Towards a European Co-ordinated Approach on Social Inclusion

RI Social Commission seminar: Future challenges for the social commission
Towards a European co-coordinated approach on social inclusion

Anne Thery, RI-ECA
September 20, 2001, Beirut

Brief overview of RI-ECA activities
Rehabilitation International - European Communities Association (RI-ECA) is part of RI and was founded in 1988 to facilitate the co-operation with the European Commission. RI-ECA pursue the objectives of RI and has an independent status from RI. Members are RI national secretaries in the Member States of the EU.

The main objectives are:

• To participate actively in the establishment of a European policy in favor of disabled people
• To ensure that sufficient and appropriate attention is paid to disabled people's needs in Community programs and initiatives.

RI-ECA is member of the European Disability Forum, European organization composed of 87 organizations reflecting a broad geographical base and a wide range of concerns.

Introduction
Involvement of the European Union in the fight for social inclusion as such is a fairly new field of action since it used to be essentially addressed at national level in the past. The situation has drastically changed in the last two years. In addition, a new approach on disability was adopted in 1996. The European Commission endorsed the international move towards a rights based approach in the disability policy field. This new approach is based on the notion of right rather than charity and an accommodation for difference rather than a compulsory adjustment to an artificial norm. It therefore advocates a full notion of citizenship and inclusion rather than segregation and exclusion. The European Commission initiated a mainstreaming approach on disability which has been furthered ever since.

For those who are not familiar with European matters, I would first like to draw a brief overview of the European Union, the social trends in the European Union and finally the scope of action of the European Union in the social field since mid 2000. The new EU Treaty adopted in 1998 opened new doors for joint actions. In the second part I shall present the EU strategy on fighting against social exclusion which was launched in December 2000 and will take the French situation as an example.

1. Background elements
1.1. The EU in figures
The European Union is composed of 15 countries, which represents more than 370 millions inhabitants for a territory of 3200 000 square kilometers.  This territory represents about one third of the United States. Its population density reaches 117 inhabitants per square kilometers, in comparison with the USA where we count 29 inhabitants per square kilometersand with Japan : 334 per square kilometers.

The working-age population represents 69.2% (activity rate in 1999). The employment rate reached 62.4% in 1999. The social protection expenditure accounts for 28.7% of GDP in 1998.

The European Union is at the moment organizing its enlargement. 13 Eastern and Central European Countries , including Cyprus and Turkey, are candidate for an accession to the EU. This enlargement poses to the EU a unique challenge, because it is without precedent in terms of scope and diversity : the number of candidates, the area (increase of 34%), and population (increase of 105 million), the wealth of different cultures and historical background.

1.2. Social trends in the European Union
There have been several improvements in living conditions for most social groups over the last decades. Yet, despite the impact of social, education and health policies, particular groups in society, among which disabled people, are still facing social problems.

At the same time, developments in population structures, working arrangements and behaviors are generating new demands on citizens and on policy makers. Ongoing changes resulting from more open competition, European integration, globalization and technological developments raise further issues, which must be addressed. Adaptation of public policies, which better match new challenges and improve policy performance, are called for.

Population developments
Population developments constitute a natural starting point for a portrait of the social situation in the European Union. Significant changes are affecting the size and age structure, the migratory patterns and the household/family composition of the EU population.

Ageing of the population is accelerating and particularly pronounced in the next decade - Lower rates of fertility (especially low in the southern Member States) combined with the coming retirement of the "baby boomers" born after the second World War. Growth in the number of very old and in the total of frail and dependent people.

More and smaller households - Growing rates of family breaks up and new family formations and the trends towards de-institutionalization of family life.

Age-diversity in population movements - Movement towards the big cities or to the suburbs differ depending on the period in life.

Social policy implications of population change
Challenges: Population ageing will have important implications for a wide range of public policies: employment, social protection, health, education, housing, family and transport. The challenges will be particularly steep for those institutions and policies established when the demographic situation was very different (eg.: Retaining an adequate labor supply while adjusting to an older work force (Lisbon goal of 70% employment rate; 62% in 1999 for the population aged 15-64), Sustaining pensions through later retirement and higher employment rates).

Core concerns in the promotion of social cohesion
Social cohesion relates to the degree to which individuals and groups within a particular society are bound with common feelings of consensus, share common values and goals and relate to one another on a co-operative basis.

In the promotion of social cohesion, the following are concerns:

• The extent of inequalities in terms of income, health and other living conditions as it affects different groups, for example older people, children, women, people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, etc.
• The effective reduction of these inequalities, through the formal systems for social protection, education, and health, and
• Trends in social participation, ie... Developments in the extent to which citizens contribute to the construction and consolidation of social cohesion through their participation in economic, political and social life.

1.3. Scope of action of the EU in the social field
New strategy adopted at the Lisbon Summit

At the time of the creation of the European Economic Community, few articles in the Treaty concerned the social field and these essentially focused on the freedom of movement of the workers. On the other hand, the EEC did not have the necessary means for the realization of an active social policy. This field principally falls under the Member States' competences. So, the European Commission has a limited sphere of activity in this area, notably concerning the legislation because of the principle of subsidiary.

Moreover, the decision process in the Council of the EU leads to show the divergences between the Member States in the social field because of the differences between the national social models. As a result, many decisions cannot be reached. So there is no harmonization in the social field, just co-ordination.

Nevertheless, the EU sphere of competence has been significantly increased with the signature of recent Treaties. The Amsterdam Treaty (signed in October 1997 and came into force in January 1999) indicates that employment becomes an issue of common interest and so confess new opportunities for the EU.

In this Treaty the objectives of the social policy are defined: promoting employment, improving the conditions of life and work, an adequate social protection, the social dialogue, the development of human resources providing a high and sustainable employment level and the fight against social exclusion.

The main fields of action today are the following:

• Employment policy
• Policy of the world of work (work legislation, modernization of work organization, social dialogue development)
• Social protection
• Social integration
• Gender equalities
• Fight against discrimination

The Lisbon European Council, in March 2000, has identified two key challenges : the full employment and the qualitative development of the knowledge-based economy. This Summit opened up the way to a general reflection on the modernization of the European social model. In view of answering this aim, the Nice European Council adopted, in December 2000, the European Social Agenda, which is presented below.

New social policy agenda (2000-2005)
The Social Policy Agenda is a five-year program of action for the period 2000-2005 with the objective of "shaping a new Europe". Its aim is to provide a comprehensive and coherent approach for the European Union to confront the new challenges to social policy resulting from the transformation of Europe's economy and society. Member States -as presented above- face a series of significant challenges.

This Social Policy Agenda seeks to ensure the positive and dynamic interaction of economic, employment and social policy, and to forge a political agreement which mobilizes all key actors (policy makers, firms, social partners, NGOs, etc.).

¹Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
² Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Slovak Republic; Turkey, Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia.