European Economic and Social Committee
Europe 2020 Steering Committee
Brussels, 19 November 2015
C.4_PAS/2020 JS/JA
Draft work programme of the Bureau's ad-hoc group
"Europe 2020 Steering Committee"
for 2015-2018
1.
Mission Statement
The EESC Bureau established the Europe 2020 Steering Committee (2020 SC) in July 2010 to enable
the various political bodies of the EESC to interact more effectively with one other and to work
together with national stakeholders. The purpose is to identify problems and promote particular
initiatives and best practices for the on-going adjustment process in the Member States in order to
achieve the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
The 2020 SC has a horizontal mandate to incorporate the concept of Europe 2020 and the relevant EU
work programme into the daily activities of the EESC Sections, CCMI and Observatories and to
encourage national ESCs and similar organisations to take an active part in developing the national
programmes relating to Europe 2020, particularly the National Reform Programmes (NRP).
Furthermore, the EESC Bureau has mandated the 2020 SC to hold joint meetings with national ESCs
and similar organisations, to prepare joint initiatives and reports relating to Europe 2020 and to work
together with the Communication Group to draft a Europe 2020 communication strategy for organised
civil society.
This mandate is carried out in close cooperation with the European Commission. The European
Council, the Council and the European Parliament will also be kept informed.
At its meeting of 7 October 2015, the EESC Bureau decided to renew the mandate of the Europe 2020
Steering Committee for the 2015-2020 period.
2.
The Commission mandate
Protocol on cooperation between the EC and the EESC:
(point 16) The Commission and the Committee will continue to increase the synergies
between their actions and initiatives in policy areas that concern organised civil society the
most in particular the Europe 2020 strategy, including sustainable development and climate
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EN
change, the deepening of the internal market, the fight against poverty and social exclusion,
immigration, and energy supply.
Each year, the Committee presents a report assessing, with the close cooperation of the
network of national Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions, civil society
involvement in the elaboration of NRPs. That report is debated in the plenary session before
the Spring European Council.
The Committee will invite the responsible member of the Commission to participate in the
debate and to present the Annual Growth Survey"
(point 17) The Commission and the Committee endeavour to foster ownership of Union
policies by citizens. To that end, the Commission welcomes the Committee intention to pursue
its efforts to involve the network of national Economic and Social Councils and Similar
Institutions.
(point 18) The Committee contributes to the process of evaluating the implementation of
Union legislation, in particular in relation to the horizontal clauses, as provided for under
Articles 8 to 12 TFEU.
(point 23) The Commission and the Committee will work together on media coverage of their
joint events using the available communication platforms and tools. In their public
communication and information activities the Commission and the Committee highlight their
respective roles.
(point 24) The Commission's Representations in the Member States and a contact point of the
Committee for each of those Member States will inform each other on their communication
plans and will join efforts to participate, wherever appropriate, in the events they organise.
The facilities of the Commission's Representations in the Member States will, by agreement,
be available for Committee's initiatives where this is appropriate and logistically possible. It
may also be necessary to consult with the European Parliament Information Offices, where
appropriate.
Furthermore, the SC also takes into consideration the statement made in the EC Work Programme for
2016 (p. 5) and its possible implications: "We need to start work now to secure Europe's future
sustainability. We will present a new approach to ensuring economic growth and social and
environmental sustainability beyond the 2020 timeframe, taking into account the Europe 2020 review
and the internal and external implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals."
3.
Current state of the Europe 2020-strategy
The Europe 2020 strategy has never delivered the expected level of political influence. Its three pillars
of inclusive, smart and sustainable growth are not delivering the expected results, and there is
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uncertainty surrounding the future of the process. A mid-term review of the strategy by the European
Commission scheduled for 2015 has been postponed for the time being, until after the 2016 Spring
Council. This adds an element of uncertainty to the work of the SC, but also offers an opportunity to
formulate some political and practical proposals in good time. The reality is that the problems that the
strategy was created to solve still persist:
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efforts to promote investment, job creation and economic growth continue;
poverty and social inequality are constantly rising in many countries of the EU, as social
goals are subordinated to economic ones;
years of increasing public and private debt, followed by austerity measures, have pushed the
EU further away from creating a sustainable and fairer Europe;
furthermore, none of the EU's strategies give adequate consideration to environmental
concerns or climate change;
sustainability is not at present a key priority.
