social platform
The quarterly publication of Social Platform, an alliance of 45 NGO networks fighting for social justice in Europe
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The EU budget for the next 7 years could exceed a trillion euros. That’s an important source of investment at a time when due to reduced funding from national governments, EU funds have become the main source of public funding for social and economic development. The economic crisis has affected the entire EU and many countries have implemented austerity measures with widespread spending cuts to public health services, unemployment and welfare benefits, social security etc. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) rely on EU funds to carry out projects at grassroots level to improve employment opportunities and the quality of jobs, promote education and life-long learning and develop active inclusion policies, guarantee adequate social protection and develop quality social and health services.
What is the Multiannual Financial Framework? The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is the EU budget for the next 7 years setting out the political priorities and how the EU should spend its money. The Commission made a proposal in October 2011 and in 2013 the EU and member states should approve the MFF for 2014-2020. The Commission proposed an overall budget of €1.052 billion and each member state would contribute 1.05% of its GNI (Gross National Income) to make up the majority of this budget. The MFF decides the total amount of the budget to be spent on broad policy area - headings - which for 2014-2020 include: Smart and Inclusive Growth, Sustainable Growth (natural resources), Security and Citizenship, Global Europe, and Administration. Under the heading of Smart and Inclusive Growth is economic, social and territorial cohesion. The Commission’s proposal for the next MFF specifically allocates €336bn for Cohesion policy.
What is the General Regulation (the Common Provisions Regulation)? The general regulation sets out common rules for the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and includes further general rules specific for the ERDF, ESF and the Cohesion Fund.
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The Commission has proposed a series of common principles and rules applicable to all the funds which include:
• A Partnership Principle where the Commission, member states and other partners (such as CSOs) will be involved in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes funded.
• Thematic concentration of the funds (a critical mass of investment in certain areas) to reach the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy such as the employment target and the poverty target.
• Ex-ante conditionalities: preconditions to ensure EU funds are efficiently used to achieve objectives
to which member states are already committed such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the UN Convention of Persons with Disabilities and the Europe 2020 strategy targets. For instance, to receive funding member states must explain how they intend to fulfil their promises to promote social inclusion and combat poverty, promote anti-discrimination, gender equality and the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
• Macro-economic conditionalities: all or part of the commitments and payments already agreed to a member state can be suspended if the member state in question is not able to fulfil its obligations in terms of control of public deficit and public debt.
• 25% of the 336bn euro budget for Cohesion Policy to be allocated to the ESF.
Disagreement on spending priorities: By the end of 2012 the EU and member states should in theory reach agreement on the MFF, however in reality the negotiations are very tough among the three EU institutions (the European Commission, Parliament and Council), and in particular between member states. All member states must vote unanimously and the European Parliament must express its consent. There is a group of seven member states called the “Friends of Better Spending” (Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK) that want to decrease the budget proposed by the Commission by at least 100 billion euro. France is aligned with this group. Another group of 11 countries called “Friends of Cohesion”, mostly net beneficiaries (BG, EL, HR, LT, LV, MT, PL, PT, RO, SL, SV), are advocating for not reducing the Commission proposal on cohesion policy. Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy and Ireland have not aligned themselves with either group and are supportive of the Commission’s proposal.
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If the negotiations result in a decrease of the overall budget, in particular for cohesion policy, and in a weakening of the Commission’s proposals, then social policies, civil society organisations and other beneficiaries at national, regional and local level will suffer most.
What do we want? Early in 2012 we developed proposals with our members to ensure that the next MFF provides adequate funding for social inclusion, the fight against poverty, access to quality employment and public services, the fight against discrimination, and the promotion of equal opportunities for all. We have also been asking for CSOs to be recognised as full partners in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes supported through this funding.
In particular we have been working on: 1. Social Inclusion and the fight against poverty It is critical that we guarantee a minimum share of the EU budget for social inclusion and the fight against poverty. In its proposal the European Commission allocated a minimum overall share of 25% of the 336 Billion euro budget for Cohesion Policy to the ESF. The Commission also proposed earmarking 20% of the ESF budget for social inclusion and combating poverty. Both the European Commission and the European Parliament are in support of keeping the original budget allocation. In the Council however, some member states have expressed their opposition and want to cut the percentages or do not want such a prescriptive rule, thereby jeopardising the work that needs to be done in the field of poverty and social exclusion in order to reach the targets of the Europe 2020 strategy.
