Editorial by Conny Reuter, SOLIDAR Secretary General

Rentrée sociale: deliver on the social triple AAA

04 September 2015

Campaigns are made around and built upon promises. As the European Union seeks renewal, it faces the challenge of the exodus of people fleeing misery, poverty, persecution, oppression and war. Any solution has to take into account the social divergences in and between the Member States. Let there be no misunderstanding: it is high time that the Commission delivers on the social triple AAA promised by the Commission President.

Maybe the thinking is more enlightened now. Hopefully there is the understanding that the political choices such as austerity policies and a narrow minded focus on growth at any price without insuring social cohesion and inclusion may satisfy markets and shareholders, may be appreciated by the stock exchanges and speculators, but has disastrous social consequences in terms of poverty, exclusion and inequality.

It has long been pointed out that social progress can be achieved through social investment and policies which promote quality employment. Now we have people joining the European continent who have dreams of a fairer society, of security, of democracy, of social protection.
The choice is to disappoint them or to build together a European society which does not turn its back on the European social model. These people are not mere human capital, they are children, men and women who can expect respect, dignity and solidarity.

Next week the European Commission has the opportunity during its orientation debate in the college of Commissioners to set a more ambitious social agenda, based on the principles of universality of protection, portability of social rights, solidarity, adequacy and predictability as well as non-discrimination and the quality and affordability of services, whilst speaking out against Member State budget cuts in the fields of social protection and services.

If solidarity is our strength, this must be translated into policies: migrants and refugees are the ambassadors of growing global inequality. What can be the European answer? Investment in integration policies, in public health, social services and education, in social housing. The social emergency of today cannot be left in the hands of a self-regulating market. We know this and we can prove it.

It is time for the right choices, time to deliver on the social triple AAA.

Also read this week’s blog on EurActiv’s blogactiv by Conny Reuter ‘La Rentrée Sociale’.

Together for Social Europe

Step up efforts to tackle the migration crisis along the Balkans-route

Yesterday EU and Balkan leaders met to discuss, among others, the current flow of migrants through the region towards the EU; the so-called Western Balkans route. In recent weeks many atrocities by human traffickers have been recorded along this route, the last of which was the discovery of 71 dead refugees at the side of an Austrian motorway after they suffocated in the back of an air-tight refrigerated truck. Ahead of the leaders meeting, the European Commission released an additional €1.5 million in humanitarian funding to assist refugees and migrants in Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a small amount compared to the pre-accession support for migration–related activities in the Western Balkans and Turkey since 2007 of around €600 million.

SOLIDAR considers that more efforts are needed, however, in particular to:

• Seek an immediate end to the ongoing human tragedies along the Western Balkans route by investing in humanitarian actions as well as promoting legal and safe routes for people fleeing wars and seeking international protection.
• Establish a more efficient responsibility-sharing system and improved harmonisation of protection standards in the framework of EU migration policies with particular regard to the possible revision of the Dublin regulation.
• Tackle the growing anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe by fighting racism xenophobia and the ‘logic of invasion’, busting myths linked to migration in the public debate.
• Fight the root causes of migration by continuing external action to put an end to conflicts and promoting economic and social development as well as human and social rights in the countries of origins.

Building Learning Societies

Good news from Brussels – New European priorities for education and training

03 September 2015

September is back-to-school time and a good time to focus on improving education systems. The European Commission has begun the new school year by announcing a proposal for renewed priorities for European cooperation in the framework of education and training 2020, for the period 2016-2020 on the basis of mid-term stocktaking.