Furthermore, the following related challenges need attention:
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the threat of multiple-speed EU policy-making and the rise of Eurosceptic political opinions;
the complicated and inefficient Open Method of Coordination (OMC) decision-making
process;
a general demand for stronger political and legal accountability mechanisms;
too much emphasis on short-term measures and the lack of a post-Europe 2020 vision.
There are structural problems with the inclusion of the strategy in the new Commission’s working
methods. There is a need to harmonise the main short–term objectives with the long-term purposes of
the strategy.
Despite the shortcomings of Europe 2020, it would be a mistake to do away with it. Europe 2020 is an
opportunity to rediscover the future, promote convergence and strengthen long-term drivers of
growth.
The main challenges from the point of view of organised civil society in each of the three pillars are
described briefly below.
3.1
Social Progress – Inclusive Growth
To mitigate the social impact of the economic and financial crisis, it is crucial to attract more
investors, to create jobs and in particular good-quality and sustainable jobs. The role of
entrepreneurship and the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises and the social economy
have to be seized fully. The aim should be a better balance between flexibility and security in the
labour market, with full consideration for the need to anticipate and develop future skills, especially
digital skills and competences. The fight against poverty and social exclusion has to be given priority
in all Community actions. Social inclusion policies should have priority in the Annual Growth Survey
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(AGS) and in the NRPs, and the social dimension of the EMU needs to be mainstreamed into all
NRPs.
3.2
Economic Challenges – Smart Growth
The main economic challenge is to increase competitiveness. Civil society should be involved in the
Investment Plan for Europe by selecting and implementing projects. Various stakeholders should have
better access to financial decision making.
During the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy the concept of the strategy has to be
completed by focusing on the synergy of the Investment Plan and the on-going implementation of the
Cohesion Funds. The core idea is to coordinate European investments in line with European needs
and, more specifically, ensure that national and European core interests have long-term vision. At a
time when resources are scarcer than ever, the EU budget must be geared to results. The mid-term
review of the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) will look at how better to target funding on
the priorities we face.
In order to put more emphasis on long-term vision in Europe 2020, the strategy should include
specific measures to prepare for the strategy's next decade.
The meaning of smart growth is now mostly connected with the cutting edge, entrepreneurship and
data intensity. Civil society should discuss those economic factors that shape the post-financial crisis
reality; how to encourage tangible and intangible investment, improve the business environment,
promote research and job creation and upskill human resources, and how to strengthen governance
and build resilience. The means of preparing civil society to avert and cope with crises do exist, but
they require more effective management and closer cooperation between all levels representing
institutional, economic and social interests.
3.3
Environmental Issues – Sustainable Growth
There needs to be a transition from the indicator-based approach to economic growth towards
sustainable development, in terms of economic, social, environmental and intergenerational changes,
on the basis of Article 3 of the EU Treaty. Work on Europe 2020 should be coordinated with the UN's
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from September 2015. These 17 goals and their derived
indicators aspire to tackle a number of issues, including the five headline targets of the Europe 2020
Strategy (employment, R&D, climate change and energy, education, and poverty).
4.
The EESC's priorities for the 2015-2018 period
In the field of Europe 2020, the EESC President has outlined the following targets for the future1:
"The Europe 2020 strategy must be reinforced, its objectives must be more clearly defined, indicators
1
See "For a united, democratic, solidarity-based, peaceful and prosperous Europe close to its people. Guidelines for European
Union policies" by the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, paras. 37, 40 and 48,
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/15_535-brochure-en.pdf.
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other than GDP must be used and civil society and national parliaments must be given a stronger role.
