Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Draft Joint Report on Social Inclusion"
Date: 2002-03-13
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EC recommendation, EU programme, cooperation policy, economic and social cohesion, marginalisation, poverty, social integration

12.8.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 192/5

indicators to assist the implementation of ethical budgets by
local and regional authorities. The CoR accepts that local and
regional authorities can give a lead in relation to promoting
good CSR practices by ensuring that their purchasing and

procurement strategies are CSR compliant. Also to encourage
this process the Committee would encourage local and regional
authorities to establish awards schemes for good examples of
CSR within their areas, to promote good practice.

Brussels, 14 March 2002.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Draft Joint Report on Social Inclusion’

(2002/C 192/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission Draft Joint Report on Social Inclusion
(COM(2001) 565 final);

having regard to the decision taken by the European Commission on 12 October 2001 to consult it
under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to its Bureau decision of 12 June 2001 to instruct Commission 5 for Social Policy, Public
Health, Consumer Protection, Research and Tourism to prepare the Committee’s work on this subject;

having regard to Commission Staff Working Document e-Inclusion — The Information Society’s potential
for social inclusion in Europe (SEC(2001) 1428);

having regard to the 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);

having regard to the Communication from the Commission Building an Inclusive Europe (COM(2000) 79
final);

having regard to its Opinion on the Communication from the Commission Building an Inclusive Europe
(CdR 84/2000 fin) (1);

having regard to its Opinion on the 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 (CdR 302/2000 fin) (2);

having regard to the Draft Opinion (CdR 393/2001 rev.) adopted by Commission 5 on 19 November
2001 [rapporteur: Baroness Hanham (UK/EPP)];

whereas the Communication is addressed to the Extraordinary European Council in Laeken,

adopted unanimously the following opinion at its 43rd plenary session of 13 and 14 March 2002
(meeting of 13 March).

(1) OJ C 317, 6.11.2000, p. 47.
(2) OJ C 144, 16.5.2001, p. 52.

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Views and recommendations of the Committee of the
Regions

The Committee of the Regions

accepts that

7.
the tax and social protection systems,
education, housing, health and other services should become
universal enough to address the needs of those who are at risk
of poverty and social exclusion and emphasises the key role
played by the local and regional spheres of government in
providing and/or coordinating many of these services;

1.
welcomes the five-year Community action programme
on social inclusion to start in 2002 and notes the open method
of coordination for promoting exchange of good practice and
mutual learning at Community level;

8.
emphasises in particular the following roles played by
local and regional government — all of which are relevant to
tackling poverty and social exclusion:

2.
welcomes the Commission’s draft Joint Report on Social
Inclusion as the first single policy document which assesses
the efforts made to tackle poverty and social exclusion across
the EU and urges Member States to take seriously the
observations made upon their National Action Plans (2001);

— community leaders and key players in local regeneration
partnerships, bringing together the local public bodies
and agencies, community and voluntary groups and the
private sector to deal with health, employment, education,
housing and crime,

3.
regrets the extremely short time period the rapporteur
was given to prepare this opinion in order for it to be
submitted to the Commission 5 meeting on 19 November
2001 and agreed prior to the Laeken summit in December
2001;

— those responsible for ensuring that measures aimed at
combating social exclusion are implemented properly,

— providers and enablers of services to all people in the

community,

4.
believes that it is unacceptable that 18 % of the EU’s
population (over 60 million people) are living in poverty or
are at risk of poverty;

— catalysts of economic activity and employment,

5.
agrees with the views expressed in the Report that
significant improvements need to be made in the allocation of
resources and the enhancement of opportunities to those who
are living in poverty and/or socially excluded, to ensure they
can participate in society and access their fundamental rights;
but at the same time, acknowledges that all Member States will
need to take into account financial constraints in designing
future social inclusion strategies, particularly in light of the
current global recession;

6.
regrets that most National Action Plans fail to face
challenges relating to particularly vulnerable groups such as
asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants, children, young people,
old people, the unemployed and single parent families, and
that the issues of equality between men and women remain
largely focused on employment issues. The Committee of the
Regions also emphasises the importance of involving the
economic agents via tax incentives and direct support, generat-
ing new employment opportunities, vocational training and
reskilling;

— employers,

— providers of local information and research;

9.
welcomes the recognition that most Member States have
acknowledged the need to complement national plans with
integrated approaches at regional and local levels;

agrees that Member States should use the new social
10.
inclusion process to enhance their efforts to tackle poverty
and social inclusion and stresses that the development of the
second round of National Action Plans should be used by
Member States as an opportunity to re-examine and develop
their social inclusion policies both at a strategic level and in
terms of developing new policies and initiatives;

