Jean-Claude
Juncker’s next big thing
No
longer held back by the Brexit debate, the Commission president has
plans to add a ‘social’ dimension to EU policymaking.
By
Harry Cooper
8/1/16, 5:32 AM CET
The European
Commission is quietly preparing to unleash a flood of policy
initiatives to boost workers’ rights across the EU, rebooting plans
by Jean-Claude Juncker that were kept mostly out of sight during the
Brexit debate.
With the U.K.
preparing to leave, Juncker wants to give a new push to the “European
pillar of social rights” — a proposal he first mentioned nearly a
year ago. The measures, aimed primarily at the eurozone but with
non-euro countries able to opt-in if they wish, include rules on the
minimum wage and to protect gender equality — policies long
considered out-of-bounds for Brussels.
As he fights for
free trade deals and measures to boost economic growth and
competitiveness, the Commission president also wants to add a
“social” dimension to EU policy. Introducing the idea in his
State of the Union address to the European Parliament last September,
Juncker said he wanted to build a new EU social policy that “takes
account of the changing realities of the world of work.”
Juncker backed
Belgium’s Marianne Thyssen, the European commissioner in charge of
employment, social affairs and labor mobility, to push the
initiative, and she’s spent the past few months gauging support for
the possible changes in EU countries with NGOs, business groups and
trade unions.
One door closes,
another opens
The idea of boosting
social protections got a mention in a 2015 report from the “Five
Presidents” of the EU institutions on the future of the eurozone,
with the leaders calling for the Union to aim for a “social triple
A” rating in parallel with efforts to boost economic growth. The
largest center-left and center-right political groups in the European
Parliament also back elements of the initiative.
But apart from that,
little has been done on the plan since Juncker first raised it.
During the months-long debate ahead of the U.K. referendum on June
23, the idea was kept under wraps for fear it would be seen as EU
regulatory meddling in Britain. Meanwhile, European trade unions grew
increasingly frustrated at the lack of action.
Oliver Roethig,
regional secretary of the service workers’ union UNI Europa, said
some have wondered “to what extent this is all just talk.” As for
the idea that Europe could earn “a social triple A” rating,
Roethig said that right now “it is probably junk status.”
The U.K. has
long led opposition to attempts to introduce new social rights or
employment legislation, such as on remuneration, parental leave,
anti-discrimination and pension reform.
Peter Scherrer,
deputy secretary-general of the European Trade Union Confederation,
said that while Juncker is “personally committed to a social
Europe,” the Commission has “so far … not delivered.”
While some may
dismiss Juncker and Thyssen’s plans as a pipe dream, others say
Brexit offers proponents of more EU action on social policy a unique
political opening. The U.K. has long led opposition to attempts by
the Commission to introduce new social rights or employment
legislation, such as on remuneration, parental leave,
anti-discrimination and pension reform. British Conservatives in
particular have argued that the EU is not allowed to dictate to its
member countries how they should run their social welfare systems.
Thyssen persevered
anyway. In March, the Commission released a “preliminary outline”
of the plan, proposing initiatives that include the introduction of
eurozone rules on the minimum wage, new rights on “quality
education and training” and measures to ensure gender quality and
protection from discrimination.
The outline argued
that much of the legislation would be justified not only by
provisions in the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, but also in the European
Charter of Fundamental Rights. Although that charter has been
anathema to British Conservatives, who say it would make U.K. judges
subservient to a court in Strasbourg, other countries are less
concerned.
With discussion of
the topic taboo ahead of the referendum vote, the Commission did
almost nothing to push it. But now Thyssen has seen her chance,
telling a Cypriot newspaper in a July interview that she will put
forward a “revision of the current rules on social security
coordination in the coming months.”
Wage war
There’s a risk the
Commission could push too far. It is seeking a role for itself on
sensitive policy areas such as wages, pensions and unemployment
benefits. Although the EU’s governing treaty expressly limits the
ability of the Commission to act in these areas, it can “assist”
governments should they wish to align social policy. Whether
governments will take the Commission up on this offer remains to be
seen.
A Commission
spokesperson suggested that a key aim of Thyssen’s consultation
process, which will close at the end of the year, is to identify the
appropriate legal form for any EU action. The official pointed out
that rules on the minimum wage, for example, could be introduced via
a so-called Council decision, whereby governments agree on a policy
action without the Commission taking the central role that it does on
most other legislation. In some ways, such an agreement is easier to
reach, given that it keeps the European Parliament out of the
equation, but on controversial areas such as social security, the
likelihood of finding consensus is in doubt.
Juncker and Cameron
say their goodbyes | Thierry Roge/AFP via Getty Images
Juncker and Cameron
say their goodbyes | Thierry Roge/AFP via Getty Images
Proponents of the
social pillar saw a positive sign that the political climate may be
shifting in their favor after an agreement was signed in the days
immediately following the U.K. referendum by business organizations,
trade unions and, crucially, governments themselves. The statement
called for “the promotion of dialogue between management and
labor,” as well as “a strengthened involvement of social partners
in EU policy and lawmaking.”
Scherrer from the
ETUC described the agreement as a “historic moment,” given that
never before had governments recognized the role of “social
dialogue” so clearly.
More importantly, it
was seen as a departure for the Commission and for many European
governments, whose dominant narrative for years had focused on
boosting growth and competitiveness of EU businesses — what
Scherrer calls “dangerous austerity.”
Coupled with a
Continent-wide decline in the fortunes of left-wing parties, the time
for centralized wage bargaining, stronger protections for workers and
guarantees for access to public services seemed to many to have
passed.
But this fails to
take into account broader political trends in Europe. Populist
parties across the Continent (on the Left and Right) are adopting
economic and social policies that seem more at home in mainstream
social democratic parties.
Supporters say
that with the U.K. no longer able to block it, the EU is about to
start legislating far more extensively in social policy than ever
before.
One example is
wages. In July, Thyssen batted away criticism from East European
parliaments that her reform of EU rules on cross-border workers
interfered too much with national wage policy. Her proposals seek to
limit “social dumping” — the shipping of temporary, cheap East
European labor westwards — on the grounds that this undercuts wage
levels in the host country.
But the same
countries who reacted so angrily to the proposal, such as Slovakia,
Poland and the Czech Republic, are simultaneously demanding that
Germany change its new minimum wage law, which they argue is
destroying their trucking businesses.
That’s why the
Commission is optimistic about its broader social agenda, with a
spokesperson confirming that governments both in and outside the
eurozone have signaled their support for the initiative. Supporters
say that with the U.K. no longer able to block it, and a renewed
commitment to the “social dialogue” between employers and trade
unions, the EU is about to start legislating far more extensively in
social policy than ever before.
Saim Saeed
contributed to this article.
This story was
corrected to reflect that the EU is a signatory to the European
Convention on Human Rights rather than the Charter of Fundamental
Rights.
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