A3-0134/94

Resolution on the social policy implications of the EMU process

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in particular to Article B, first indent, thereof and to Article 2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

-having regard to the proposals put forward by Parliament at the intergovernmental conferences, as contained in its resolution of 16 May 1990 on Economic and Monetary Union, 11 July 1990 on the Intergovernmental Conference in the context of Parliament's strategy for European Union, 10 October 1990 on Economic and Monetary Union and 22 November 1990 on the Intergovernmental Conferences in the context of the European Parliament's strategy for the European Union,

-having regard to its resolution of 7 April 1992 on the results of the intergovernmental conferences,

-having regard to the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers and the action programme to implement it,

-having regard to Parliament's repeated calls for social convergence to be made as high a priority as economic and monetary convergence,

-having regard to Council recommendation 94/442/EEC of 27 July 1992 on the convergence of social protection objectives and policies,

-having regard to the conclusions of the Copenhagen and Brussels European Councils,

-having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Employment and the Working Environment and the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A3-0134/94),

A.whereas the first objective assigned to the Union is to ensure a high level of employment and social protection, higher standards of living and a better quality of life, economic and social cohesion and solidarity between the Member States, and whereas economic and monetary union is perceived as a means to that end,

B.whereas the efforts made before the Edinburgh summit meeting to achieve economic and social cohesion failed to reduce sufficiently the disparities in terms of the social situations affecting the different regions of the Union,

C.whereas if the social objectives of the Union are to be achieved, it is essential to implement a strategy for growth, which entails both implementing European projects of common interest, and intensifying economic convergence between the Member States,

D.whereas the principal challenge facing the Union in the final years of the century relates to its ability to reduce unemployment (18 million jobless in 1993) and stem the rising tide of exclusion (50 million people in what is one of the richest regions on earth are living below the poverty line),

E.whereas the introduction of EMU will promote stability, encourage trade, investment and cross-border cooperation and reduce the vulnerability of the EU's development to the vagaries of the foreign exchange markets; whereas Parliament therefore reaffirms its belief that EMU will raise the prosperity of the Union,

F.whereas most of the obstacles which will have to be overcome to eliminate the employment deficit and the risk of exclusion have been caused by factors outside the process of economic and monetary integration (such as demographic changes and changes in family structure, the economy, the employment situation and urban growth), factors that combine to increase the pressure on social protection systems; and whereas the fight against exclusion and the implementation of integrationalist policies, regarded as prime objectives by the Community and the Member States, call for a certain level of public funding,

G.whereas the goal of economic and monetary integration by the 1997-1999 target date will mark a fundamental stage in the Community enterprise and whereas the Member States should consequently embark on a sustained effort to satisfy the convergence criteria,

H.whereas, however, although the convergence criteria are targets that have to be met in order to attain EMU, Articles 104c(2) and(3) and 109j of the Treaty on European Union do not imply uniform progression during the transitional period,

I.whereas if the attainment of the convergence criteria is to be achieved without adversely affecting social protection and its development, active measures must be taken to combat unemployment and an effort must be made to manage social protection systems (combating fraud) on a sound basis and to adapt them as well as possible to the needs of the population concerned,

J.whereas the deteriorating employment situation may adversely affect attainment of the convergence criteria required for inclusion in EMU, and the Member States must therefore redouble their efforts to create new and secure jobs,

K.whereas although no relaxation of the convergence criteria is possible, each Member State must be able to work towards them at a speed commensurate with its structural handicaps so as to avoid a breakdown of the social fabric,

L.whereas, given that the Member States' economies are interdependent, social developments in one Member State will inevitably have repercussions on the convergence process as a whole,

M.whereas the Union is staking its credibility in the eyes of the public, and hence its future, on its ability to constitute a social union as well as an economic and monetary union,

1.Calls for Community-wide economic policy to focus on implementation of a sustainable, non-inflationary job creation strategy, which implies closer convergence of the economies of the Member States, and to take into account the social implications; considers that social policy must be based on the same footing as the economic policy of the Union;