In addition, it is imperative to encourage, promote, simplify and diversify access to funding (of the
Investment Plan for Europe). Selection criteria must comply with the objectives of the Europe 2020
strategy, make the EU more competitive and highlight the impact on jobs. Civil society and the social
partners should be assigned a real role in drawing up the (country-specific) recommendations".
In order to give a civil society input into inclusive, smart and sustainable growth, the 2020 SC could
carry out a number of activities:
4.1
Working towards development-oriented European governance
One of the SC goals would be to design a strengthened political and functional model for a
development-oriented European governance. To achieve this, the new type of economic governance
will need to be backed up by historical, cohesion-oriented development tools. In addition to economic
governance, territorial evidence-based regional aspects of development are a crucial element of social
inclusion, as is the Beyond GDP concept. This new kind of Beyond 2020 vision could help to enhance
the participation of civil society in socio-economic governance.
4.2
Contribution to the European Semester – the AGS opinion
There is no formalised civil society input into the policy-making cycle referred to as the European
Semester, e.g. Annual Growth Survey (AGS), Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) and
National Reform Programs (NRPs)). Since there are serious time constraints, the SC must organise its
work carefully in order to be able to contribute to the process2.
Possible measures: Draw up an opinion on the AGS– to be published on 11 November – in time for
the Spring Summit and establish a discussion on the CSRs with stakeholders as soon as possible after
their publication at the end of May.
4.3
Promote the sustainable development dimension of Europe 2020
The Europe 2020 Strategy and sustainable development are the only two, all-compassing horizontal
strategies that the EU is currently pursuing. It is paramount that there are no contradictions in the
policies in these two areas, since there are important overlaps between them.
Possible measures: Ensure that all work on Europe 2020 matters takes due account of the 17 SDGs
from September 2015. Start exploratory work on increasing synergies between Europe 2020 and
2
Since 2011 the yearly opinion on the AGS has been drafted by a rapporteur-general, working with an informal drafting group,
totalling three members. These five opinions (EUR 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8) were all adopted at the EESC's February –plenary session.
The same procedure was used for the CSRs in 2012 and 2013. However, the EESC opinions on the CSRs (EUR 2 and 4) did not
come early enough to be taken into account for the next European Semester, which begins with the publication of the AGS in
November. Therefore, these opinions have been replaced with an in-depth discussion in the 2020 SC each year, in June,
immediately after the publication of the CSRs.
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sustainable development with a view to merging the two strategies. The review of the MFF in 2016
can provide another timely opportunity to tie the EU budget more closely to current policy priorities.
4.4
Indicators and Methodology: Beyond the GDP approach
Civil society supports the development of a monitoring system based on indicators that take account
of households' disposable income, the quality of life, environmental sustainability, social cohesion and
the health and overall well-being of present and future generations. There is a possible role for an
enlarged network including national ESC's regarding qualitative composite indicators beyond GDP
(taking into account, for example, well-being and governance), but this must be critically evaluated.
Considering the concerns about a lack of focus in the EU's legislative process, the planning and
proposal phase should clearly refer to the priority regimes of the already existing integration plans
(such as Europe 2020), with more detailed presentation of how the proposed policy steps and legal
measures of EU secondary legislation serve as a basis for realising the plans concerned (e.g. Europe
2020 flagship initiatives). This approach to harmonising various sectors of policy-making at panEuropean, national and regional level, should be reflected in the opinions of the EESC, particularly by
making concrete new proposals concerning the AGS and the CSRs. This method could help to avoid
the subordination of certain policy areas and goals, which has happened with social security goals in
Lisbon’s dominant "growth and jobs narrative". Possible measures: Exploring the possibilities of
launching preparatory work for the development of a set of "beyond GDP" indicators, based on
promoting "fair, sustainable well-being". Well-prepared, sector-specific information requests should
be sent to the SC network in order to streamline the information gathering process.
The EU legislative process should include direct references to measures enabling the proposed EU
actions to contribute to achieving the Europe 2020 objectives. The follow-up phase should explain
why the legal acts concerned have failed to deliver noticeable results and what further steps need to be
taken to combat structural implementation deficiencies.
