was Mr Delia Croce. 
At its 278th plenary session (meeting of 5 July) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the 
following opinion by a large majority, with seven votes against and four abstentions.