Editorial by Conny Reuter, SOLIDAR Secretary General

Last chance for Europe – heading for the exit or making a U-turn?

17 April 2015

The new Commission President made a challenging announcement when he stepped into office: this is the last chance for Europe. He meant that this is – not only in his view – the last chance to reconcile citizens with the European project and its institutions. But the challenge goes far beyond Europe – as fire is set to the house of democracy.

Democracy should ensure a balance of forces in society and unite citizens, under the umbrella of the rule of law and around a social contract, within the “least worst” organisational form of society: our democracy. Historically in times of crisis citizens lose their faith in the future, in their abilities and in the capacity of democratic institutions to ensure their protection. The neo-liberal mantra has always been that market forces will regulate everything and that we need even more deregulation. But we do not need democracy that conforms to the market, we need markets that conform to democracy!

The crisis, which is still far from being overcome despite some timid signs of recovery, has accelerated the move away from our democracy and planted the seeds for different kinds of extremism. The question is whether a simple change of policies can reverse the trend when enemies of democracy are winning elections, entering government and even exerting violent physical pressure, gaining influence on public opinion justified by “one must have the right to say”. This opens the door to hate speech, discrimination, exclusion and more in the political centre of societies, the famous centre where the centre-left and the centre-right are competing for majorities. Is there a possibility of returning to the essentials of democratic regulation when politics and politicians, trade unionists and other activists are looked on with suspicion, and seen to be losing their capacity to organise and federate? Some think that Huntington was not so wrong about the clash of civilisations al though not even he could imagine for example the violence of ISIS and Boko Haram when he wrote his book.

If this is our last chance, how can we steer society and the EU project in the right direction? Not towards the exit but back to where we want to be. Progressives in political parties, unions and civil society call for and promise policy change. Announcements and promises are made before they are overtaken by realpolitik and the pressure of the market.

How, besides democratic competition between the different forces, can we create a new model of society that guarantees social justice, more equality and a better distribution of wealth for all? Many suggestions are on the table but they remain too partial, too ego-centric, too ineffective.

Civil society has a responsibility to build alliances in politics and in society and to connect with citizens, to restore enthusiasm and trust in our system. This needs better coordination (for example through the newly established initiative ‘Civil Society Europe’ in which SOLIDAR is involved), but this will be in vain if the European institutions do not deliver socially, economically and environmentally sustainable policies which create trust and confidence and – by the way – stop these Wilders, Le Pen and others from laughing at us!

SOLIDAR Silver Rose Awards

Save the Date – 3 June 2015

This year SOLIDAR is organising the 13th edition of its Silver Rose Awards. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday 3 June 2015 from 19:00-21:00 in the European Parliament in Brussels. The Award will be given in four different categories, Together for Social Europe, Building Learning Societies, Organising International Solidarity and the Lifetime Achievement Award. More information and registration can be found here.

Together for Social Europe

Little progress, other policies are needed for a real breakthrough

16 April 2015

The first quarterly review of the employment and social situation in Europe in 2015 was published on 13 April by the European Commission. Although the Commission draws a more positive picture than in the previous reviews, SOLIDAR remains sceptical about the different aspects reflected in the report.

An increase in employment by 1% in 2014 suggest some improvement but the numbers remain well below their pre-crisis levels and therefore far below the EU 2020 target.

Employment might have recovered, up by 2.7 million jobs since its recent lowest level recorded in the first quarter of 2013. The pace of employment growth is not yet strong enough, however, to compensate for the loss of 7.4 million jobs during the crisis years, as the report states. Furthermore, most of the jobs have been created in the non-tradable services sector such as health and social services which are important sectors but lack the necessary quality to ensure any long-term prospects for workers. On the contrary, growth in tradable services such as agriculture, industry and manufacturing is still stagnating. Moreover, the rise in employment still varies greatly between Member States, leading to a further divide between regions in Europe. The picture is everything but rosy, especially when looking at the situation of low-income households which are struggling with financial distress. And there is no improvement in sight. As the report states, “Financial distress re mains near its historically high levels, well above the levels seen in the previous decade. It currently affects around 15% of the population”.
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SOLIDAR meets representatives of Greek CSOs

16 April 2015

On 16 April SOLIDAR met members of four Greek civil society organisations (CSOs), of which many are already supported by SOLIDAR Members, in Brussels to discuss the social and economic situation in their country; the meeting was held in the European Parliament and hosted by MEP Josef Weidenholzer (S&D).
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Building Learning Societies

SOLIDAR Education Experts’ Network

09 April 2015

On 9 April members of the SOLIDAR Education Experts’ Network met in Madrid to examine members-led initiatives and projects and to build new ways of cooperation between the organisations, focusing on the European Union’s policies and the work of members at the national level. Members have developed a common approach on current policy developments related to the skills agenda, combating long-term and youth unemployment, the realisation of Europe 2020 Agenda, as well as the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, SOLIDAR, enabling them to work together on policy inputs and projects that will strengthen their implementation.

Building on the collective effort on Education and Lifelong Learning Watch that examined the situation in 12 Member States regarding the state of education and lifelong learning policies and strengthening the Social Acquis, in 2015 we will pursue the members-led process of clustering the thematic work into six groups , and supporting peer learning and the exchange of ideas, as well as defining the proposals for policy responses and joint actions.
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Challenges to validating non-formal and informal learning in the EU

10 April 2015

On 10 April SOLIDAR participated in the International Conference on Professional Qualifications & Accreditation of Competences Observal 2015 organised in the University of Valladolid, Spain. The results of the work of the Spanish national coalition led by SOLIDAR member – La Liga Espanola de la educacion – in the framework of the Building Learning Societies: Promoting validation of non-formal and informal learning www.buildinglearningsocieties.org project, were presented during the conference at the workshop on Lifelong learning and validation of competences as a tool to empower people excluded from the labour market.

The panellists representing civil society, academia, the trade union movement, youth organisations and SOLIDAR (represented by CEMEA, our French member organisation involved in the project on validation) discussed the emerging need to support the rising number of people who are excluded both from society and the labour market, as well as the drastically high number of NEETs (young people who are neither in employment, education or training) and early school leavers. As highlighted by the speakers, this can be achieved by valuing the skills and competences developed within non-formal and informal learning introducing a process of skills assessment to develop a person’s awareness of their abilities.
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Organising International Solidarity

The new ENP should be based on fundamental rights!

13 April 2015

On 13 April SOLIDAR attended the public hearing of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) that focused on security challenges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the European Parliament Report on the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

SOLIDAR welcomes the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the report of the European Parliament, and particularly supports the view expressed by several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that the new ENP must be based on the core values of the EU: democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and social justice.
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SOLIDAR in solidarity with UNRWA’s humanitarian aid in Yarmouk, Syria

16 April 2015

Since 1 April, Yarmouk has been the scene of intense fighting between armed groups in the area, reportedly including elements of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), making it virtually impossible for civilians to leave.

This week, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl visited the Yarmouk camp to report on the safety and protection of some 18,000 Palestinian and Syrian civilians, including 3,500 children, as Yarmouk remains under the control of armed groups. In his statement released at the beginning of the week, he reiterated the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the civilians inside the refugee camp.
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