France forced into U-turn on social policy

Date: 23/11/00

By John Shelley

THE FRENCH presidency has been forced into a dramatic U-turn after member states lambasted its attempt to 're-write' the direction of the EU's social policy.

In a paper designed to be the centrepiece of Paris' drive for a more socially conscious Europe, France had called for the Union to take measures to coordinate labour costs and guard against the danger of jobs moving to countries with lower social standards.

But other member states were swift to condemn the plans as a shift towards exactly the kind of social harmonisation which they agreed to avoid at the Lisbon summit in March this year. This forced French diplomats to go back to the drawing board to rework their proposals.

At a meeting of top officials last week which one participant described as "very un-diplomatic", ambassadors from other member states queued up to attack Paris' original plan. "I have never seen a presidency paper receive such a drubbing at such a high level," said one EU official.

A second French paper which takes a more watered-down approach to harmonisation received a better reception this week. But ambassadors were still unable to reach agreement on the plan, with some member states refusing to accept many of France's specific policy proposals. Among the disputed measures is a call for Union-wide rules on the procedures companies must follow before they can fire an employee.

France is now hoping that social affairs ministers can hammer out their differences at a meeting next Monday (27 November). If they cannot, the long-term promise by EU leaders to agree a social policy blueprint at next month's Nice summit could be jeopardised.

Paris tabled its proposals as an alternative to the social agenda plan drawn up by Social Affairs head Anna Diamantopoulou. She is said to be furious about the attempt to override her document, which was widely praised by member states.

At the meeting of ambassadors which discussed the original French paper, Portugal led the charge against the proposals, worried that they undermined the deal on employment which Lisbon crafted during its presidency and which was agreed at the March summit. The UK, Spain and the Netherlands joined in the attack on the French plan, which received support from just two countries - Belgium and Luxembourg.

Insiders believe Paris knew all along that it would be impossible to get the original version of its paper through, but pushed it for domestic political reasons. "I think that the French prime minister is possibly under such pressure at home on social affairs that he would rather have his own agenda put forward and then see it shot down so that he can at least say that he tried," said one. "They are playing to the home crowd first."

The French Presidency has been forced into a dramatic U-turn after Member States lambasted its attempt to 're-write' the direction of the EU's social policy.