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European Economic and Social Committee
PRESS RELEASE No. 58/2003 Brussels, 23th September 2003
SEPTEMBER PLENARY SESSION
DRAFT CONSTITUTION FOR EUROPE:
THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE TABLES PROPOSALS TO THE IGC
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is due to adopt on 25th September an Opinion outlining a series of proposals that will be addressed to the forthcoming intergovernmental conference (IGC) on the new Constitutional Treaty (Opinion to the 2003 Intergovernmental Conference - Rapporteur: Henri Malosse, Group I, employers, France).
The EESC asks that the IGC not upset the balance and the broad principles achieved by the Convention through consensus in the draft Constitutional Treaty submitted to the Council Presidency on 18 July 2003.
However, the European Economic and Social Committee recommends that those taking part in the IGC supplement, detail and clarify certain points in such a way as to increase the trust and involvement of the general public and civil society organisations but without upsetting the general balance of the draft Treaty. This includes:
q introducing stronger provisions for implementing the Union's economic and social policies and improving governance in the Euro zone;
q boosting the democratic legitimacy of economic, social and monetary policies by involving the European Parliament and the EESC more;
q bringing priorities up to date and simplifying the instruments for economic, social and territorial cohesion;
q making common foreign, defence and security policy more democratically accountable and making it more consistent and effective;
q defining more precisely the scope and arrangements for putting into practice the principle of participatory democracy, so as to give tangible expression to civil dialogue and the tasks of the EESC in this context;
q expanding the mandatory fields of consultation of the EESC to cover the common asylum and immigration policy, application of the principle of non-discrimination, and culture; and
q acknowledging the role of civil society organisations in implementing the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, granting the EESC the right of appeal to the Court of Justice.
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Opinions on Trans-European Network projects, industrial change and European Works Councils
Following the European Commission's requests, the EESC is expected to adopt the following exploratory Opinions:
TEN projects/2004 (exploratory Opinion)
Rapporteur: Mr Philippe Levaux (Group I, Employers, France)
Key points:
§ Levels of subsidy for projects must be more attractive, in particular for cross border projects and must lie between 10% and 50% of the cost of the work (excluding taxes) depending on the type of project involved;
§ The Committee proposes that a European fund specifically for transport infrastructure be set up in the EU budget with permanent revenue. The revenue for this fund for carrying out priority TEN- T projects would come from a 1% levy per litre of fuel used on the roads, which would bring in €3,000 million a year, for 300 million tonnes consumed in 2006. This financing would provide a modest solidarity-based contribution for future generation from all European road users;
§ In order to bolster the EU Italian presidency's "growth initiative" during the current period of stagnation and major budgetary deficits in certain countries, the Committee suggests that sums involved in "virtuous" investment i.e. earmarked for priority TEN-T projects alone should not be included when calculating compliance with the Maastricht criteria.
Economic and social cohesion: regional competitiveness, governance, and cooperation (exploratory Opinion)
Rapporteur-general: Mr Henri Malosse (Group I, Employers, France)
The Committee feels that the Community's regional cohesion policy should undergo radical reform and aim to increase the competitiveness of EU regions that under use their own resources rather than using public aid to compensate for development disparities. EU intervention should provide real added value and should draw on successful experiences and cooperation between regions. This added value will help the least developed regions to play their part in major Community policies. The Committee calls for a radical reform of economic and social cohesion policy methods and priorities to meet the challenges posed by enlargement and the knowledge-based economy; the new cohesion policy for 2006-2012 must tie in with the Lisbon strategy as a matter of priority, in order to make the EU the most competitive knowledge based economy in the world and allow regions to play a full part using their own particular assets.
European works councils (exploratory Opinion)
Rapporteur: Mr Piette (Group II, Employees, Belgium)
Drawing on the various findings on the practical application of the Directive and the operation of the EWCs, the EESC has been able to identify the contribution of EWCs to European social dialogue and European development. However a number of fundamental questions remain open. They mainly concern inter alia:
§ The concepts of "useful effect" and "timeliness" with regard to informing and consulting employees;
§ The question of representation and proportionality of representation on EWCs, which is not covered by transnational rules;
§ The question of the impact of EWCs on social dialogue in the company at national level.
Industrial change: current situation and prospects – an overall approach (own initiative Opinion)
Rapporteur: Mr Joost van Iersel (Group I, Employers, Netherlands)
The Opinion, the first of a series, is designed to clarify the concept of industrial change (including the service industries). It presents a survey of the acquis at European level and information on ways of dealing with industrial change, with a view to identifying examples of best practice and appropriate business models. The Committee reiterates its demands for efficient policies to achieve:
§ human resources development;
§ more and better jobs within an inclusive labour market;
§ specific attention towards the ageing of the active population and towards measures; promoting women's access to the labour market;
which all require lifelong learning at all levels and an improvement of education and training.
The Committee also emphasizes the importance of better anticipating and thus managing the economic, social, organizational and environmental repercussions of industrial change. It considers that social dialogue in companies and, where appropriate involving local players and public authorities, is an important and decisive tool to develop competitiveness, social conditions and employment as well as environmental protection in a productive balance.
Note: The recently-created Consultative Committee on Industrial Change enables a direct dialogue with the representatives of sectors and interest groups affected by industrial change. Its goal is to apply the lessons learnt from the restructuring of the coal and steel sectors to other areas of industrial change.
Other Opinions that are due for adoption:
Partnership for implementing the Structural Funds (exploratory Opinion)
Rapporteur: Mr Paolo Barros Vale (Group I, Employers, Portugal)
European defence
Rapporteur: Clive Wilkinson (Group 1, Employers, United Kingdom)
Entrepreneurship in Europe
Rapporteur: Mr Ben Butters (Group I, Employers, United Kingdom)
Innovation policy (Communication)
Rapporteur: Mr Mario Soares (Group II, Employees, Portugal)
Horizontal Mergers
Rapporteur: Mr Bernardo Hernandez Bataller (Group III, Various interests, Spain)
For more details please contact:
Vasco de Oliveira/Tristan Macdonald at the EESC Press Office.
Rue Ravenstein, 2, Brussels, B-1000
Tel: 02 546 9396/9586; Mobile: 0475 753 202;
e-mail:
Website: http://www.esc.eu.int/press/index_en.asp
The EESC represents the various economic and social components of organised civil society. It is an institutional consultative body established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Its consultative role enables its members, and hence the organisations they represent, to participate in the Community decision-making process. The Committee has 222 members. Its members are appointed by the Council of Ministers.