A4-0016/97

Resolution on the Commission Communication - The Future of Social Protection: A Framework for a European Debate and the report from the Commission on social protection in Europe 1995 (COM(95)0466 - C4-0524/95 and COM(95)0457 - C4- 0518/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Articles 2, 3, 117, 118 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

- having regard to the Agreement on social policy concluded between the Member States of the European Community with the exception of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, particularly Articles 1 and 2 thereof,

- having regard to the Commission's Communication on The Future of Social Protection: A Framework for a European Debate (COM(95)0466 - C4-0524/95) and its report on social protection in Europe 1995 (COM(95)0457 - C4-0518/95),

- having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Ferri on social security provision in the Community (B4-0458/94),

- having regard to Council Recommendation 92/441/EEC of 24 June 1992 on common criteria concerning sufficient resources and social assistance in social protection systems and Council Recommendation 92/442/EEC of 27 July 1992 on the convergence of social protection objectives and policies ((OJ L 245, 26.8.1992, p. 46 and p. 49.)),

- having regard to its resolutions of 13 July 1995 on a coherent employment strategy for the European Union ((OJ C 249 of 25.9.95, p. 143.)), of 29 November 1995 on the Commission's Annual Report 'Employment in Europe - 1995' ((OJ C 339, 18.12.1995, p. 28.)) and of 16 January 1996 on the Medium-Term Social Action Programme 1995 to 1997 ((OJ C 32, 5.2.1996, p. 24.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0016/97),

A. whereas the European model for social protection based on solidarity is crucial for maintaining social peace; whereas these systems are in need of reform, but whereas this reform must not undermine the fundamental principles on which they are based, above all the principle of social solidarity,

B. whereas social protection systems are viewed too often as burdens on European economies when they should be seen as invaluable assets and essential cornerstones of the European social model,

C. whereas social protection systems help to establish social consensus which is an important precondition for sustainable economic development,

D. whereas social protection systems underpin the principle of social citizenship which guarantees recognition and integration for employed and self-employed workers and helps to combat social exclusion which is a negation of this principle,

E. whereas social protection at European level denotes all collective systems for the transfer of payments which make use of solidarity to provide cover against social risks,

F. whereas the first priority for the reform of social protection systems must be to make these as employment-friendly as possible not least because high unemployment is the principal reason why social protection systems are under such financial strain,

G. whereas Article 117 of the EC Treaty provides for harmonization of standards of living and the working conditions of workers 'while the improvement is being maintained',

H. whereas the European model of social protection forms part of a broader package of policies which should be examined in the light of the new conditions on the international economic and political stage, and, in particular, the challenges represented by the internationalization of the world market and the demand for a high level of competitiveness,

I. whereas the current crisis in social protection systems is due in large measure to the inadequacy of financial resources and to structural problems in the Member States' social protection systems,

J. whereas the problems facing social protection systems are joint challenges facing Member States and the European Union and should, therefore, be tackled jointly by the Member States and the Community with a view to obviating problems for workers who wish to take advantage of their right to freedom of movement within the internal market; whereas the European Union already has important competencies in this area not least because it is responsible for ensuring freedom of movement and freedom to provide services,

1. Welcomes the Commission's Communication as a constructive contribution to the debate on the reform of European social protection systems and, given the need for an in-depth analysis of these systems, agrees entirely with the Commission that that debate should be organized at European level;

2. Considers that the term social protection must be understood to cover not only social security, i.e. collectively provided security but also social protection provided by government as well as schemes resulting from collective bargaining and private contributions;

3. Takes the view, however, that the European Union's role in the field of social protection should be more active, taking account of the differences between social security systems in each of the Member States, and include actions in this area jointly organized with Member States, the non- governmental organizations socially active within them and welfare associations, for example in the form of a committee of inquiry or a temporary committee or a steering committee; considers that the Council's abovementioned recommendations of 1992 on the convergence of social protection objectives and policies and on common criteria concerning sufficient resources and social assistance in social protection systems should be assimilated into the policy of the Member States and further developed through Community instruments;

4. Believes, therefore, while respecting Member States' prerogatives in the organization and delivery of social protection benefits, that the European Union should seek: to ensure that Member States respect the commitment to a 'high level of..... social protection¨ as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty; to assist in the gradual convergence of Member State social protection systems by devising a number of minimum social convergence criteria not least as a means of preventing harmful competition within the single market based on erosion of social protection; to help to define a consensus in the reform of social protection systems so that these systems are better adapted to present economic and social realities; and to improve coordination between national social protection systems in order to remove existing barriers to free movement;

5. Takes the view, therefore, that the role of the European Union in the field of social protection is to ensure that bases for entitlement are brought into line;

6. Believes that the Union should have the proper instruments to carry out the above tasks and points to the urgent need for the IGC to incorporate the Social Protocol into the body of the Treaty and for qualified majority voting to be applied to matters connected with that Protocol;

7. Considers that conferring a social dimension on EMU and monitoring the adverse effects on social protection of reduced spending policies imposed by the convergence criteria, as well as the pressures placed on the financing of social security systems, are prerequisites for safeguarding the European social protection model in the future;

8. Is convinced that social security systems must be geared to the new needs of the labour market and expanded, as otherwise the people concerned will not be prepared to replace the security of the benefits linked to traditional standard working conditions with the insecurity and lower level of protection associated with 'atypical' work; observes that atypical employment and the associated inadequate social security currently apply mainly to women; expects the adoption of the Directive on atypical work, which is overdue, to provide for the required social security and appropriate flexibility on the labour market; calls on the Commission to make proposals as to how social security and social protection of workers can be ensured in connection with 'atypical' employment contracts;