2. Quality Employment When it comes to the promotion of quality employment, the ESF is not only a good instrument to foster the creation of, and the access to, employment but it should also promote sustainable and quality employment. Therefore, the 25% allocation of the 336 Billion euro cohesion policy budget to the ESF would also support national policies in this field and would help member states to reach the Europe 2020 employment target and help tackle rising unemployment levels in Europe.
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3. Services of General Interest (SGI), including social, health services and social economy Prioritising investments to develop quality, accessible, innovative, affordable Services of General Interest is crucial for economic and inclusive growth, as well as to ensure social cohesion and inclusion. For example, the ESF and the ERDF are essential to support the transition from institutions to personalised and community-based services. The ERDF should be used to invest in energy efficiency and social housing in order to prevent and alleviate energy poverty. The ESF should be used to facilitate the anticipation, due to demographic and societal changes, of future employment and training needs in the social and health care sector, to provide adequate training and qualifications to workers, to fund projects on social experimentation and to adapt training to the technological advancements in social and health service provision. The ESF can support social economy actors and social enterprises in order to carry out projects aimed at creating job opportunities for people distant from the labour market, promoting active inclusion, facilitating access to credit for social enterprises, developing training, qualifications and mobility schemes for social entrepreneurs and fund support structures aimed at the development of social enterprises.
4. Fundamental Rights The EU Structural and Cohesion Funds have the potential to activate the full participation of the most vulnerable and those at risk of social exclusion and discrimination. Investing in diversity and equality can be a driving force leading to economic development, growth and social cohesion. For example, diversity training for employers can result in equal opportunities and better management. In the hospitality sector a hotel chain invested in diversity training for all staff members and in just one year increased hotel stays by 15,000 nights and became the contractor for 100 companies. We support the Commission’s proposal for member states to explain how they intend to fulfil their promises to promote social inclusion and combat poverty, anti-discrimination, gender equality and disability before receiving funding.
5. Civil Dialogue CSOs active in the social area have the expertise to identify how programmes funded by the Structural and Cohesion Funds can deliver in the most efficient and effective way. CSOs have a key role in identifying social needs, can facilitate access to a sound knowledge of the needs of different target groups and know how to successfully run integrated projects funded by the EU. Therefore we have been calling for support for the Commission’s proposal to include CSOs in the partnership principle together with other relevant actors. We recommend a partnership that involves relevant stakeholders on equal footing and at all stages and levels of the structural funds programming.
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How national organisations could ENGAGE? The final decision for the MFF and the budget negotiations broadly lies with the European Council (the General Affairs Council) in other words, the member states. The negotiations are currently ongoing but agreement should be reached by early 2013. In August 2012 we launched a campaign to influence member states to ensure adequate funding for social and economic development over the next 7 years. We called on the EU and member states to: 1. Keep the overall amount of EU budget (1.025€ billion of commitments and 972.2€ billion of payments) as proposed by the Commission 2. Keep the 336 billion euro budget for Cohesion Policy as proposed by the European Commission 3. Use all the funds to reduce the social impact of the crisis and support the implementation of the social targets of the Europe 2020 strategy 4. Use the EU funds to develop sustainable, quality employment 5. Keep the pre-conditions (the horizontal ex-ante conditionalities) 6. Include civil society organisations as full partners (Partnership Contract) 7. Remove the macro-economic conditionality from all structural funds Between September and November 2012 our campaign has already reached the government of Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Belgium, the UK, Germany, France, the Czech Republic. It was our intention to engage organisations at the national level, which had the opportunity to send a copy of our letter to their relevant Minister who was nagotiating these funds on behalf of their government (usually EU and Foreign Affairs Minister).
How are our members ENGAGED? • European
Anti-Poverty Network: EAPN, together with 19 other social NGOs, is running the campaign EU Money for Poverty Reduction NOW! to urge Member States to respect their commitments to reduce poverty by ensuring that the necessary EU Funds are allocated for social inclusion and fighting poverty. The Campaign seeks to secure: the allocation of at least 25% of the Cohesion Policy budget to the European Social Fund (ESF); the earmarking of at least 20% of the ESF to social inclusion and poverty reduction. www.eapn.eu.