4.5
Monitoring and decentralised cooperation
The limited involvement of non-governmental stakeholders at both EU and national levels remains an
important flaw of the Europe 2020 strategy. Neither the social partners nor other civil society
organisations currently play a significant role in the European Semester. In order to remedy this, it
would be useful to establish decentralised network-based cooperation with the national ESCs and
other civil society organisations. Cooperation, based on a digital platform (single access point), would
make it possible to harmonise and rationalise consultation with civil society representatives regarding
their involvement in the drafting, revision and implementation of Europe 2020-related content, adding
transparency and accountability to the implementation of the strategy. Ultimately, soft law measures
(guidelines, agreements, declarations, compromises, codes of conduct etc.) could be developed by
stakeholders for stronger civil society involvement.
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Possible measures: This digital platform (in connection with CESlink), with the participation of the
national ESCs and possibly with the other members of an enlarged network, would involve an
information cycle, with the collection of data from national level. This could be supplemented by the
cooperation of EU-level actors3. The 2020 SC could serve as the coordinator and evaluation centre for
information gathered on the implementation of Europe 2020. Such a digital platform could process
information more efficiently than before and deliver stakeholders' contributions in a timely manner,
matching the timeframe of the streamlined European Semester.
4.6
Cooperation with national ESCs and similar organisations and enlargement and
improvement of the network
A revamp of governance is necessary to achieve better ownership and consequently a more resultoriented process. The EC should propose specific policy incentives for that. National ESCs and
similar organisations should work more closely with their governments on the implementation of the
CSRs and the adaptation of the respective NRPs. It is therefore necessary to strengthen dialogue
within the Member States in order to allow a regular information flow regarding the streamlined
European Semester. It is also important to work towards a new phase of cooperation – expressed as a
pact or an agreement – between the EU and its stakeholders and between Member States.
There are however bottlenecks in the system, and dissemination of best practices is not systematically
applied. Cooperation with national ESCs has to be reviewed and its setup needs to be improved e.g.
by encouraging more thematic data exchange, ensuring a more timely delivery of formal contributions
and promoting the information exchange platform. To this end, as well as to enhance transparency,
tailored criteria for selecting the future cooperation partners need to be established.
Possible measure: to present a stakeholder analysis of the progress made in selected Member States.
Such an analysis – undertaken via an internet-based consultation of the national ESCs – could follow
the CSRs, issued by the European Commission at the end of May and endorsed by the European
Council at the end of June. Indicative national contributions, based on national contributions and the
results from the monitoring process could be ready for early October.
The creation of a network, enlarged beyond the national ESCs, should be envisaged. In order to
achieve effectiveness and quality, in-depth analysis is necessary to evaluate the expert knowledge and
capacity of organisations that could potentially become members of the network. Such an analysis
should also take into account the optimal size of the future network and the characteristics of the
revamped European Semester. Therefore capacity-building should address both national ESCs as well
as other stakeholders.
Well-tailored questionnaires and brochures should be used to keep the information exchange within
this network effective and relatively easy to develop. The general use of the abovementioned digital
3
For example: from Eurostat, involved executive agencies etc.
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platform is strongly recommended. The structure and methodology of the evaluation phase should be
dealt with by setting up common standards for this phase.
4.7
Communication
As regards external communication, there is a need for regular Europe 2020 events in the Member
States, and accompanying debates. It is vital to cooperate with successive Presidencies of the EU
Council on how to address jobs and growth-related matters more effectively at national and local
level. Any such activities must be coordinated with the EESC Communication Group.
As regards internal communication, sections, observatories and the CCMI need to be kept informed of
Europe 2020 activities, in order to take them on board in their everyday work.
Possible measures: Using common EESC/EC communication platforms and tools to broaden the
communication tasks at EU level in relation to Europe 2020 issues.
Rationalise Europe 2020-related communication at national level with the Representations of the EC
with a view to achieving communication synergies and avoiding duplications. Overall, more political
dynamism and actions are needed.
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