COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Social Protection in European Union Development Cooperation
Date: 2012-08-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: development aid, job creation, marginalisation, poverty, social security

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 20.8.2012  
COM(2012) 446 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Social Protection in European Union Development Cooperation 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Social Protection in European Union Development Cooperation 

1. 

WHY IS SOCIAL PROTECTION IMPORTANT? 

Persistent poverty and increasing vulnerability 
The Agenda for Change1 sets out EU policy on future development cooperation. It calls, inter 
alia, for a more comprehensive approach to human development, supporting increased access 
to quality health and education services and enhanced social protection in support of inclusive 
growth  characterised  by  "people's  ability  to  participate  in  and  benefit  from  wealth  and  job 
creation".  

In recent years the world economy has seen impressive growth in some developing countries, 
notably in Asia. Five large-population countries have reached middle income country (MIC) 
status.  Yet  two  thirds  of  the  world's  1.5  billion  poorest  people  now  live  in  middle-income 
countries.  Furthermore,  globalization  has  more  widely  been  associated  with  increased 
vulnerability, disruption of traditional solidarity systems and, in some cases, increased social 
polarisation.  Large  numbers  of  casual,  informal  and  migrant  workers  have  no  access  to 
employment-related social insurance or any real form of social protection. 

While  the  first  Millennium  Development  Goal  (MDG)  target  of  halving  the  proportion  of 
people living in extreme poverty is likely to be attained, many households remain vulnerable, 
just above the extreme poverty line.2 Where poverty persists, it is increasingly associated with 
exclusion  and  marginalisation  as  a  result  of  specific  factors  such  as  geographical  isolation, 
disability, gender or ethnicity. In lower income countries (LICs), in particular, ill health and 
disease, inadequate nutrition, especially for children, lack of adequate skills, particularly for 
young people, scarcity of resources and repeated exposure to severe livelihood shocks prevent 
millions of poor people from participating effectively in the labour market or as entrepreneurs 
in order to escape from poverty. The global food, fuel and financial crises have exacerbated 
these impacts on the livelihood and employment quality and security of the poor.  

Social protection in support of inclusive development 

Social  protection  can  play  a  key  role  in  reducing  poverty  and  vulnerability.  By  increasing 
equity  –  e.g.  through  social  transfers  and  increased  access  to  basic  social  services  –  and 
providing  protection  against  risk,  social  protection  can  support  poverty  reduction  and 
inclusive  growth,  as  well  as  supporting  social  cohesion  and  stability.  However,  the  very 
different profiles of developing economies and the high levels of informality in their labour 
markets  present  a  very  different  setting  from  that  in  which  most  of  the  existing  social 
protection systems in the developed world were established, calling for innovative and tailor-
made solutions based on country-specific needs and priorities. 

1 
2 

COM(2011) 637, Council Conclusions 9316/12 
S. Chen and M. Ravallion, The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in 
the fight against poverty, WB, 2008 

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Social protection in future EU development cooperation 

The Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, international organisations and 
civil society have called on the Commission to prepare a proposal on social protection in EU 
development  cooperation.3  The  2010  European  Report  on  Development  calls  for  social 
protection to be made an integral part of EU development policy.4 In 2011, the Commission 
launched a consultation process, which confirmed the relevance and timeliness of developing 
a policy framework for future EU support to social protection. 

This Communication seeks to explain the role of social protection in underpinning inclusive 
and sustainable  development  and the role of EU development cooperation in supporting the 
strengthening of social protection policies and systems. 

2. 

WHAT IS SOCIAL PROTECTION AND WHAT CAN IT DO? 

Defining Social Protection 

The  definitions  of  social  protection  used  internationally  vary  widely.  Some  approaches  are 
strongly normative, based on  the concept of social protection as  a  right as stipulated in UN 
instruments,  including  International  Labour  Organisation  (ILO)  conventions,  while  others 
focus more on the functions of social protection in poverty reduction and economic growth. 
Some approaches to social protection emphasise its functions in helping poor people escape 
from poverty, while others emphasise its role in promoting social inclusion, social justice and 
assuring  income  security,  quality  education  and  healthcare  for  all.  Social  protection  may  be 
broadly defined therefore as policies and actions that: 

• 

and 

• 

enhance the capacity of all people, but notably poor and vulnerable groups, to escape 
from poverty, or avoid falling into poverty, and better manage risks and shocks 

aim at providing a higher level of social security through income security and access 
to  essential  services  (in  particular,  health  and  education)  throughout  active  and 
inactive periods and periods of need throughout the life-cycle. 

