Amsterdam: an insufficient revision
AUTOR : european anti-poverty network
July 1997
At its meeting on 16 and 17 June 1997, the European Council adopted
a Treaty draft which is due to be signed in October in Amsterdam. The negotiations
have
produced certain limited advances, particularly on social issues and
fundamental rights, but the overall result is somewhat disappointing. It
would not seem that the
new Treaty will allow the Union to meet the challenges it faces - rapid
economic and social change, the rise of exclusion and the enlargement of
the European Union
- as the 21st century approaches.
EAPN has committed considerable time and effort to the issue of the
revision of the Treaties which, in its view, was a unique occasion to establish
the foundations of
a social Europe closer to the needs of the people and able to face
up to the challenges brought by the globalisation of economies and poverty
in European societies.
EAPN has generated and led a broad debate amongst its member organisations
and has drawn up constructive proposals which it has disseminated widely,
and in
particular to governments.
The present document examines the results of the IGC in relation to
the demands made by EAPN concerning the revision of the Treaty. It focuses
on the following
issues: the objectives of the Union, fundamental rights, the non-discrimination
clause, services in the public interest, employment, and social provisions.
EAPN must now mobilise on two separate fronts: on the one hand, attempt
to make the best possible use of the limited advances achieved, in particular
in the fight
against social exclusion and discriminations and the positioning of
employment as a real priority, and on the other, continue to make proposals
so that the forthcoming
revision of the Treaties allows the Union to face up to the challenges
it must now meet.
1- THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION
The Amsterdam Treaty
Observations of EAPN
The objectives of the Union include the promotion of a high level
of
employment
(modification of Article B of the TEU1) Article 2 of the TEC1
has
been modified: it includes within the missions of the Community,
the
promotion of equality between women and men and the promotion
of a high degree of competitiveness and convergence of economic
performance between the Member States.
EAPN requested that the objective of social cohesion which had already
been listed in the
original Treaty should be developed in such a way as to include the fight
against poverty and
social exclusion. This has not been done. The objective of full employment
requested by EAPN
was not retained either by the negotiators, who limited their action to
aligning Article B of the
TEU with Article 2 of the TEC, which already had a stated objective of
`a high level of
employment'.
EAPN welcomes the promotion of equality between women and men as an objective
of the
Community.
Whilst recognising that the European economy must be competitive, EAPN
regrets that the
competitiveness of the economy has been promoted to the rank of objective
of the Union
rather than being considered as a means by which objectives already agreed
(such as a high
level of employment and social protection and improvements to the quality
and standard of
living) can be achieved and to which it must be subordinate.
2- FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
The Amsterdam Treaty
The preamble to the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) confirms
the attachment of Member States to fundamental social rights
as
defined in the Social Charter of the Council of Europe (signed
in
Turin in 1961) and in the Community Charter on the fundamental
social rights of workers of 1989. These two charters are also
referred to in the revised version of Article 117 of the TEC
on
social policy. The new Article Fa in the Treaty of the European
Union (TEU) provides for the suspension of `certain of the rights
resulting from the application of the provisions of the Treaties'
for
any State found guilty of `serious and persistent breach of the
principles listed in Article F, paragraph 1' (liberty, democracy,
respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule
of
law).
Observations of EAPN
EAPN welcomes the reference to the social charters (that of the Council
of Europe and the
Community charter) as well as the addition of the new Article Fa. EAPN
also requested the
Union's adhesion to international mechanisms for the protection of fundamental
rights to which
the Member States are signatory parties. This idea was not upheld. This
would have constituted
a meaningful statement and would have been a clearer guarantee of the Union's
commitment to
the promotion of fundamental rights.
EAPN's request that any person residing legally on Union territory for
at least 5 years should be
given European citizenship was not taken into consideration either.
3- NON DISCRIMINATION CLAUSE
The Amsterdam Treaty
A new Article 6A in the TEC stipulates that `the Council, acting
unanimously (...), may take appropriate action to combat
discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion
or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation'.
Observations of EAPN
EAPN welcomes this modification to the Treaty. However, it is regrettable
that the text
presented by the Irish presidency in December last year has not been kept:
the term `social'
(social origin) which appeared in the Irish text (and which appeared in
the proposals submitted
by EAPN) has disappeared from the new Treaty. Furthermore, the requirement
for unanimity
and the optional nature of the provision means there is a risk of its content
being diluted.
Furthermore, EAPN feels that the simple fact of forbidding discriminatory
measures will not
make for a society based on equal opportunities for all. It would have
been necessary also to
add to the Treaty provisions allowing for the adoption of measures aiming
to actively promote
equal opportunities for all. However, progress can be made if the Union
adopts more precise
Directives on the basis of this article. It will all depend upon the political
will of the Member
States.
