Economy of wellbeing, or wellbeing of the economy?

What do eight ministers for social affairs, health or employment discuss when they meet nowadays? They talk about the economy! Surprising? To be welcomed? It depends.

On 16-18 September, Social Platform held its second ‘Building Social Europe’ Flagship Conference, organised back-to-back with the Finnish EU Presidency’s high-level conference on the economy of wellbeing. Central to both events was how to put people at the centre of the economic model – a theme that will be taken forward by the future Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People.

For the Finnish Presidency, the links between the economic and social spheres are crucial as the lack of investment in the social sector leads to increasing costs to our societies, in areas including health care and social welfare. At Social Platform, we’ve been calling for decision-makers to stop looking at social affairs in isolation from other policies. As economist Thomas Piketty rightly highlights in his new book ‘Capital and Ideology’, part of our contemporary democratic crisis stems from an excessive disconnect of economic knowledge from other social sciences and the civic and political sphere.

A cross-sectoral approach to social affairs is therefore to be welcomed – but with some conditions. In the Presidency’s round table debate featuring eight ministers and state secretaries, social partners and civil society representatives – including our President Piotr Sadowski – BUSINESSEUROPE’s Rebekka Smith stated that “a joint social-economic approach is only of added value for the EU if it doesn’t lose sight of the economy”. Such a “growth first” approach leads me to question which direction the EU will choose to move towards: the economy of wellbeing, or the wellbeing of the economy? Is investing in ‘social’ to ensure people’s wellbeing, which in turn contributes to the goal of economic growth a win-win situation for both those defending profit and those defending the common good? It depends if we agree on the foundation of our Union: is it the well-functioning of the market, or our fundamental values?

For us, the direction the EU must take is clear: it’s people first! As Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett showed in their research published in the book ‘The Inner Level’, more equal societies reduce stress and improve everybody’s wellbeing. On this basis, the EU’s aim should not be wellbeing, but rather reducing inequalities.

As a civil society organisation active in the social field, we will work with the EU institutions in the coming years to make sure that the economy doesn’t lose sight of people – or the planet, as the wellbeing of the two go hand-in-hand. It is time to promote economic, social and environmental policies that ensure prosperity is shared, without harming the planet!

This week we take the first step towards this goal in the shape of the hearings of future European Commissioners. Members of the European Parliament, who have heard the calls of Europeans and civil society organisations and relayed many of their messages, will check whether the Commissioners-designate have our shared values at the heart of their mission: equality, justice, solidarity, environmental protection, the rule of law, and human rights.

Best wishes,

Kélig Puyet, Director of Social Platform