The obligation for governments to provide social protection coverage stems from the right to 
social security enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Social security 
standards  are  set  out  by  the  ILO,  in  particular  in  the  Social  Security  (Minimum  Standards) 
Convention  of  1952  (No.  102),  which  has  been  fully  or  partially  ratified  by  forty-seven, 
mainly high-income, countries. 

How Social Protection supports inclusive development 

Social protection has the potential to promote inclusive development in a number of ways: 

• 

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Social  protection  increases  access  to  public  services,  improving  the  health, 
education  and  nutrition  of  working  people  and  their  children,  supporting  the 
participation of the poor in the economy and raising labour productivity.  

Council Conclusions 11068/07, European Parliament Resolution 2011/2047. 
2010  European  Report  on  Development,  Social  Protection  for  Inclusive  Development,  A  new 
perspective in EU cooperation with Africa. 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

Social  protection  can  provide  tools  for  risk  management  for  individuals  and  their 
assets, enabling them to defend their long-term income-generating potential as well 
as make investments. 

Social  protection  promotes  income  stability  and  can  stimulate  demand  for  local 
goods  and  services,  not  least  by  acting  as  a  macroeconomic  stabilizer  in  times  of 
economic turbulence. 

Social  protection  reduces  inequality,  which  both  contributes  to  inclusive  and 
sustainable growth and  can help strengthen the compact between citizens and the 
state and promotes social inclusion, cohesion and greater accountability. 

Social  protection  can  provide  inter-generational  equity  by  distributing  social 
benefits  over  the  life-cycle  from  the  currently-productive  generation  to  children, 
young  people  and  the  elderly.  This  contributes  to  security,  stability  in  society  and 
predictability for the individual.  

The  role  of  social  protection  policies  and  measures  in  supporting  inclusive  growth  and 
poverty reduction at the national level is reflected in their contribution to the attainment of the 
MDGs. 

Social Protection in support of the MDGs 

MDG 1: Extreme poverty and hunger 
The Child Support Grant in South Africa has contributed to reducing the poverty gap by 47 percent.5 

MDGs 2 and 3: Better education and gender outcomes 
Between  1996  and  2002/3  girls'  net  primary  enrolment  in  Bangladesh  increased  from  48%  to  86%.  Many 
researchers  attribute  this  in  part  to  the  stipend  programme  for  girls'  education,  which  was  supported  by  EU 
funding.6 

MDGs 4, 5 and 6: Improved health care and reduced illness 
The Oportunidades programme in Mexico combined cash transfers and free health services with improvements 
in  supply  of  health  services,  leading  to  a  17%  decline  in  rural  infant  mortality  in  Mexico  over  a  three  year 
period.7  

3. 

SOCIAL PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 

A common commitment but different approaches 

Social  protection  lies  at  the  heart  of  the  European  social  model.  Social  protection  policy  is 
largely  the  responsibility  of  individual  Member  States  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity.  However,  at  the  EU  level  the  'Open  Method  of  Coordination',  a  voluntary 
process  for  political  cooperation  based  on  agreeing common  objectives and  common 
indicators,  has  been  established.  Social  protection  systems  vary  widely  across  the  Union  
However, EU Member States are all in principle committed to providing universal access to 

5 
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7 

DFID, Cash Transfers Evidence Paper, 2011. 
Unicef, Accelerating the MDGs with Equity, 2010. 
DFID, Cash Transfers Evidence Paper, 2011. 

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social  protection  against  the  major  lifecycle  risks,  in  line  with  the  guarantee  contained  in 
Article 34 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 

European social protection systems have provided important buffers against risk and income 
poverty, as well as limiting inequality in Europe, but persistent economic difficulties due to 
the financial crisis have raised difficult questions about their affordability and efficiency. In 
response, the EU is seeking to develop new ways of delivering high levels of social protection 
at  lower  cost,  including  greater  emphasis  on  activating  young  and  elderly  people.  ‘Europe 
2020’,  the  EU’s  strategy  for  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth,  was  launched  in  2010 
with targets for increasing employment and reducing poverty and social exclusion. These are 
the  subject  of  detailed  monitoring  and  analysis  through  the  European  Semester,  which  was 
initiated in 2011 in order to enhance coordination of policies for recovery and growth.  

4. 

