EU active inclusion principles: how to get them implemented Pierre Baussand, Policy Officer January 20, 2008

Previous steps July 1, 2008: Social Platform recommendations for European Active Inclusion principlesSocial Platform recommendations for European Active Inclusion principles December 12, Letter to Ministers of EPSCO Council: 3 requests:Letter to Ministers of EPSCO Council 1) Demand 1: Endorse Active Inclusion principles as proposed by the European Commission 2) Demand 2:Prioritise Active Inclusion in recovery plan 3) Demand 3: Adopt a roadmap for the implementation of these principles and agree on a clear timeline December 17, EPSCO Council adopts conclusionsconclusions

Analysis of the Council conclusions Demand 3: Conclusions fall short in setting up an implementation phase.  There is no mention of roadmap or clear timeline.  The EPSCO Council simply endorsed "the aim of designing and implementing comprehensive and integrated national strategies to promote the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market [..] on the basis of the common principles and guidelines identified in the European Commission Recommendation [of October 3]".

Inclusion of Social NGOs concerns in the conclusions 1/ Conclusions mention access to sufficient resources and social assistance to enable people to lead a dignified life (§15 and 19) (see point 1 of Social Platform letter) Active inclusion should promote gender equality and equal opportunity and support the implementation of fundamental rights (Conclusions §25) (see point 1 of Social Platform letter) It appears essential to work with non-governmental organisations and the participation of persons concerned in developing, framing, monitoring and reviewing active inclusion policies should be encouraged (§26) (our point 2) The aim of access to employment should be quality jobs (§28). But this objective is balanced by the following sentence "combating inwork poverty should not increase the cost of employing unqualified workers to such an extent that it ultimately excludes them from the labour markets".

Inclusion of Social NGOs concerns in the conclusions 2/ In terms of services, if §2 and 19 mentions access to "quality services", §29 only addresses 'essential services“ (such as social welfare services, employment and vocational training, housing assistance, social housing, childcare, health and long-term care and basic financial services). If universality, solidarity and accessibility are mentioned in the recalling and acknowledgements, as key features of these services, the "quality" and "affordability" requested by Social Platform are not included in the “Emphasis”. The open ended list of services proposed by the Council includes social welfare services, employment and vocational training services, housing assistance, social housing, childcare, health and long term care and basic financial services. Social Platform welcomes the inclusion of these services in the conclusions and hopes that other services of general interest such as such as public transport, access to energy, or education are also included.

Still problematic in the conclusions Link between adequate income support and active measures promoting social and labour market integration (§27) still raises the issue of the conditionality. (point 1 SP letter) The latter may force people into getting a job at any price which could lead to low quality jobs. For many social NGOs, adequate minimum income should be an individual social right decoupled from the obligation to take any paid job.

Our contact information Square de Meeûs 18 B-1050 Brussels Belgium T F Thank you!