Narrowing the social divide

Date: 16/11/1995

By Michael Mann

People have a natural reluctance to set targets. My attitude is that unless you have a goal, you can never reach your destination.

SOCIAL Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn will throw down the gauntlet to Germany next month in the continuing dispute over proposals for a new equal opportunities programme.

Flynn has asked the European Parliament to deliver an urgent opinion on the proposal to spend 60 million ecu on a range of equal opportunities initiatives in time for the next meeting of EU social affairs ministers in early December.

That meeting should then show whether Germany is prepared to give ground or if the European Commission needs to take a different approach to force the measures through.

“I hope this will quickly be brought to the test. We've asked the Parliament for urgency to get equal opportunities on to the agenda for 5 December. There is a lot at stake,” said Flynn.

Germany has repeatedly blocked plans to improve the position of the disadvantaged, the elderly and the poor in the EU, claiming that the Commission does not have the right to introduce such measures under Article 235 of the Treaty of Rome, which exists to permit legislation on an ad hoc basis in areas which are not covered by a specific treaty article.

Flynn admitted that he does “not see a way forward out of the serious deadlock” over the proposed social exclusion programme, but wants to find out once and for all whether Germany is prepared to be at all flexible on other proposals.

Article 235 is, he stresses, “the only legal basis suitable for these purposes”, and if Germany cannot accept legislation under its terms, the Commission may have to consider changes to the treaty.

Flynn has not yet formed a view on the effects of the recent Kalanke judgement in the European Court of Justice, which deemed Bremen's positive discrimination measures in favour of women contrary to EU law and raised fears that such measures could be outlawed in future.

Admitting that he was “taken aback by the decision”, the Commissioner said: “If we determine that it does affect positive action to encourage equal opportunities, I want to restore the possibility for member states to pursue positive action. I must do it. It may not be necessary to take legislative action, but if necessary, I will look into doing this.”

Flynn hinted, however, that it would not be a simple matter to push through changes to EU laws. “This would need unanimity and I have been getting vague messages recently that this might be a difficult exercise,” he said.

As the Commission prepares to go into battle at next year's Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the future of the UK's 'opt-out' from the Maastricht Treaty's Social Protocol, Flynn once again called on the British government to think again about its determination to hold on to it.

“People imagine that the 'opt-out' has been used every day, but we've had just one incidence of it so far over European works councils. But even these have been implemented voluntarily and by a number of British corporations too,” he said.

“I dearly wish that the UK would see that it is in its long-term interest to be part and parcel of all decision-making at Union level.”

Flynn claimed to have held talks with a number of major UK businesses and said they were now “showing much greater interest in social policy, recognising that it is part of European integration”.

Aside from possible treaty changes to avoid confusion over Article 235 and to end the 'opt-out', Flynn reaffirmed his wish for what he called “an enlargement of the Union's social programme by a general prohibition of discrimination of all types”.

He also welcomed the deal struck last week by the social partners over terms for the reconciliation of family and working life, although he stressed that the deal was not done until the social partners' decision-making bodies and EU ministers had accepted the terms negotiated. Flynn rejected suggestions that it might prove to be a one-off agreement, as some have feared. “This really is a new beginning and shows that it's a good way of doing business. The new economic climate demands this approach and the joint declaration signed by the social partners in Florence shows the important role they are going to play in the future,” he maintained.

He also claimed that the refusal of the European employers' federation UNICE to negotiate on the burden of proof in sex discrimination cases was not a set-back, as the issue had stood outside the social partners' competence anyway.

While Flynn admitted that views were highly divergent on standards for part-time workers, he refused to write off the chances of a successful negotiation on proposed new EU rules, which would give them equal employment rights, until after the social partners have completed their deliberations on the Commission's second consultation document.

Turning to the key question of unemployment, Flynn said that on the basis of the multi-annual employment programmes submitted so far by the member states (only two are still outstanding), he was encouraged that “the message is being received” that structural changes were vital in the fight against unemployment.

Flynn pointed to reductions in social security contributions in Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Netherlands and Finland, new programmes introduced in Belgium and Spain, and a French initiative to help the long-term unemployed. He also said the moderation of wage levels had been the “key element of the recent Irish success story”. In addition, several member states were making efforts to target measures to help those most at risk, particularly the young, and subsidies were being offered to employers prepared to recruit certain categories of workers.

Flynn also praised Austria and Denmark for having reformed their public service employment conditions and encouraged local initiatives.

The Commissioner is continuing to stress the importance of structural measures in the employment strategy to be presented to heads of government at the Madrid summit on 15-16 December, despite rumours that finance ministers are driving the debate. “I cannot over-emphasise the fact that structural reform is the key variable,” he insisted.

Commenting on his recent launch of a year-long debate on the future of social protection measures in the Union, Flynn admitted that “we are coming a little late to the debate”.

But he stressed that the Commission did not “want to be blamed in any way for problems because of the disciplines imposed by economic and monetary union” and said that it must instead “confront and neutralise such fears”.

Flynn also rejected criticism that the employment paper published in October was over-optimistic in claiming that unemployment could be halved by the year 2000, given the right combination of economic factors and structural measures.

“People have a natural reluctance to set targets. My attitude is that unless you have a goal, you can never reach your destination,” he said.

The Commissioner rejected the nightmare scenario outlined by MEP Ken Coates, who recently suggested that the drive to meet the Maastricht convergence criteria would drive millions more from the jobs' market.

Flynn said Coates had overlooked the fact that current levels of growth offered significant leeway for cuts in interest rates, leading to enhanced opportunities for investment in jobs.

“There is plenty of money around, but the level of investment is still not high enough,” he insisted, adding that further investment would particularly help the expansion of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The Commissioner pointed out that a major problem facing the Union was that of new entrants to the job market. Although ten million new jobs were created in the second half of the 1980s, unemployment actually fell by only three million.

Flynn's principal goal is to open the door to the job market for young people who are currently 'unemployable' by improving training, and giving them “a work ethic”.

He confessed that it would be hard to persuade member states to make the huge investment necessary to refocus resources, but pointed to Objective 4 of the structural funds and the ADAPT programme as ways in which the Commission was assisting the process.