EESC – Integrating the European Pillar of Social Rights into the roadmap for deepening Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union – Study

This study on behalf of the Workers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee explores the possibility of establishing three policy instruments to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and rebalance the economic and social dimensions of the E(M)U. First, Member States should put their money where their mouth is and live up to the expectations raised by the EPSR, by (a) “socialising” the EU budget during the negotiations on the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, and (b) creating a (social) budget for the Eurozone. Second, the report argues in favour of the set-up of an automatic macro-economic stabilization instrument for the EMU in the form of an equivalent European Unemployment Benefit Scheme. Thirdly, it proposes to launch a “Social Imbalances Procedure” (SImP) that would entail (a) identifying national social imbalances (“critical situations”) through a revisited Social Scoreboard; (b) the elaboration of Multi-annual National Action Plans, providing technical and/or financial support for implementing social investment, e.g. through the new Reform Support Programme; (c) a strictly conditional increase in the EU contribution in the ESF+ or the triggering of a “silver rule” for national social investment spending; and finally (d) monitoring of implementation through the European Semester Country Reports.

The Study is available here.