2.Insists that the goals of EMU must include both stability and the wider economic goals defined in Article 2 of the EC Treaty; points to the words of its resolution of 7 April 1992 in which it 'Regrets that EMU appears to be exclusively geared to stability; while acknowledging the importance of stability, calls for deflationary effects to be prevented when Member States not yet meeting the strict convergence criteria gear their policy to those criteria; calls for the objectives of responsible growth and a high level of employment and social protection to be taken equally seriously, even though there is no provision as yet in the Treaty for specific binding measures in this regard';

3.Takes the view that the application of the convergence criteria must take full account of the economic cycle, and particularly of the deteriorating employment situation, making use of the flexibility provided in the Treaty, and recalls that the Member States should comply with the convergence criteria as rapidly as is practicable for each of them, within the overall framework of the strategy for growth proposed by the Commission in its White Paper and approved by the European Council in Brussels in December 1993;

4.Takes the view that the convergence criteria laid down in the Treaty on European Union must not be called into question as stability and convergence will result in the creation of real jobs;

5.Believes that the comparability of certain reference values used to calculate the ratios (concept of deficit or government debt) ought to be examined in greater depth;

6.Considers that assessment of the speed of convergence and the efforts made by each Member State within the framework of multilateral surveillance pursuant to Article 103(3) of the EC Treaty, should take account of each Member State's specific structural problems and the need to maintain adequate social protection for all citizens, particularly the poorest; considers that this assessment should therefore be based not only on the criteria of convergence but also on barometers of the changing social situation in the Member States (unemployment, living standards, social protection, social rights and so forth);

7.Condemns the attitude of the ECOFIN Council, whose conclusions fail to take sufficient account of the social dimension, both with regard to drawing up and evaluating national programmes for economic convergence and with regard to implementation of the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment and the decisions of the Brussels European Council of December 1993;

8.Accordingly, calls on the Council to consider macroeconomic and financial issues in conjunction with social issues, in particular by involving the Social Affairs Ministers whenever necessary in the proceedings of the ECOFIN Council;

9.Regrets that it was not decided to introduce simultaneously with EMU minimum Community rules on taxation and financial policy, notably with regard to wealth, speculative capital and companies;

10.Believes that Parliament's weak role in multilateral surveillance constitutes an imperfection adding to the democratic deficit and intends to make earliest possible use of all the means at its disposal to remedy the situation (interinstitutional agreement or action under Article 103(5) EC); and calls on the Commission to submit proposals to this end, to provide a basis for interinstitutional discussion;

11.Formally calls for the body of fundamental Community-wide social rights established by the Social Charter to be put fully into effect and expanded;

12.Welcomes the steps taken by the Commission to gain a clearer understanding of the social protection systems, one practical consequence of which has been the publication of the first report on social protection in Europe;

13.Points out that Council Recommendation 92/442/EEC lays down common objectives for the Member States' social protection systems and calls on the Commission to devise appropriate criteria to measure the degree of convergence attained by the systems;

14.Takes the view that the final stage of the above process must be to draw up genuine social convergence programmes that would be binding on the Member States and the Union and calls on the Commission and Council to consider how such programmes might be implemented;

15.Calls on the Commission, following consultation with the social partners, to work out detailed arrangements with a view to organizing and financing a Community solidarity scheme to bolster the social protection systems, modelled on the machinery set up for the purposes of economic and social cohesion; as a first step and with a view to the next intergovernmental conference, the advisability of setting up a Community solidarity scheme in the field of employment could be studied;

16.Stresses that the success of the Union depends on the ability of the Member States to construct a Union which is both social and economic and enjoys the support of its citizens and that, given the crisis in confidence regarding Europe's capacity to overcome its political, economic and social problems, it would adversely affect public opinion if measures with objectives other than Economic and Monetary Union were adopted for the construction of Europe;

17.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.