Convention : Is “Equality” irrelevant in the Future Europe ?

ECOSY Presidium Statement / Press release, 10th February 2003

Last week the Convention entered in a new phase with the presentation of the first sixteen draft articles of the Constitutional Treaty and the discussion in plenary of the report of the “Social Europe” Working group.

From the beginning, the Convention on the Future of Europe (CFE) has aimed to bring Europe closer to its citizens. For the Europeans Young Socialists, the only way to succeed in this goal is to address the needs and act in the interest of the people.
Therefore, ECOSY welcomes the references to Full employment; Social Justice; sustainable development; economic and social cohesion and environmental and social protection as Union Objectives in Article 3.

The current Treaty calls for the promotion for high levels of social standards, and we request, as it was recommended by the WG, to restore this reference in the future Constitutional Treaty.

But we express our dismay that the value of “Equality” is not mentioned in Article 2 of the Draft of the Constitutional Treaty which refers the Union’s values. Equality between citizens must be a cornerstone of Europe.

To emphasize the need for a more Equal & Social Europe, ECOSY demands;
1. The implementation of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in Social policy issues. Unanimity must be ended in order to guarantee a better level of social protection and to avoid social and fiscal dumping.
2. The modification of Article 16 of the TEC in order to give more legislative power to the EU to promote services of general interest of high quality based upon the principles of universality, equal access, neutrality of ownership, fair pricing, the quality of work, quality employment, safety and social justice.
3. Reevaluating Article 86 and 87 (competition law and State-Aid arrangement) to ensure better Public services.
ECOSY condemns the attempt of the UNICE observer in the CFE to stop any reference to a social market economy.

We in ECOSY say “Social Protection is a contribution, not a cost to Economic Progress!”.