The draft of a joint report by the Commission and Member States proposes to strengthen European cooperation in the field of education and training in order to address the most urgent challenges of our society. The priorities aim to make sure that education and training systems are designed to improve people’s skills and employment prospects, while at the same time cultivating the fundamental values of equality, non-discrimination and active citizenship.
The six new priorities are:
1. Relevant and high-quality skills and competences for employability, innovation, active citizenship;
2. Inclusive education, equality, non-discrimination, civic competences;
3. Open and innovative education and training, including by fully embracing the digital era;
4. Strong support for educators;
5. Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications; and
6. Sustainable investment, performance and efficiency of education and training systems.
SOLIDAR welcomes the new set of priorities, with a focus on the development of competences for active citizenship and employability, attention to the transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications, and the importance of making education and training systems more socially inclusive.
Read more

Organising International Solidarity

ENP Up Close – How can the EU be a credible peace promoter in the MENA region?

01 September 2015

The Middle East and North Africa region is a powder keg. Different types and levels of conflicts are continuing to unfold across the region rooted in historical un-resolved and stalemated peace processes, such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Western Sahara conflict. While Syria is entering the fifth year of war, and Libya has turned into another failed state, the regional political and security threat of Daesh seems to become less and less a temporary geopolitical concern, with the worrying spillover threatening on-going fragilities and stirring domestic hostilities in Iraq and Turkey. At the same time, EU policy-makers have started to realise that this threat cannot easily be contained by targeted military operations or by simple political inaction.

SOLIDAR strongly calls for the EU institutions to take a greater step to becoming a credible peacemaker in the region by adopting a comprehensive EU approach to peace-building based on a long-term political engagement to promote and respect human security that involves considering the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as an integral part of the response. This approach should be based on:

• Respecting and promoting the access to and enjoyment of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs), in accordance with international human rights law and key International Labour Standards and ILO core Conventions;
• Promoting long-term and inclusive socio-economic policies and programmes including investments in education, employment and decent work, as key to achieving cohesive societies and the establishment of stable and functioning democratic institutions;
• Fostering participation of freely chosen representative organisations, local civil society organisations, community-based organisations, and independent trade unions in decision-making processes.

Read more

Members’ News

• ARCI project “Monitoring of the externalisation policies on migration”. SOLIDAR’s Italian member, ARCI is running a project called ‘Monitoring of the externalisation policies on migration’. The project is part of the activities carried out by ARCI with other European and Mediterranean associations and is conceived as a response to the collaboration policies between the EU and Italy and the countries of origin and passage to stop or expel migrants. In the light of the worrisome scenario of the ongoing collaboration of the EU and the Italian government with third country governments perpetrating violation on human rights (i.e. Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia), ARCI set up an Observatory to keep track of the formal and informal agreements between the EU or Italy and the other countries and the development of international processes (Khartoum and Rabat) as well as to raise the voice of independent civil society organisations located in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Niger on the nefarious consequences of these policies. Find more on the Facebook page of the project or contact Sara Prestianni.

• SOLIDAR German member AWO organised on 3 September 2015 a conference titled ‘Arrival in Germany – Solidarity is our strength’ (original title: „Ankommen in Deutschland – Solidarität ist unsere Stärke!“). During this one-day conference they brought together several experts to discuss the migrant and refugee issues in Europe in which investments in education, training and housing are key.

• SOLIDAR Member La Ligue de l’Enseignement have published a dossier titled ‘Climate, Environment: citizens in action’ in which they, ahead of the conference on climate that will take place in Paris this fall (COP21), discuss how citizens can contribute actively to their environment. You can read the full dossier here.

Partners’ News

• This week SOLIDAR partners Volonteurope and the Social Platform came together to discuss social standards in the EU in the framework of next week’s college of Commissioners second orientation debate on social policy. They will call for securing access to quality and affordable social, health care and education services. Simultaneously they’ll emphasise the role volunteering and active citizenship can play in achieving exactly that.

• The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) has published a call to the EU and its Member States for more robust solidarity with Greece as the refugee crisis deepens. More specifically they call for an increase in emergency support to newly arriving refugees, a full and robust application of the reunification provision under the Dublin regulation and serious relocation efforts for Greece of at least 70.000 persons within a year. You can read the full call here.