• European
Disability Forum: EDF has been very active in ensuring the mainstreaming of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) in the MFF and all financial instruments. For more information visit their website. www.edf-feph.org
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• European
Youth Forum: YFJ wants more mainstreaming of youth as a target group in different EU funding programmes in the next MFF. LoveYouthFuture is a campaign platform to support investments in youth. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness and debate about the importance of investing in youth at European, national, regional and local level, in youth policy and youth work. www.loveyouthfuture.eu
• International
Federation of Social Workers: IFSW is working to ensure that the voice of social workers is more prominent in local campaigns concerning the importance of maintaining the commitment within the EU to address poverty and inclusion, the cost in terms of avoidable suffering and greater expenditure in the long term of failing to do so. They plan to draft a letter for distribution to individual social workers encouraging them to write to their MEP’s. http://ifsw.org
• Mental Health Europe: MHE was involved in the work on the General Regulation through supporting
the retention of ex-ante conditionality through collaborating with the European Expert Group on Deinstitutionalization. This group sent a statement to the Council of the EU, while MHE sent letters to all Permanent Representations of EU members to the European Union and also to governments through MHE National Focal Points. www.mhe-sme.org
Other Campaigns • Civil Society Contact Group: The CSCG has been involved in the process of the Budget Review and continued to work on the MFF. The CSCG released a statement in January calling for an EU budget that is able to meet the challenges facing the EU and its responsibilities outside its border. The member organisations have met with the negotiating team of the Parliament, the Commission, the Danish and Cypriot Presidencies, and many permanent representations to ensure inclusive debate on the budget and to discuss the importance of involving civil society in the decision making process.
• Children’s Rights Action Group:
CRAG is a partnership of international NGOs aiming to ensure children’s rights are protected, respected and fulfilled both in the internal and external dimensions of EU policies and legislation, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). CRAG prepared a statement ahead of the MFF European Council 22-23 Nov, calling on EU leaders to make children visible in the MFF and to keep the Commission’s proposed ceilings. A template letter, drafted along the same lines as the statement, was sent to national members for distribution to their Prime Ministers/Presidents/relevant ministers. CRAG also produced a joint position paper on the MFF. As a member of CRAG, Eurochild has been leading on advocacy related to Heading 1, a substantial part
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of which is related to promoting the use of EU structural funds to tackle child poverty and promote child well-being. www.eurochild.org
• European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care: EEG is a
• Other Social Platform members who are active in lobbying the EU and member states on the MFF include:
• Eurochild - www.eurochild.org • Eurodiaconia - www.eurodiaconia.org • European Network Against Racism (ENAR) - www.enar-eu.org • European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) - www.epha.org • European Women’s Lobby (EWL) - www.womenlobby.org • Feantsa (European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless) www.feantsa.org • SOLIDAR - www.solidar.org • World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGS) - www.europe.wagggsworld.org/ More information can be found on their websites.
Contact:
T: +32 2 511 37 14 • E: platform@socialplatform.org A: Square de Meeûs 18, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium W: www.socialplatform.org
Social Platform is the largest civil society alliance fighting for social justice and participatory democracy in Europe. Consisting of 45 pan-European networks of NGOs, Social Platform campaigns to ensure that EU policies are developed in partnership with the people they affect, respecting fundamental rights, promoting solidarity and improving lives. Social Platform acknowledges the financial support of the European Commission. This publication reflects the author’s views. The Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in this publication. Published in December 2012
Printed on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper using vegetable ink • art direction: social platform • design: www.beelzepub.com
broad coalition of stakeholder organisations representing people with care or support needs (including children, people with disabilities, people experiencing mental health problems and families); service providers; public authorities and intergovernmental organisations. EEG has been very active in influencing MFF negotiations. The General Regulation is vital for ensuring the use of structural funds for de-institutionalisation (DI). The Group produced common European Guidelines on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care and a Toolkit on the use of EU funding. The Group is co-chaired by Luk Zelderlo, Secretary General of EASPD; Jana Hainsworth Secretary General of Eurochild; and Jan Jařab Regional Representative for Europe of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. http://deinstitutionalisationguide.eu/