SOCIAL PROTECTION IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES  

The economies of developing countries are often characterised by high levels of informality, a 
low  income  tax  base,  relatively  low  budget  allocations  for  social  protection  and  highly 
segmented social insurance systems that generally benefit only a small minority in the formal 
sector.  On  average,  developing  countries  spend  around  a  quarter  of  that  spent  on  social 
protection in the advanced economies. Consequently only about 20% of the world’s working-
age population has access to comprehensive social protection. 

In MICs, the challenges are to broaden the coverage and to improve efficiency. 

In  many  middle-income  countries,  the  elements  of  a  modern  social  protection  system  have 
already been established with some components of social insurance now in place. However, 
the  coverage  –  particularly  of  contributory  schemes  -  is  generally  low  so  that  a  relatively 
small segment of the population benefits, mainly those that work in the formal economy. In 
these contexts, the main challenge is to extend coverage, in particular to those in the informal 
economy. 

MICs also tend to operate a host of discrete social assistance programmes designed to reach 
specific groups, such as the poor, and increase their access to basic services. The effectiveness 
of  these  schemes  varies  widely,  although  evidence  from  both  Asia  and  Latin  America 
suggests  that  well-designed  programmes  can  be  highly  effective  in  reaching  the  poor  and 
other vulnerable groups. 

In  addition,  governments  have  commonly  used  energy  subsidies  and/or  price  controls  as  a 
means  of  providing  notional  income  protection  to  parts  of  the  population.  However,  such 
policies have proven costly, regressive and inefficient. 

In LICs, funding and institutional capacity are the main constraints 

In low-income countries, provision of social protection is often even more constrained by the 
relative lack of resources and, critically, the weakness of public institutions. In a context of 
limited  industrialisation  and  large  rural  populations,  most  citizens  remain  uncovered  by 
organised  methods  of  social  protection  and  are  vulnerable  to  shocks,  although  family  and 
other  informal  networks  can  provide  partial  compensation.  Social  transfer  programmes  – 
whether targeted or untargeted, conditional or unconditional – remain the dominant form of 
social  protection  with  donors  often  playing  an  important  role  in  their  design  and  funding. 
Such  programmes  are  often  fragmented  and  many  have  failed  to  develop  into  sustainable, 

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government-owned systems. Consequently, outright exclusion and large inequality in access 
to social protection remain major features. 

The common challenge: sustainable financing, extending coverage, building capacity 

Despite  these  limitations,  an  important  shift  in  attitudes  has  been  taking  place.  Where 
economies have grown, the demand for social protection from citizens has also increased and 
governments are under pressure to respond. Yet the challenge for them is both to design social 
protection programmes that have better coverage – and hence address equity issues - but also 
to operate them with greater efficiency and in ways that are fiscally feasible and sustainable. 
Further, how governments can respond depends in turn not only on financing – and the ability 
to raise tax revenues or mobilise contributions rather than rely on debt or donor finance – but 
also on the institutional capacity of a country and the ease with which it can be deployed for 
social protection. 

A renewed commitment by the international community 

In response to these challenges there has been a renewed impetus to reinforce the international 
community's  commitment  to  promoting  social  protection.  This  is  reflected  in  the  Social 
Protection  Floors  (SPF)  Initiative,  developed  under  ILO  leadership,  which  was  strongly 
supported at the 2011 International Labour Conference (ILC) and at the 2011 and 2012 G20 
Summits.  In  2012  G20  leaders  also  agreed  to  assist  LICs  in  capacity  building  for 
implementing  national  SPFs  through  policy  coherence,  coordination,  cooperation  and 
knowledge sharing. The 'Recommendation Concerning National Floors of Social Protection', 
which  provides  guidance  on  the  progressive  implementation  of  social  protection  floors  as  a 
fundamental  element  of  inclusive  national  social  security  systems,  was  adopted  at  the  2012 
ILC. 

While the SPF is a global initiative and is based on a set of principles, which are expressed as 
guarantees, it is not a one-size fits all approach. The design and implementation of SPFs is a 
matter  for  each  country  in  line  with  national-specific  institutional  structures,  economic 
constraints, political dynamics and social aspirations. 

Social protection floors comprise a basic set of social guarantees for all (horizontal dimension) and the gradual 
implementation  of  higher  standards  (vertical  dimension)  as  an  integrated  set  of  social  policies  designed  to 

Social Protection Floors 

8

ILO, Social protection floor for a fair and inclusive globalization. Report of the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group, 2011. 

