On Wednesday, April 10, Ipse attended the conference of Mrs. Carole GRANDJEAN, elected member for the 1st constituency of Meurthe-et-Mosellefor the LREM party (a centrist, liberal and social-liberal political party in France) and member of the European Affairs & Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, about her parliamentary report on the European Pilar of Social Rights. It aimed at determining the added value of the pilar. This event was organized by Réalités du dialogue social and Confrontations Europe.

The National Assembly is composed of 8 Standing Committees including the European and Social Affairs Commission. Its role is to monitor the European activity, the legislative news and to make proposals for the European Parliament and the European authorities.

The parliamentary report studies the impact of the European Pilar of Social Rights on the European social acquis through the identification of concrete actions.

The European Pillar of Social Rights, a text on which IPSE has worked a lot since its release, is, little known to Europeans according to Mrs. Grandjean. There are two key points to remember in this report:

• The pillar is not the first social step. In fact, 200 pieces of legislation already concern social law (80% of which is devoted to health).

These significant progresses can be attributed to the European Union:

– information and consultation of workers thanks to the 2002 European directive

– gender equality since 1976

– control of posted work by the directive of 18 June 2019

Social funds such as the ESF also play a major role in setting up social action in Europe.

Thus, the social acquis of Europe is substantial.  We note, for example, that 27.5% of the GDP is invested there for social reasons and no country of the Union devotes less than 15% of its GDP whereas elsewhere in the world no country dedicates more than 15% of its GDP to this cause. But much progress still needs to be made, particularly in terms of inequalities. Outside the areas defined in the Lisbon Treaty, most of social law subjects remain a national prerogative. The competences of the European Union in this field are therefore limited.

• The European Pilar Of Social Rights is a real impetus for social Europe.

Admittedly, this pilar is not legally enforceable and some of its principles are formulated in a very general way. However, the establishment of a European Pilar of Social Rights can draw a European social model and allow to define a plan of action to deepen social achievements. In addition, these rights can be implemented if the Court of Justice of the European Union uses it as a legal basis or if the Commission uses it as a reference document for proposals for common or legislative actions in the field of social.

The Parliamentary report offers proposals for methods and concrete measures.

The establishment of a social Europe faces two obstacles: on the one hand the variability of social models from one country to another with the refusal of some states to question themselves and on the other hand, the subsidiarity principle.

The report’s recommendations address a variety of themes. The parliamentary report proposes, for example, the establishment of a European unemployment insurance base.

The cross-border issue is also a major issue for the Social Affairs Committee with the monitoring of controls and the recovery of sanctions which requires cooperation between states. With regard to posted workers, the negotiated directive is a giant leap concerning compensation if it is actually implemented. Therefore, the report calls for strengthening the European labor authority and ensuring that regulation is effective. This is a social welfare issue because posted workers are often poorly qualified. On the other hand, with an average duration of detached work of 44 days, the setting up of social contributions seems difficult. Also, the report recommends investing in a dedicated European fund to limit social dumping.

The rapporteurs have also worked a lot on education: we must go further than the LMD reform (Bachelor’s-Masters-Doctorate) by facilitating the validation of the acquired experience. The creation of a European referent position in each secondary school is proposed. Encouraging student mobility also means working on concrete points such as access to housing, banking services, etc.

The report also proposes measures on social economy such as:

– the concept of limited profitability

– coordination between states regarding childcare issues in situations of separations between interstate mixed couples

– a guarantee of transparency on remuneration

– coordination on disability issues

– better scientific evaluation of European social funds

The Deputy also answered questions from the audience. About the topic of non-salaried work, (Ipse dedicated its 42nd Meeting in 2016 to it), she tells us that 10% of Europeans have already worked on a digital platform. She hopes that the candidates in the European elections will seize this issue because these companies transcend boundaries. A national and European debate on these subjects therefore seems necessary to determine which points should be legislated at the European level. One of the major issues of this problem lies in the representation of these workers who are very fragmented. She advocates extensive consultations on these topics with a census of this population and its expectations.

The report therefore presents concrete recommendations for implementing the European Pilar of Social Rights. The aim is to make social Europe and its limits clearer and to identify the points on which progress can be made. Regarding social dialogue, there is legislation in 1986 which gave a place to trade unions. However, the report suggests attaching a stronger importance to intermediary bodies around thematic committees including experts.