Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "European Commission's proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion"
Date: 2000-12-13
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, action programme, cooperation policy, marginalisation

C 144/52

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16.5.2001

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘European Commission’s proposal for a decision
of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme of Community action
to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion’

(2001/C 144/15)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the European Commission’s proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of
the Council establishing a programme of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member
States to combat social exclusion [COM(2000) 368 final — 2000/0157 (COD)];

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 24 July 2000, under Article 265 (first paragraph)
and Article 137 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the
Regions on the matter;

having regard to the decision taken by its President on 3 August 2000, under Rule 39 of its Rules of
Procedure, to direct Commission 5 — Social Policy, Public Health, Consumer Protection, Research and
Tourism — to draw up an opinion on the matter;

having regard to point 2 of its opinion (CdR 84/2000 fin) of 14 June 2000 on the Commission
Communication entitled ‘Building an inclusive Europe’ (COM(2000) 79 final) (1);

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 302/2000 rev. 1) adopted by Commission 5 on 23 October
2000 [rapporteurs: Mrs Hanham (UK/PPE) and Mr Sodano (I/NL)],

adopted the following opinion at its 36th plenary session on 13 and 14 December 2000 (meeting of
13 December).

The Committee of the Regions

welcomes the Commission’s programme of Community
1.
action to encourage cooperation between Member States to
combat social exclusion;

welcomes the important recognition by the Commission
2.
that combating social exclusion is first and foremost the
responsibility of Member States and their national, regional
and local authorities (2); opinion of the Committee of the
Regions of 14 June 2000 on the Communication from the
Commission — Building an Inclusive Europe (COM(2000) 79
final);

welcomes the overall objective of the Community action
3.
programme which is to encourage cooperation which would
enable the Union and its Member States to make a decisive
impact on the eradication of poverty and social exclusion as
measured by targets agreed by the Council;

4.
welcomes the method of achieving this objective, which
is through the translation of European guidelines into national
and regional action plans by the setting of specific targets, the
adoption of measures which take into account national and
regional differences and transnational cooperation to improve
understanding and practice;

(1) OJ C 317, 6.11.2000, p. 47.
(2) See point 2 of CdR 84/2000 fin.

5.
shares the Commission’s view that the national action
plans should reflect the multi-dimensional nature of social
exclusion and deal with access to fundamental rights and
services including employment, social protection, health, hous-
ing, education, training and culture;

6.
welcomes the Conclusions from the Lisbon European
Council in March 2000 which state that the Community social
exclusion strategy should consist of:

— promoting a better understanding of social exclusion
through continued dialogue and exchanges of
infor-
mation and best practice, on the basis of commonly
agreed indicators,

— mainstreaming the promotion of social

inclusion in
Member States’ employment, education and training,
health and housing policies, this being complemented at
Community level by action under the Structural Funds
within the present budgetary framework, and

— developing priority actions addressed to specific target
groups, with Member States choosing actions according
to their particular situations, and reporting subsequently
on their implementation;

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7.
emphasises the importance of promoting a better under-
standing of social exclusion through continued dialogue and
exchanges of information and best practice at all levels, on the
basis of commonly agreed indicators by involving all the key
actors, including local and regional authorities; and suggests
that information and best practice is exchanged on new groups
of excluded people such as those lacking skills in information
technology;

emphasises the key role played by the local and regional
8.
spheres of government in implementing the policies designed
to eradicate poverty and social exclusion, in their capacity as:

eradicating poverty and social exclusion) and the Community
programmes and funding instruments and reiterates that this
can only happen if there is a real dialogue between all the key
actors including local and regional authorities;

12.
welcomes the overall objectives established in Lisbon
to raise the employment rate from a current average of 61 %
to 70 % in 2010, to halve child poverty by 2010 and to reduce
the numbers living below the poverty line from 18 % today to
15 % in 2005 and 10 % in 2010, and in particular emphasises
that the three strands within the action programme should be
applied to the following groups amongst others:

— community leaders and key players in local regeneration

partnerships,

— people who are unemployed and are able to participate

in the labour market,

— providers and enablers of services to all people in the

community,

— catalysts of economic activity and employment,

— major local employers, and

— providers of local information and research (1);

9.
welcomes the intention to give particular emphasis
within the action programme to integrated, partnership-based
and participative approaches. As community leaders and key
players in local regeneration partnerships, local and regional
authorities have a wealth of experience in developing and
leading partnerships involving public sector bodies, all relevant
players including the voluntary and community sectors and
the private sector and other economic players;

10.
welcomes the importance given to ensuring that all the
activities covered under the programme will be consistent with
other Community policies, instruments and actions, through
establishing appropriate mechanisms to coordinate activities
relevant to other programmes relating to research, employ-
ment, non-discrimination, equality between men and women,
social protection, education, training and youth policy, health
and in the field of the Community’s external relations;

emphasises the importance of obtaining maximum
11.
synergy between the national action plans (with targets for

(1) See point 3 of CdR 84/2000 fin.