9. Believes that certain elements in social protection can be made more employment-friendly when used in alliance with active labour market policies by: treating transfer payments not just as a possible source of income for the recipient but also as a social investment to promote the employment and education potential of the individual; bringing benefit, employment and training agencies closer together; increasing incentives for employers to assist in training, retraining and offering work experience; removing the stigma of unemployment by making these opportunities also available to those in work (sabbaticals, retraining credits, new work experience);

10. Recalls the importance of incentives for training and life-long learning while on benefit rather than just unemployment assistance with no training;

11. Welcomes the trend to reduce employer and employee contributions particularly with respect to the lower-paid but believes that Member States must look seriously at diversifying their sources of financing, so as to ensure that social security can be financed, not least by moving tax burdens away from the labour factor to other factors such as environmentally damaging energy consumption; this could be achieved, for example, by a carbon dioxide tax; another possibility would be a tax on economic activities; recalls the suggestion in the White Paper on Growth, Competitivity and Employment that a European framework should be developed for this;

12. Points out that a rising employment rate would do much to stabilize social security systems financially;

13. Believes that if Member States encourage citizens to make their own supplementary provisions to cover social risks, they should at the same time examine the effects on the level of social protection and ensure that this does not not lead to the creation of different levels of social protection and undermine the established system of solidarity; considers moreover that the principle of solidarity should remain the basis of social security and that the general system must be safeguarded and - where necessary - improved, and in this context considers that the retention and - where necessary - expansion of the general pension system should be central and that the development of supplementary pension schemes must not be used to justify cuts in and erosion of the general pension system; warns also against privatization of social risks, particularly in the field of health care; looks forward to national and European measures to increase young people's awareness of the value of systems based on solidarity, particularly social security for the elderly;

14. Believes that lower unemployment and higher employee contributions will increase revenue from contributions to social security schemes and help relieve the financial strain currently facing pay-as-you-go state pension systems; notes that there is a trend in Member States to encourage supplementary provision based on prefunded schemes, a development which can be supported but not if used to justify cuts and downgrading of state pension systems or replacing the existing schemes with capital cover procedures, because this would impose a double burden on the present generation of employees, since they would have to pay contributions both to accumulate their own pension entitlements and to fulfil the generational contract; urges that social protection systems take account of new forms of social risk arising from these demographic trends, in particular long-term care of the elderly; points out that society must recogniz the advantages of using the knowledge and experience of the elderly and must provide the right parameters for this;

15. Points out that changes in family structures are an important trend, as is ageing, and reiterates its longstanding view that social protection needs to move to independent systems for men and women if it is to take adequate account of these trends, but that it is necessary at the same time to protect the family;

16. Acknowledges that freedom of movement of persons is one of the fundamental economic and social goals of the European Union; believes that there exists real demand among European citizens to exercise their rights to free movement but that the fulfillment of this wish is often hampered, not least because of barriers created by inadequate coordination and convergence between national social protection systems which can help to protect certain areas of the labour market from European competition, for example by means of the status of public servants; asks the Commission to establish an action plan setting out what measures need to be taken in the social protection field to assist free movement, and to include legally established third- country workers;

17. Believes that the matching of supply and demand in labour markets requires that there should be an extension of the three-month period during which the unemployed can seek work in another Member State while receiving unemployment benefit from their own Member State;

18. Believes that payment of unemployment benefit to unemployed persons looking for work in another Member State should go hand in hand with giving them as much help as possible to collect the information they need;

19. Notes that frontier workers face discriminatory practices with respect to poor coordination between neighbouring national tax and benefit systems and urges the Commission to use all instruments at its disposal to overcome all forms of discrimination in this regard; reminds the Commission of its intention to publish a study concerning the application of its recommendation 94/79/EC of 21 December 1993 on the taxation of certain items of income received by non-residents in a Member State other than that in which they are resident ((OJ L 39, 10.2.1994, p. 22.)); considers that the changes proposed by the Commission must alleviate the problems of frontier workers arising from the taxation of certain social security contributions; calls for any change in the methods of financing social security to be examined in advance in the light of their possible impact on the rights of migrant workers and particularly frontier workers (Europe test);

20. Is concerned at the persistently large number of people suffering from social exclusion in the European Union which is affecting certain groups very hard, such as children of under 16 years, and calls on the Commission, therefore, to submit revised proposals as to how an acceptable standard of living can be guaranteed for every citizen;

21. Considers that, in order to guarantee the effectiveness of measures supporting the European social protection model in the context of the globalization of the economy, the Commission must be in the vanguard, within the World Trade Organization, of the fight to ensure that the most- favoured-nation clause is implemented and that environmental and social clauses along the lines advocated by the International Labour Organization are included in multilateral agreements;

22. Supports the introduction into the Treaty of EC Treaty Declaration 23 on the occasion of the Intergovernmental Conference;

23. Calls on the Commission to carry out an urgent study of the population trend and its impact on social protection systems with a view to forestalling the social and economic consequences of growing population ageing in the European Union;

24. Considers that a study must made immediately of the trend in production in the coming years, the trend in employment and working hours and of how free time - which will increase sooner or later - can be transformed into an economic commodity;

25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee and the European social partners.