Press

On 25-26 June, European Heads of State and government will meet at the European Council. Three topics on the Council’s agenda are of particular concern for us: the ongoing migration debate, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and endorsement of the Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) as part of the European Semester.

These debates however risk to be overshadowed by the Greek crisis. We are concerned that the outcome of the negotiations will have a negative social impact. The EU needs to put social and economic priorities on a par. Only by doing so the economic and social crisis in Greece will be resolved.

Social Platform – the largest civil society alliance fighting for social justice and participatory democracy in Europe – calls on the Council to consider first and foremost how their decisions will impact the lives of people within as well as outside the EU. The social dimension of each topic must be a priority.

The new European Agenda on Migration must reflect a human rights-based approach. We welcome that the Agenda recognises the principle of solidarity to “protect those in need”, but this should not be viewed only from a „burden-sharing” perspective; solidarity is a core value of the Lisbon Treaty that all member states have signed up to. While the EU’s actions in this area are currently focused on “targeting criminal smuggling networks” which exploit vulnerable migrants, it is also crucial that the EU improves safe and legal routes to enter the EU. We call on each member state to implement the “humanitarian clause” of the 2002 Facilitation Package enabling individuals, NGOs and service-providers to provide humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants.

Looking at this year’s CSRs, we regret the Commission scaled back its recommendations on fighting poverty and social exclusion with no alternative proposal on how to address rising poverty and inequality. We urgently need an integrated approach combining employment policies with social policies, including investment in adequate social protection and services, if we want to move forward on the Europe 2020 target. The CSRs also fail to link growth with the promotion of fundamental rights. Based on the European Treaties, the EU and member states are bound to respect and protect fundamental rights. The European Semester should therefore be used to ensure that member states respect these rights when pursuing economic reforms. If macro-economic policies continue to be prioritised at the expense of social policies, this will undermine the recovery of the EU and the achievement of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Regarding TTIP, we want to see the preservation of the general interest in the negotiations. To this end, we have sent our key demands to EU Heads of State and government. For Social Platform, it is vital that TTIP excludes all social services, and health and education services of general interest – regardless of whether they are publicly or privately funded. Furthermore, the negotiations should be based on the acquis of the new public procurement directive, the services directive and the recently revised state aid rules. In addition, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism should not be included in the agreement as it is both unnecessary and potentially destabilising.

We count on the Council to take account of these concerns, and hope to see a strong social commitment reflected in its conclusions.

Jana Hainsworth

President

Pierre Baussand

Director