Strengthening the social inclusion strategy in 2010

1. Strengthening the social inclusion strategy in 2010 Peter Lelie – European Commission - DG EMPL Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

2. Post Lisbon decisionmaking process • - Preparatory work / reflection in committees (SPC, EMCO etc..) is ongoing: SPC discussed post Lisbon at its April and May meetings • Discussion (social strand) at ministerial level in June EPSCO council based on preliminary input from committees • Commission proposal expected in the second half of the year • Decisions to be taken at the Spring council 2010 • At this point we are still early in the process … Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

3. Some material to prepare for post Lisbon • Communication on reinforcing the social OMC / renewed social agenda (July 2008) • - Preliminary results Task Force on the mutual interaction between the Social OMC and Jobs and Growth • ‘Light’ evaluation questionnaire on the latest reporting cycle • … Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

4. Challenges identified by the ISG-SPC task force on the mutual interaction between the Social OMC and the Growth and Jobs strategy • In the last decade economic and employment growth has in general improved overall living standards but inequalities/poverty rates have often increased (differences across countries). • Recent employment growth has not always managed to reach the most excluded from the labour market. Crisis is likely to aggravate problems of long term exclusion. Need for strong active inclusion strategies. • In some countries social protection systems present weaknesses and loopholes in social safety nets. Need for improving efficiency and effectiveness of social spending. • Need to further modernise social protection systems so as to improve long term adequacy and sustainability. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

5. What should be done? • A strengthened commitment is needed on national and EU level to increase delivery of the social objectives. • The Social OMC has been useful and the common social objectives have provided a useful policy framework (value added). It should continue and needs to be reinforced. • Greater coherence and mutual reinforcement is needed between the Social OMC and other EU policy areas (in particular also growth and jobs policies). Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

6. Some suggested ways to improve the impact of the social inclusion strategy • Increased commitment and clearer messages • Greater coherence and mutual reinforcement between the Social OMC and other EU policy areas • Reinforcing mutual learning • Boosting analytical capacity • Further progress on policy coordination and involvement of stakeholders at national level Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

7. 1. Increased commitment and clearer messages • Targets have been suggested as a way of strengthening commitment and of making objectives more concrete. There is only limited support for EU level targets among Member States. National targeting seems to be supported by a growing number of countries but some are still very reluctant to use targets and insist that this remains a core responsibility of MS. The Commission has launched a technical study on target setting. Results will be discussed in the Indicators Sub-group of the SPC. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

8. 1. Increased commitment and clearer messages • - Recommendations have been suggested in the Communication as a way of formalising convergence of views (common principles), increasing visibility of messages coming out of the Social OMC (also through endorsement by other institutions) and providing a basis for monitoring and evaluation. The recommendation on active inclusion has been published in October 2008. An SPC working group on active inclusion will examine how the recommendation can best be monitored. The network of independent social inclusion experts has produced a report on minimum income schemes in the Member States. The Commission intends to propose recommendations on other issues. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

9. 2. Greater coherence and mutual reinforcement between the Social OMC and other EU policy areas • It could be considered to integrate relevant social aspects in the post 2010 renewed Lisbon strategy • Increased use of the social OMC as a platform for developing a more holistic approach to social policy at EU level (renewed social agenda): e.g. on migration, health, education, youth… through better cooperation with other committees and high level groups. • Strengthening the social dimension of impact assessment as a tool for mainstreaming. The Commission is strengthening social impact assessment of its own policies and a study on social impact assessment in the member states is ongoing. • Linking social inclusion strategy better to the territorial dimension of social cohesion (through structural funds, regional policy). Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

10. 3. Reinforcing mutual learning • Testing of new tools for mutual learning: exchange of expertise, training on governance, social experimentation. • - Strengthening peer reviews by introducing new formats and using results in a more strategic manner. • Improving the analysis and mutual learning on the basis of the national reports by developing better assessment methods and by improving the process. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

11. 4. Boosting analytical capacity • Need for further development of: • data sources, • indicators, • analysis • to support evidence based policy making (targets, social impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation). Further use thematic years to make progress on specific issues. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

12. 5. Further progress on policy coordination and involvement of stakeholders at national level • Because policy coordination and participation of • stakeholders are essential for effective implementation of • policy: development of voluntary guidelines to support: • - Horizontal and vertical coordination (e.g. better involvement of regional and local authorities) • Participation of stakeholders (people experiencing poverty, social partners, service providers, NGO’s…) Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit

13. Thank you for your attention Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Social Inclusion Unit