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guarantee income security and access to essential social services for all, paying particular attention to vulnerable 
groups and protecting and empowering people across the life cycle.8 

The Social Protection Floors Recommendation adopted at the 2012 ILC states that social protection floors should 
comprise at least the following basic social security guarantees: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

access  to  a  nationally  defined  set  of  goods  and  services,  constituting  essential  healthcare,  including 
maternity care, that meets the criteria of availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality; 

basic income security for children, at least to a nationally defined minimum level, providing access to 
nutrition, education, care and any other necessary goods and services; 

basic income security, at least to a nationally defined minimum level, for persons in active age who 
are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and 
disability; and 

(d) 

basic income security, at least to a nationally defined minimum level, for older persons.9 

5. 

THE  FUTURE  DIRECTION  OF  EU  DEVELOPMENT  COOPERATION  IN  SUPPORT  OF 
SOCIAL PROTECTION IN PARTNER COUNTRIES. 

Equity, social inclusion and social cohesion 

The goal of EU development cooperation in supporting social protection is to improve equity 
and  efficiency  in  provision,  while  supporting  social  inclusion  and  cohesion,  as  the  essential 
underpinnings  of  inclusive,  sustainable  growth  and  poverty  reduction.  These  goals  spring 
naturally from the fundamental values of the European Union. 

Placing social protection at the centre of dialogue on national development strategies 

The  EU  seeks  to  include  social  protection  in  its  policy  dialogues  with  partner  countries  on 
their national development strategies and should further promote and assist the development 
of context-specific social protection systems that are efficient, equitable and sustainable. 

Policy  dialogues  with  partner  governments  should  ensure  that  social  protection  systems  are 
underpinned by principles that aim to achieve equal and universal access to social protection 
throughout people's lives, with particular attention to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged 
people, such as children and persons with disabilities. 

Supporting national policies and programmes 

The EU should support the development of nationally-owned social protection policies and 
programmes,  including  social  protection  floors,  while  seeking  to  promote  good  practice  in 
policy  formulation  and  the  design  and  development  of  social  protection  systems.  Good 
practice might typically include moves to rationalise and unify systems to improve efficiency 
and  develop  a  better  basis  for  establishing  wider  and  more  effective  coverage,  including 
through  moving  from  selective,  short-term  safety  nets  to  comprehensive  systems.  Policies 
should reflect the specific needs and priorities of individual partner countries. 

Revenue reform for fiscal space 

9 

ILO, Article 5 of the Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, 2012. 

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Effective and sustainable social protection should ultimately be based on internal rather than 
international  wealth  redistribution.  The  Busan  Partnership  for  Effective  Development 
Cooperation10
 calls for partner governments' own revenues to play a greater role in financing 
development needs in order to increase poverty reduction and progress towards achieving the 
MDGs, while strengthening sustainability through reduced dependency on foreign aid. In line 
with  the  2010  Communication  on  Tax  and  Development11  and  the  principles  of  good 
governance  in  the  area  of  taxation,  the  EU  will  support  measures  to  develop  effective, 
efficient,  fair  and  sustainable  tax  systems,  according  to  the  capacities  of  individual  partner 
countries,  in  order  to  increase  fiscal  space  to  fund  social  protection.  This  may  include 
capacity-building for tax administration and revenue reform to improve the tax base as well as 
the replacement of regressive subsidies with more effective social protection measures. 

Capacity-building for strong institutions 

Establishing  an  appropriate  legal  and  institutional  framework  is  a  key  challenge  for  the 
provision  of  effective  and  efficient  social  protection  coverage.  The  EU  should  continue  to 
support partner countries through technical cooperation, to set up the strategic, policy,  legal 
and institutional framework, based on their local analysis and priorities. The EU should also 
continue  to  support  institutional  capacity-building  at  all  levels  (national,  provincial,  local; 
governmental  and  non-governmental)  in  order  to  develop  and  strengthen  the  administrative 
and  implementation  capacities  of  governments,  implementing  agencies,  social  partners  and 
other non state actors. 

Social protection systems may suffer from high levels of leakage. Consequently, support will 
also have to address issues of good governance and public finance management, not least in 
order to reduce fraud, malpractice and waste, as well as promoting accountability. 

EU added value in technical cooperation 

The  EU  has  accumulated  a  wealth  of  experience  and  approaches  in  the  field  of  social 
protection. The differences between EU Member States in social protection financing, levels 
of  coverage,  administration  and  delivery  systems  offer  a  wide  range  of  experiences  and 
knowledge  which  can  provide  a  strong  basis  for  capacity  building  and  policy  advice  in 
support  of  partner  countries.  Where  relevant,  the  EU  should  also  facilitate  south-south 
cooperation, sharing of experiences and research. 

