Editorial July 13

Nicosia, Cyprus, its 40 degrees outside and I am on my way to meet with the Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs to discuss the two main EU strategies to get out of the crisis.For the people, the heat on the street is as unbearable as the social consequences of the crisis.

On the road side I can see the flags from all the EU countries. The Cyprus flag is not far from the Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greek flags -all countries that fell into bailout programmes with harsher and harsher austerity measures.

The Morning news is still telling the same story. Thousands of Spaniards demonstrated in support of the miners marching against the withdrawal of vital public funding for the mining industry. Portuguese doctors are on strike, with the support of their patients, against the unbearable cuts in health services.

People feel alienated and disconnected from EU policies. They are even going against them.

EU strategies are not responding to these dramatic situations. Even worse the ministers, those guiding themat EU level, acknowledged this morning “we don't know how the crisis will end". The issue is not anymore when it will end but what kind of EU will emerge from the crisis.

The Cypriot presidency wants to restore the trust between the EU and its citizens. What we said to the ministers is that we need another Europe. We need a social union with a social pact that supports the poor and those who might fall into poverty; that supports quality employment with which people can have a decent life; that invests in quality services that supports those we care for; and affordable housing for all.

We also said that it is now time to involve people and representative NGOs in the EU decision making process. They have not been involved at national level despite the fact they daily support the working poor, the unemployed, and those people excluded from society and the labour market. They know what they need and what the people need: their proposals should be listened to.

The heat on the social situation will certainly last beyond the summer. And it looks like it will be a long hot autumn especially since the ILO warns that 4,5m more jobs may be lost over the next four years.

Pierre Baussand - Director of Social Platform