6.4.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 152/9
2.3.
In recent years, European decision-makers have had to allow for many new priorities, such as the digital and environmental transitions and increasing focus on social issues in a wide range of policy fields.
What is more, although there can be no doubt that the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic will have a deep and damaging impact on the European economy, we must not forget that other challenges (climate change, increasing inequality and a sluggish increase in productivity) have not gone away.
Investments in social cohesion, sustainable development, human and social capital and quality of life will be paramount for creating opportunities for modern businesses and for boosting employment, wealth and sustainable growth in the future.
This means that indicators that look beyond GDP must be able to do more than merely monitor and measure; they must inform policy development, improve communication and promote target setting.
2.4.
Through this own-initiative opinion, the EESC wants to make a useful contribution to determining which well-being and development indicators should be used alongside the traditional economic indicators.
The opinion also points out that more data are needed and shows how these indicators could be built more effectively into the European and national policymaking process, with a view to enabling the EU to exit the ongoing crisis stronger and more resilient to future shocks.
2.5.
Now more than ever, we need to devise indicators to shape and implement policies geared to developing a global model for a sustainable economy, a model which is able to ensure the well-being of everyone living on planet Earth.
The current economic model, which uses continuous growth as the main factor of system stability, cannot be sustained by a planet with limited resources.
2.6.
In June, the European Commission published a discussion paper (4) reiterating the need to develop indicators complementary to GDP that will enable more effective monitoring of the transformation of society and the economy to be carried out as policies driven by the European Green Deal are implemented.
It also sets out the efforts made in recent years by some countries seeking to develop complementary tools to monitor well-being and the environmental impact of economic activities.
2.7.
At global level, a number of initiatives are ongoing aimed at developing indicators which, on the one hand, will enable politicians to design and implement policies to foster sustainability and, on the other hand, will help generate a clearer picture regarding the process of transforming the economic model.
One remarkable example here is the EU Doughnut by 2030 (5), which has developed a new concept for presenting a political summary of existing dashboards and selected 30 indicators with the aim of making the policy-design process more effective but also helping the public to better understand what is required when it comes to transforming the economic system.
3.
General and specific comments 3.1.
The debate on Beyond GDP has yielded significant responses from institutions, researchers and politicians.
The OECD, UN, European Commission and Eurostat have come up with proposals for indicators which are able to measure well-being and prosperity at individual, community and national level more effectively.
In 2015, the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, setting 169 targets and 200 indicators for the overarching goals.
In 2018, the OECD’s high-level group of experts prepared two reports (6) calling for well-being to be measured more effectively by improving certain existing indicators or adding new ones.
The EESC considers that the Member States should give priority to using some of the indicators proposed by the UN, depending on their country’s circumstances, and urges them to act on the proposals set out in the OECD’s reports on improving the measurement of well-being and prosperity.
3.2.
Recently, the European social partners Business Europe, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services and Services of general interest (SGI Europe) and UEAPME signed a joint document (7) recommending a set of indicators complementing GDP in the social, economic and
(4) (5) (6)
(7)
https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/economic-policy-making-beyond-gdp-introduction_en.
https://zoe-institut.de/en/publication/a-compass-towards-2030.
OECD (2018), Beyond GDP: Measuring what counts for economic and social performance, OECD Publishing, Paris — https://doi.org/ 10.1787/9789264307292-en.
OECD (2018), For Good Measure: Advancing Research on Well-Being Metrics Beyond GDP, OECD Publishing, Paris — https://doi.org/ 10.1787/9789264307278-en.
https://est.etuc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FINAL-BEYOND-GDP-SOCIAL-PARTNERS-EU.pdf.