The  Commission  will  make  greater  use  of  existing  tools,  such  as  TAIEX,  and  develop  new 
tools to enable rapid demand-driven deployment of expert practitioners both from Europe and 
from relevant third countries within a south-south or triangular cooperation paradigm. 

Support for job creation and employment 

Effective  social  protection  should  also  include  or  be  closely  associated  with  measures  that 
enable  beneficiaries  to  participate  in  productive  economic  activity  and  employment.  The 
essential  role  of  productive  employment  and  decent  work  in  reducing  poverty  is  clearly  set 
out  in  the  first  MDG,  as  well  as  the  Commission  Staff  Working  Document  on  Promoting 
Employment through EU Development Cooperation.12 

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Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Busan, Korea, November 2011. 
COM(2010) 163, Council Conclusions 10349/10. 
SEC(2007) 495. 

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The  EU  should  support  national  governments  to  develop  employment  programmes,  job 
creation schemes, and support for entrepreneurship. It should also support social dialogue and 
labour standards in line with the Decent Work Agenda13 and the provision of social protection 
in  the  context  of  highly  informal  labour  markets,  including  innovative  approaches  such  as 
micro-insurance  schemes.  The  EU  should  also  support  national  programmes  to  improve  the 
employment  opportunities  of  vulnerable  and  marginalised  groups,  such  as  persons  with 
disabilities. 

13 

COM (2006) 249, Council Conclusions 11068/07. 

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Bringing in civil society and the private sector 

While  governments  have  the  main  responsibility  for  social  protection  policy  and  provision, 
there  are  some  situations  in  which  social  protection  schemes  can  best  be  delivered  through 
public-private  partnerships.  In  supporting  the  development  of  social  protection  systems  the 
EU  should  recognise  the  important  role  played  by  private  sector  and  non-governmental 
service  providers.  The  EU's  initiative  on  Corporate  Social  Responsibility  can  support  the 
private sector in developing countries to implement relevant international guidelines in order 
to achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth and further development. 

Civil society and the social partners should be empowered and encouraged to partner with the 
state in developing and implementing social protection systems. Their participation can help 
promote efficiency in provision as well as wider consultation and inclusion. They can play a 
key  role  as  advocates  for  social  protection  as  well  as  empowering  communities  and 
individuals,  in  particular  the  disadvantaged  and  excluded,  through  raising  awareness  and 
improving  information.  In  some  instances,  they  can  also  help  in  monitoring  and  evaluating 
social protection schemes. 

Support for Transformative Social Protection 

Transformative approaches extend the concept of social protection to include 'areas such as 
equity,  empowerment  and  economic,  social  and  cultural  rights,  rather  than  confining  the 
scope of social protection to targeted income and consumption transfers'14. This aligns well 
with  the  values  that  underpin  the  development  of  social  protection  within  the  EU  and  EU 
development cooperation should therefore support such approaches. There has, however, been 
little  research  into  their  effectiveness  and  the  EU  should  therefore  consider  support  for 
operational research which documents good practice and generates evidence on the impacts of 
transformative social protection in order to build a firm knowledge base for action. 

Gender in Social Protection 

'Women  and  men  face  different  risks  and  vulnerabilities,  some  specific  to  their  gender  and 
others  exacerbated  by  gender  inequalities  and  discrimination.'15  To  ensure  that  men  and 
women benefit equally, social protection systems must address women's life-cycle risks and 
the burden of care that they bear, as well as the impediments to women's access to work. The 
EU should ensure that gender-related concerns are addressed in social protection policy and 
programme design. 

6. 

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION PROGRAMMING AND MODALITIES 

All  aid  modalities  are  relevant  for  development  support  for  social  protection,  depending  on 
the  context  and  the  objective  of  the  support.  In  line  with  the  Agenda  for  Change,  social 
protection  may  be  selected  as  one  of  the  sectors  for  cooperation  in  individual  country  or 
regional programmes or feature as a dimension in other sector programmes (e.g. employment, 
health,  education,  food  security,  agriculture  and  private  sector  development,  etc).  Social 
protection  may  also  be  supported  through  thematic  programmes,  which  should  complement 
the geographical programmes. 

14 
15 

S. Devereux and R. Sabates-Wheeler, Transformative social protection, IDS, 2004 
Promoting pro-poor growth: social protection, OECD 2009 

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Sector  approaches16  can  be  a  particularly  suitable  modality  for  supporting  social  protection, 
because  of  their  use  of  partner  country  systems  and  processes  and  their  basis  on  policy 
dialogue. 

