Europe needs sustainable growth and better social protection
At the Tripartite Social Summit on 18 October, CEC European Manager President Luder Ramme has given a speech on the social dimension of Europe. He highlighted the importance of balancing economic growth with the provision of effective safety nets and pointed out that the European Pillar of Social rights could become the right tool to improve social conditions. He added that European managers are ready to play their role by accompanying the necessary changes through social dialogue and in their companies.
Although the EU employment rate continues rising above the pre-crisis level, challenges remain with regards to regional disparities, rising inequalities, poverty, the low labour market participation of non-EU28 migrants, older workers and the low skilled. Some member states still face very high rates of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs). These findings highlight the need for early labour market integration for migrants, targeted activation policies, lifelong learning, adequate, preventive and accessible social security systems, as well as increased work-life balance.
Besides structural weaknesses in some countries’ welfare systems and the lasting impact of the crisis, there are also some relatively new phenomena linked to the digitalisation of the European economy. New forms of work, non-standard and sometimes involuntary, linked to the platform economy are getting more widespread and put to test existing social protection systems to include new categories of workers. These developments also represent a challenge for social partners, both in terms of access to information about these trends as well as the question of representativeness in social dialogue. For these reasons, CEC European Managers participates in the CEPS project on the collaborative economy and its consequences for social dialogue.
For CEC European Managers, existing national social security systems need to evolve in order to counter socio-economic risks affecting more social categories. An active labour market integration of a growing number of persons will be needed to finance the pensions of an ageing population, better education and health. The European Pillar of Social Rights may become a tool at various policy levels to guarantee the provision of these rights. Considering the need for sustainable job creation in the future, CEC supports the new European industrial strategy announced by the European Commission. The strategy needs also to account to the significant regional disparities as well as quality education and training for the innovative potential of our societies to unfold.
CEC European Managers has participated in the Tripartite Social Summit, the main appointment for European social partners, within the framework of the Liaison Committee, in partnership with Eurocadres. The meeting was chaired by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, as well as the Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas.
Read more about where Europe stands today in terms of social progress in the “Employment and Social Developments in Europe” report
Please find the speech of Ludger Ramme below
Photo credits: European Union