— people who are unemployed and are unable to participate
in the labour market due to a lack of relevant skills and
training,

— people who are employed but who are experiencing
social exclusion due to short term employment and/or
low wages and/or inadequate in-work benefits,

— people who are unable to participate in the labour market

(for example, due to sickness or caring responsibilities),

— older people who are experiencing social exclusion due

to inadequate benefits/pensions,

— people who are excluded from the knowledge society,

— people who are excluded from the labour market due to

post-industrialisation;

13.
emphasises that the following principles need to be
taken into account in implementing the first action strand on
the analysis of the characteristics, causes, processes and trends
in social exclusion:

— the value of developing national, regional and local
indicators, including cross-cutting indicators, to enable
comparison to be made across Europe of both national
and local information,

— the importance of information sharing across all levels of
government — local, regional, national and European,
and

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— the importance of ensuring that skills are developed for
all agencies and groups in order to ensure accurate and
effective use and interpretation of common indicators
(with reference to the fifth framework programme which
includes a key action on ‘increasing human research
potential and the socio-economic knowledge base’);

in making services accessible to all sections in the community
and in taking a comprehensive view of services in their area by
using information and communications technology to interact
more effectively with citizens, to facilitate participation in
leisure and cultural activities, to promote active citizenship,
and to ensure that people are able to participate in democratic
processes (2);

14.
suggests that in order to facilitate the identification of
appropriate quantitative and qualitative indicators (action
strand one) and the exchange of good practice (action strand
two), the Commission should:

— develop a European database of good practice in promot-
ing social inclusion, including a databank of national and
local indicators,

— consult the Committee of the Regions on the structure

and content of this database, and

— seek information and statistics from associations of local
and regional authorities in Member States in compiling
this database (1);

emphasises the importance of

15.
involving local and
regional authorities in the development and implementation
of the action programme because:

— local and regional authorities have valuable knowledge
and experience to offer in developing common indicators
of social exclusion and social inclusion and how they fit
local and regional circumstances,

— local and regional authorities can advise on translating
European guidelines into national and regional policies
by setting specific targets and adopting measures taking
into account national and regional differences,

— local and regional authorities have valuable experience in
delivering Structural Fund programmes and this is rel-
evant to the objective of mainstreaming the tackling of
social exclusion in employment policy, education and
training policy, health and housing policies, and

— local and regional authorities have valuable experience in
transnational cooperation projects in the social exclusion
field (for example, the former Employment Community
Initiative);

welcomes the intention to address exclusion issues
16.
connected with the emerging knowledge society and stresses
that local and regional authorities have a key role to play both

17.
draws attention to the inadequacy of the Commission’s
proposed overall budget (70 million euros over five years) as
this is unlikely to cover adequately all
three strands of
suggested activity and to help Member States make a truly
decisive impact on the eradication of poverty, and suggests
that the budget be increased;

18.
emphasises the importance of all Member States being
involved in regular monitoring and evaluation of the national
action plans in order to assess and comment on progress made
against overall European and national targets;

reiterates that the action strands should be equally

19.
applicable to urban and rural areas;

20.
requests that as part of the intention to involve all
parties concerned in the action programme, the Commission
has a regular exchange of views with representatives from local
and regional authorities (as well as with non-governmental
organisations and social partners as mentioned in Article 5.1);

21.
requests that the Commission guidelines issued under
the programme require Member States to consult with local
and regional government in the development of the national
action plans under action strand one, and that the Committee
of the Regions is involved in the consultation on the develop-
ment of European wide indicators (reflecting paragraph 4 of
the political agreement of the Council of the European Union
on 17 October 2000) because for example:

— some national targets and indicators may be practical for

European comparison,

— local targets and indicators could be disseminated for
information through a European databank on targets and
indicators, and

(1) See point 17 of CdR 84/2000 fin.

(2) See point 6 of CdR 84/2000 fin.

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— the

experience and ability of

local and regional
authorities in collecting data will affect on a practical
level what data can be collected nationally and at a
European level (1);

(1) See point 18 of CdR 84/2000 fin.

Brussels, 13 December 2000.

22.
emphasises the importance of the Committee of the
Regions taking part in the annual EU Round Table Conference
on Social Exclusion to be organised in collaboration with the
EU presidency;

23.
calls on the European Council and the European
Parliament to recognise their contribution in ensuring that the
local and regional role is properly recognised in this policy
area (1).

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions entitled Social Policy Agenda’

(2001/C 144/16)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled Social Policy Agenda
(COM(2000) 379 final);

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 26 July 2000, under the first paragraph of
Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the Regions
on the matter;

having regard to the decision taken by its president, on 3 August 2000, to direct Commission 5 for Social
Policy, Public Health, Consumer Protection, Research and Tourism to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion adopted by Commission 5 on 23 October 2000 (rapporteurs: Ms Buron
(F — PSE), Mr Pella (I — PPE) (CdR 300/2000 rev. 1),

adopted the following opinion unanimously at its 36th plenary session on 13 and 14 December 2000
(meeting of 13 December).

The Committee of the Regions

1. Warmly welcomes the publication of a new Social
Agenda for the years 2000-2005; appreciates the comprehen-
sive nature of the Agenda drawn up by the Commission,
especially regarding the objectives; highlights the need to set
out the Agenda’s priorities more clearly, as the objectives,
though thoroughly worthy, appear numerous and are often
only sketched out in general terms.

2.
Is glad that as part of the process begun in Lisbon,
recognition has finally been given to the close links between
economic policy, employment policy and social policy and
that social policy has been given its rightful place; stresses,
however, that social policy cannot be limited to its role in the
production process, and urges the Commission, when it
finalises its specific social policy programmes, not to neglect
other areas of social policy in favour of aspects that have more
immediate economic implications.