Budget support,17 accompanied by policy dialogue, can help incentivise the development of 
social  protection  systems  which  are  fully  integrated  into  national  budget  and  planning 
processes in a framework of government accountability to parliament and people. 

7. 

DIFFERENTIATED DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS 

The  Agenda  for  Change  proposes  a  differentiated  EU  approach  to  aid  allocation  and 
partnerships.  Support  for  the  development  of  social  protection  systems  is  relevant  to  both 
LICs and MICs, but countries at middle income status will have more fiscal and institutional 
capacity  than  LICs.  Some  of  these  countries  will  have  graduated  from  large-scale  EU 
development  cooperation  financing  through  bilateral  geographical  programmes.  However, 
support for the development of social protection systems in these countries, in particular for 
technical  assistance,  exchanges  and  collaborative  operational  research  may  be  delivered 
through regional and thematic programmes. 

The critical role that social protection can play in addressing the high levels of poverty and 
vulnerability that persist in newly graduated and emerging economies also makes it essential 
that social protection remains a key item for the EU’s political and policy dialogue with those 
partners. 

EU development cooperation can be used to fund the  setting-up and strengthening  of social 
protection systems, including in situations which call for the development of systems that can 
be  rapidly  scaled  up  to  address  recurrent  natural  disasters.  The  funding  of  social  protection 
benefits or transfers may be justified in fragile states and post-conflict situations in particular 
cases  where  social  protection  may  play  a  critical  role  in  helping  affected  populations  to 
recover assets. However, the EU should work towards the development of systems based on 
domestic funding. 

8. 

COORDINATED EU ACTION 

The Agenda for Change calls for renewed efforts to make EU aid more effective, including 
through  joint  programming  and  the  development  of  a  harmonised  results  framework. 
Consultations  with  partner  countries,  EU  Member  States,  international  organisations,  social 
partners, civil society and the wider public have all supported increased EU coordination for 
supporting social protection in development. Coordination should take place at field level in 
the partner countries. 

The EU has expressed support for the concept of nationally-defined social protection floors, 
as adopted by the 100th session of the ILC in 2011, and contributed to its endorsement by the 
G20.  It  contributed  to  and  supported  the  adoption  of  the  Social  Protection  Floors 
Recommendation at the 2012 ILC. The concept of SPFs could provide a well defined basis on 

16 

17 

A  sector  approach  is  a  way  of  engaging  in  development  cooperation  based  on  the  principle  of 
coordinated  support  for  a  locally-owned  programme  of  development,  such  as  a  national  poverty 
reduction strategy, or a sector programme. 
COM(2011) 638 , Council Conclusions 9323/12. 

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which  to  build  coordinated  and,  where  possible,  joint  EU  support  for  social  protection  with 
partner countries which decide to develop them. 

The  EU  may  also  seek  to  participate  in  global  initiatives,  such  as  the  Social  Protection 
Interagency Board that has been proposed by the G20 Development Working Group. 

9. 

IMPROVED COHERENCE AMONG EU POLICIES 

In  a  globalised  economy,  coherence  among  policies  is  essential.  The  external  dimension  of 
EU  policies  may  impact  on  social  protection  in  partner  countries.  The  EU  should  ensure 
consistency between policies for supporting social protection in development cooperation and 
all other relevant EU policies. 

The EU is committed to promoting openness to trade and integration into world markets as a 
basis  for  inclusive  and  sustainable  economic  growth  and  development.18  Greater  openness 
may  lead  to  increased  vulnerability  for  those  employed  in  sectors  that  may  become 
uncompetitive, which can be mitigated if an effective social protection system is in place. The 
EU is also committed to strengthening cooperation between Member States to develop a more 
coherent approach to social security coordination with third countries19. 

The successful transition from humanitarian aid to development cooperation will also depend 
critically on the establishment of effective social protection systems. Effective integration of 
development  and  humanitarian  aid  should  be  promoted  in  line  with  the  Communication  on 
‘Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development’20 to ensure that the international aid system 
operates  consistently,  coherently  and  transparently  to  address  vulnerabilities.  An  effective 
social  protection  system  should  facilitate  labour  mobility  by  ensuring  portability  of  social 
security rights for migrant workers. Social protection and climate change adaptation measures 
should also be closely linked in order to reduce the vulnerability of poor people to the effects 
of climate change. 

18 
19 
20 

COM (2012) 22 and Council Conclusions 7412/12. 
COM (2012) 153. 
COM (2001) 153. 

EN 

12 

   EN