Economic governance and social justice
Lip-service not matched by action on social rebalancing economic policies
The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on the social dimension of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union. After the vote, Green social policy spokesperson Marije Cornelissen said:
"The social dimension of the EMU needs to be more than just measuring and monitoring of the social situation. Alarming unemployment, inequality and poverty need to have a real impact on other binding European economic policies such as corrections of excessive deficits or excessive economic imbalances, and be taken directly into account in the formulation of these policies. Despite the lip-service from nearly all political groups on social Europe, when it comes to concrete action, they often disappear. Centre-right and social democrat political groups sadly today rejected Green proposals to give the social scoreboard teeth.
"The Greens believe that the Commission needs to propose new instruments to mitigate large differences in economic cycles (including unemployment rates). The EMU needs automatic stabilisers to avoid future social imbalances such as the unacceptable variation in unemployment rates from 5% in Germany to 26% in Spain. In particular, the Commission should set out plans on automatic stabilisers, including the idea of an EU unemployment insurance scheme."