4- SERVICES IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
The Amsterdam Treaty
Observations of EAPN
A new Article 7D of the TEC recognises services of general
economic interest as part of the shared values of the Union and
emphasises their role in the promotion of social and territorial
cohesion.
This, without doubt, constitutes progress compared to the previous situation.
Until Amsterdam
indeed, the Treaty practically ignored services in the public interest.
It now remains to give the
bones some flesh.
5- EMPLOYMENT
The Amsterdam Treaty
The Treaty includes a new chapter on employment which includes
6
articles and 2 declarations.
Article 1 provides for the co-ordination of employment policy,
in
particular through the promotion of a `skilled, trained and adaptable
workforce'.
Article 2 makes the Member States employment policies subordinate
to the major economic policy guidelines.
Article 3 mentions the objective of a high level of employment
in the
Community.
Article 4 defines the ways in which the Member States should
co-ordinate their employment policy: an annual report on the
employment situation, the adoption of guidelines which are compatible
with the major orientations of economic policy, the possibility
for the
Commission to communicate recommendations to the Member States.
Article 5 provides for the adoption of incentive measures in the
area
of employment (for example, programmes), decided on the basis
of
qualified majority voting.
Article 6 provides for the creation of an employment committee
of an
advisory nature which will be responsible for monitoring changes
in the
employment situation, formulating opinions and promoting the
co-ordination of employment policies between the Member States.
Provisions concerning this committee include consultation with
the
social partners.
The two declarations which are annexed to the employment chapter
provide a restrictive framework to the provisions of Article
5.
Observations of EAPN
EAPN welcomes the inclusion of a chapter on employment in the TEC, but
feels that
although this is certainly useful, it does not constitute a real advance
compared to the `Essen
process' which already existed.
In a somewhat unbalanced way, Article 1 of the employment chapter emphasises
only one
of the components of employment policy: training of a suitable and adaptable
workforce.
Articles 2 and 4 clearly indicate that employment policy in the Member
States continues to
be subordinate to the major economic policy guidelines, whilst EAPN had
hoped that the
employment dimension would be taken fully into consideration in the preparation
of these
guidelines, in order to make employment a real priority of economic policy.
EAPN welcomes the provisions concerning the adoption of `incentive measures
in the area of
employment' which are includes in Article 5 of the chapter on employment,
but regrets that
the 2 declarations annexed to this article limit the scope of those provisions.
EAPN had hoped that Article 6 would also provide for the employment committee's
consultation of the organisations which represent the unemployed or of
those working with
them.
EAPN also hoped that the employment chapter would make reference to new,
emerging
forms of paid employment and to the development of the social economy.
This reference is
absent from the text adopted.
In conclusion, the chapter on employment, on the contrary to the provisions
concerning
economic and monitory union adopted at Maastricht, do not contain binding
measures in
respect of the Member States, nor indeed does it contain sanctions; it
can only really be
useful if the political will of the Member States allows it to be.
6 - SOCIAL MEASURES
The Amsterdam Treaty
The agreement on social policy which had been excluded from the
Maastricht Treaty, has been incorporated with several slight
modifications:
Article 117, which presents the objectives of the Community's
social
policy, refers to the Council of Europe Social Charter and the
Charter
on workers' fundamental social rights.
In addition, Article 118 allows for the adoption on the basis
of
qualified majority voting of "measures designed to encourage
co-operation between Member States through initiatives which
aimed
at improving knowledge, developing exchanges of information and
best practices, promoting innovative approaches and evaluating
experiences in order to combat social exclusion"
Observations of EAPN
EAPN welcomes the inclusion of the agreement on social policy with the
possibility of
adopting incentive measures to combat social exclusion on the basis of
qualified majority
voting (Article 118). EAPN regrets however, that at the last moment, the
elderly and
persons with a disability were excluded from Article 118.
EAPN also hoped that the social chapter would be modified in two areas:
· the introduction of mechanisms to evaluate the social impact of all Community policies;
· the recognition of the role of the associations through a civil
dialogue between the
Community institutions and the associations operating in the social field...
EAPN regrets that no progress has been made on these two crucial points.
1 - Since the European Council meeting in Amsterdam did not go through
with the expected simplification of the Treaty, the functioning of the
Union continues to be
governed by the TEC (the Treaty establishing the European Community)
and by the TEU (the Treaty on European Union).
FONTE : http://europa.eu.int/en/agenda/igc-home/instdoc/ngo/eapn3en.htm