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11.
agrees that it is important to identify examples of good
practice, and that a thorough analysis of policies to tackle
poverty and social exclusion is required for this but argues
that a databank of practice should be established by the
Commission in the meantime in order to share existing
practice — a starting point would be the information provided
in the National Action Plans (2001);

12.
welcomes the eight core challenges identified by the
Joint Report as emerging from the National Action Plans
(2001) and stresses the importance of social protection for
those who are unable to work — whilst employment is the
route out of social exclusion for the majority of people, there
should be adequate social protection for those who are unable
to participate in the labour market and for those who move
between low paid jobs and periods of unemployment;

agrees that better consultation with key stakeholders is
13.
required for the implementation and monitoring of
the
National Action Plans (2001) and argues that better consul-
tation should be undertaken by Member States in developing
the second round of National Action Plans, and that this should
include consultation with local and regional government,
non-governmental organisations and where appropriate with
people who are socially excluded;

key stakeholders into the debate on indicators — this should
include the Committee of the Regions at European level and
regional and local government at national level;

18.
urges that the commonly agreed indicators should be
strictly limited in number, to ensure that they are relevant to
all Member States;

stresses the importance of promoting collaborative
19.
work between all spheres of governance, in the context of
increasing globalisation and in the interests of integrating
economic, social and environmental concerns into a compre-
hensive sustainable development strategy. NGOs, universities,
research institutes, public institutions and business should be
engaged through dialogue and discussion at local, regional,
national, European and global level. Local and regional auth-
orities, as the sphere of governance closest to the ordinary
citizen — and in many cases leading cross-sector partnerships
— have a critical role to play in this process,
including
through their national and pan-European associations and the
International Union of Local Authorities (IULA). Working in
partnership with local partners and specialist groups, local and
regional authorities help to:

14.
argues that it is necessary to provide time to develop
the NAPs in the Member States in order to integrate the
regional level in an effective way;

— promote job creation,

— promote business development,

15.
supports the concept of all levels of government (local,
regional and national) proofing policies at an early stage in
their development for their impact on poverty/social exclusion;
and in particular commends the poverty-proofing processes
being used in the UK in Northern Ireland;

— deliver training and support to increase employability,

— develop an integrated approach to tackling employment

and employability issues locally;

16.
emphasises the importance of preventative measures in
the fight against poverty and social exclusion — for example, in
the policy areas of health promotion, social policy, education,
culture and sport;

17.
accepts the importance of developing a set of com-
monly agreed indicators on poverty and social inclusion and
the recognition that efforts are still needed to improve the
development of indicators at both the EU level and the national
level, and, as such, welcomes the intention to bring in other

20.
welcomes the recognition of the threats and challenges
posed by the rapid growth of the knowledge-based society and
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and
stresses that local and regional authorities have a role to play
both in making services accessible to all sections in the
community and in taking a comprehensive view of services in
their area by using ICT to interact more effectively with
citizens, to improve education, skills and employment oppor-
to facilitate participation in leisure and cultural
tunities,
activities, to promote active citizenship, and to ensure that
people are able to participate in democratic processes;

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21.
calls on the European Commission to incorporate the
issues raised in this opinion when presenting the draft Joint
Report on Social Inclusion to the Laeken summit in December
2001;

22.
calls on the European Council and the European
Parliament to ensure that the local and regional role is properly
recognised in this important policy area.

Brussels, 13 March 2002.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘White Paper European Transport Policy for
2010: time to decide’

(2002/C 192/03)

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 on European transport policy for
2010 (COM(2001) 370 final);

having regard to the decision by the Commission on 14 September 2001, 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 of its Bureau on 12 June 2001 to direct Commission 3 (Trans-European
Networks, Transport and Information Society) to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to its earlier opinions on ‘the Trans-European Transport Network: 1998 report on the
implementation of the guidelines and priorities for the future’ (COM(98) 614 final) (CdR 60/1999 fin) (1);

having regard to its earlier opinions on ‘the common transport policy: sustainable mobility: perspectives
for the future’ (COM(98) 716 final) (CdR 189/1999 fin) (2);

having regard to its earlier opinions on ‘developing the citizens’ network’ (COM(98) 431 final) (CdR 436/
98 fin) (3);

having regard to its earlier opinions on ‘spatial planning in Europe’ (CdR 340/96 fin);

having regard to its earlier opinion on ‘a sustainable transport strategy for local and regional authorities
and the European Union’ (CdR 225/97 fin) (4);

having regard to its earlier opinion on ‘the green paper towards fair and efficient pricing in transport’
(COM(95) 691 final) (CdR 364/96 fin) (5);

(1) OJ C 293, 13.10.1999, p. 9.
(2) OJ C 374, 23.12.1999, p. 76.
(3) OJ C 198, 14.7.1999, p. 8.
(4) OJ C 180, 11.6.1998, p. 1.
(5) OJ C 116, 14.4.1197, p. 52.