The social dimension of European cohesion policy in a 27-state Europe

On the basis of the relevant content of the Treaty of Lisbon (rejected in the Irish referendum of June 2008), this paper examines European Union cohesion policy as a fundamental dimension of the scant European social policy. In the context of a 27-state union with a slim budget, the European Social Fund remains the main social instrument of cohesion. An analysis of its application in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Galicia affords insights into the economic and political impact of European Union economic, social and territorial cohesion policy. A partir de un balance de la política social en el cuestionado Tratado de Lisboa, se analiza la política de cohesión comunitaria como dimension fundamental de una, sin duda, escasa política social europea. En el marco de una Unión ampliada a 27 Estados y con un escaso presupuesto, el Fondo Social Europeo persiste como principal instrumento social de la política de cohesión de la Unión Europea. Finalmente, el estudio de la aplicación en una Comunidad española, Galicia, pretende aportar elementos interpretativos y de síntesis del impacto no sólo económico si no también político de la política de cohesión económica, social y territorial. Keywords: European Social PolicyEU Cohesion PolicyEuropean Social FundTreaty of LisbonGalicia (Spain)Palabras clave: Política Social EuropeaPolítica de Cohesión EuropeaFondo Social EuropeoTratado de LisboaGalicia (España) Notes 1. Recommendation Rec (2001)1 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States, on social workers, explicitly recognizes the contribution of social work to human development and the promotion of social cohesion, and treats social work as an investment in the future welfare of Europe. 2. The Treaty of Lisbon was ratifiable both by referendum and by parliamentary assent (as was the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe), the deadline for ratification being 1 January 2009. However, of the 27 Member States, only Ireland, by constitutional imperative, chose the former course. 3. Pedro Luis Gomis has employed the expression ‘social deficit’ to refer to ‘the need to complement and balance the economic dimension with the political and social dimensions’ (Gomis, Citation1999, p. 2). 4. For an account of the evolution of social policy up to the 1980s, see Rifflet (Citation1984, pp. 13–25). 5. The establishment of the cohesion policies constituted a response to the initial eminently economic thrust of the process of European integration. M. P. Smith writes of a ‘defensive reaction’ promoting an equilibrium in which a single market can coexist with a social dimension (Smith, Citation1999, pp. 117–139). 6. In the TFEU Titles IX–XV and XVIII are respectively devoted to Employment; Social Policy; the European Social Fund (which in the constitutional treaty was dealt with in the title on social policy); Education, Vocational Training, Youth and Sport; Culture; Public Health; Consumer Protection; and Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion. 7. ‘Though no clear overall definition currently exists, it is generally accepted that complementary competence covers areas in which intervention by the Community is limited to supplementing, supporting, or coordinating the action of the Member States’ (Document of the Secretariat of the European Convention CONV 75/02, Brussels, 31 May 2002). 8. Four pillars of employment policy were defined: employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability and equal opportunities. As Miren Etxezarreta points out (Etxezarreta, Citation2005, p. 135), these four directions put the onus on the person seeking work, not on those responsible for the creation of real employment opportunities, promoting the notion that unemployment is a consequence of the personal or professional deficiencies of the worker. The inroads on social rights are likewise illustrated by a recent EU directive that, a century after the introduction of the 48-hour working week, gives sanction to the 65-hour week pursued by those Member States that have sought to make the labour market increasingly ‘flexible’ and precarious. 9. ‘In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health.’ 10. This expression is also employed in the regulations governing the organization and mission of this Committee as established by Art. 49 of Council Regulation 1260/1999 (21 June 1999). 11. The major European institutions have been the driving force for gender policies in a number of EU countries. Although many Member States have a long history of measures of this kind, their introduction in others, particularly in the Mediterranean countries, has been thanks to the support of the European Commission and the European Parliament (Lombardo, Citation2004). 12. Communication from the Commission: Policy Plan on Legal Migration, COM(2005), 699 final [SEC(2005)1680]. 13. See the conclusions drawn from the Meagar report on the ESF and long-term employment (Toffanin, Citation1991; European Commission, Citation1999, pp. 65–66). 14. In recent years, equality of opportunities between men and women has been granted special attention by the European institutions as part of economic and social cohesion policy. For the period 2007–2013, the Structural Funds treat this issue as a transverse priority. 15. In spite of the controversial Sapir Report having suggested that the EU budget be redistributed to the detriment of traditional agricultural and cohesion policies (Sapir, Citation2003). 16. Even more marked than the disparities between states—Luxembourg is seven times richer than Romania—are the disparities between regions. According to Eurostat (Eurostat Press Release STAT/07/23, 19 February 2007), in 2004 regional per capita gross domestic product ranged from 24% of the 27-member EU average in Northeast Romania to 303% in Central London. 17. See the Fourth Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, approved by the Commission in May 2007 (European Commission, Citation2007). 18. This was the fourth financial perspective, the preceding three having been the Delors I and Delors II packages for 1988–1992 and 1993–1999, and Agenda 2000 for 2000–2006. 19. Commission Decision of 4 August 2006 drawing up the list of regions eligible for funding from the Structural Funds under the Convergence objective for the period 2007–2013 (2006/595/EC). 20. The criterion adopted by the European Commission in Citation2006 for classification of a territory as a convergence objective region for the period 2007–2013 was that average per capita GDP in the period 2000–2002 should have been less than 75% of the mean of the EU-25 states for that period [Regulation (EC) No. 1083/2006)] 21. Data from Eurostat (2008). In the ranking of European regions by per capita GDP, Galicia rose from 189th at the end of 2004 to 180th at the end of 2005. 22. Examples include the approximately 700 consultative committees, made up of representatives of public and private stakeholders, that are encharged with advising the Commission in the preparation of its legislative proposals. 23. Recent years have seen significant changes in both policies and the style of policy making, with important strategic implications for pro-equality organizations and women's associations (Lombardo, Citation2004). Nevertheless, for many policy administrators the application of the principal of equal opportunities still consists almost exclusively in equal access to services and in the number of female beneficiaries attended to

Cohesion (chemistry · Economic policy · Economics · European union · Member state · Member states · Political science · Politics · Welfare economics · Human Rights and Immigration · Law · Regional Development and Policy · Social Sciences and Policies

• Democracy and the global order

  David Held•Democracy and the global order•1995

  Add to list

• European Social Policy

  Eva Hartmann•Evolution of Intermediary…•2015

  Add to list

• The Social Dimension

  Open Access•Michael Gold•The Social Dimension•1993

  Add to list

• Monetary Union and Social Europe

  Open Access•Paul Teague•Journal of European Social Policy•1998

  Add to list