More attention to social Europe” “

Apart from the more or less explicit criticisms from all sides of the political spectrum of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and his method of presenting ideas and proposals to the press without debating them previously in plenary session, the twelfth session of the Convention on the future of Europe (Brussels, 7-8 November 2002) was distinguished by two particularly significant and interconnected events. “Economic Governance”. Discussion on the final report of the work group on “Economic Governance”, chaired by German socialist Klaus Haensch (former president of the European Parliament), highlighted the difficulty of formulating shared proposals on questions “of political content”, as Giscard himself pointed out. In spite of that, some innovative proposals did emerge, on which basic consensus was registered and which partially saved what European Commissioner and member of the Presidium Michel Barnier called “a result not commensurate with the challenge of an enlarged Union”: the need to make the coordination of the EU’s economic policies more effective; the proposal to grant to the European Commission an independent role in the control of governments’ conformity with the Stability Pact; and the maintenance of the informal nature of the Eurogroup (a forum for discussion and consultation on monetary policies in which all EU member states participate), while maintaining formal decisions in the hands of the Ecofin Council of economic and financial ministers (limited to the countries of the Euro zone). Lastly, all the Convention delegates agreed on the need to confer on the Union a single external representation in the international financial institutions, though without specifying what kind of representation this should be. Social Europe. The hotly awaited “debate on social Europe” on the agenda led the Convention to establish a work group on social policies which should be formalized on the proposal of the Presidium during the next plenary session. The members of the Convention were called to respond to some questions of social policy that emerged from the work group on “Economic Governance”: “To what degree ought social policy to be considered part of the Union’s general objectives? How should it be taken into account in the constitutional Treaty?”; “Is it appropriate to modify the existing provisions of the Treaty on social questions and, if so, how? Should the current sectors of competence be extended? If so, to what new sectors? Should other provisions, for example those relating to the internal market or to competition, be modified with a view to improving social policies?”; “Should the existing provisions relating to the involvement of the social partners be modified?”. The debate clearly revealed the desire of the majority of Convention members and of all the European political groups to pursue the discussion on the social Europe without limiting it to a single plenary session. On the proposal of 47 members of the Convention – with very wide support both inside and outside the assembly – the premises were laid for the establishment of a work group on social issues, whose mandate will be defined by the Presidium during the next session at the end of the month.