The ”social question” is back

What is the "social Europe" which has regained centre stage in EU countries? Does it refer to national measures to promote employment, inclusion, fair taxation, a guaranteed minimum wage, already present in a large number of EU member states? Are there appeals for Community interventions, such as support to the less developed regions or job opportunities to young people, along with internships and traineeship abroad? In the light of a crisis that has crushed the old continent, which is still lingering on, social Europe still appears as a goal closely related to economic integration and EU policy.Pressure and containment. The theme was recently addressed by prominent European policymakers such as the president of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker ("we had promised the euro would have brought fairer societies") and ECB leader Mario Draghi. Social Europe is present in the vocabulary of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the fellow countryman Martin Schulz, President of the EU Parliament, in that of French President François Hollande. Phrases of this kind are found in the "Conclusions" of the last summit of Heads of State and Government of the EU and in the "State of the Union Speech" delivered by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in September. Much less compliant on this front is David Cameron, British Prime Minister, backed by a minority of MEPs and several governments in northern Europe. In this case, there emerges a "containment" not so much on the issue of social inclusion, but rather on the role that Europe as a whole must have with regard to redistributive policies: those who call for "less Europe", as the British government, tend to confine the integration process to the construction of a market economy, without assign tasks rebalancing social or territorial. Cameron’s speech of January 18, which will focus on the UK-EU relationship, is expected with great interest. Surging differences. Nevertheless a recent – and underestimated – survey by the European Commission, presented by Commissioner László Andor, responsible for Employment and Social Affairs, highlights the consequences of the economic and financial crisis on households and consumers, indicating as a way out a more courageous policy of inclusion, whose premises can be found in the large agenda on support to investment and growth, monitoring and rebalancing public spending, ever-postponed reform of the labor market and pension systems, initiatives for education and vocational training, in fairer taxation and fight against tax evasion… According to the 2012 edition of the Employment and Social Developments in Europe Review, released last week, "after five years of economic crisis and the return of a recession in 2012, unemployment is hitting new peaks not seen for almost twenty years, household incomes have declined and the risk of poverty or exclusion is on the rise, especially in Member States in Southern and Eastern Europe". The document goes on: "The impact of the crisis on the social situation has now become more acute as the initial protective effects of lower tax receipts and higher levels of spending on social benefits" (so-called "automatic stabilisers") "have weakened". "A new divide is emerging between countries that seem trapped in a downward spiral of falling output, fast rising unemployment and eroding disposable incomes" and those "that have so far shown good or at least some resilience". Southern and Eastern Europe are exposed to the risk of poverty – all surveys Eurostat have shown – while countries like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria and the Scandinavian countries appear to be more sheltered from these threats.Reforms, investments. "2012 has been another very bad year for Europe in terms of unemployment and the deteriorating social situation", commented European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor, presenting the report. ""But our analysis shows how appropriate labour market reforms and improvements in the design of welfare systems can increase Member States’ resilience to economic shocks and facilitate faster exit from the crisis". Andor explicitly pointed out that "it is unlikely that Europe will see much socio-economic improvement in 2013 unless it achieves greater progress also on credibly resolving the euro crisis", "finding resources for much needed investment, including in people’s skills, employability and social inclusion". Andor pointed underlined "a new pattern of divergence", which is most striking "between the North and the South of the eurozone"; that declining household incomes "increase the risks of long-term exclusion"; that welfare systems, wages and skills are the areas are key areas to successfully implement social equality. Thus solutions seem at hand: the question is whether this is the path that will be undertaken by Member States and by the EU, without further adjournments.