THE SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION PROCESS

The Social Protection and Social Inclusion Process constitutes the EU framework of the PICUM’s project on “access to health care for undocumented migrants”. The project is co-funded by the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

An important part in this process is devoted to combat social exclusion and poverty. The Lisbon Summit in the year 2000 contributed to reinforce the social inclusion strategy and thus the European Social Model.

The coordination of member states’ actions in this field is based on common objectives and indicators and developed through the so-called “Open Method of Coordination (OMC)”.

Apart from the European institutions – mainly the European Commission – and member states, this process involves a wide range of actors including European networks, independent experts, stakeholders’ representatives (NGOs, local and regional administrations, trade unions) as well as people experiencing poverty.

The European Social Model is still at an evolving state. The Treaty of Amsterdam (which entered into force on 1 May 1999) marks an important step forward, since it consolidates the mechanisms set in place by the Treaty of Maastricht and promotes a series of social policy priorities at Community level, especially in the area of employment. Article 136 confirms that social policy falls under the joint responsibility of the European Community and the member states. The objectives of the European social policy are the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions, proper social protection, dialogue between management and labour, the development of human resources with a view to lasting high employment and the combating of exclusion.

During the Lisbon Summit of 2000, it was highlighted that the EU needed to modernise and strengthen the European social model. Member states and the Commission agreed that they must take “necessary steps to make decisive impact on the eradiation of poverty by 2010”. The Lisbon European Council also agreed that member states' policies for combating social exclusion should be based on the ‘Open Method of Coordination’, which had been successfully used in the area of the European employment policy. From 2006, after the re-launching of the Lisbon Strategy in 2005, three policy areas provide the framework for this process:

The OMC is in general used in areas where the European Union does not have the power to make legislation. Even if the competence remains national, member states have agreed to voluntarily coordinate their actions and policies on social protection – mainly health and pensions - and social inclusion with the purpose of getting greater policy convergence. This process is to a great extent based on policy exchange and mutual learning.

Certainly, this method is an innovative multi-level and multi-stakeholders system of policy coordination in the EU. Apart from the EU institutions and the member states, it is foreseen that a variety of actors participate in the process, i.e. local and regional authorities, social partners and non-governmental organisations, as main representatives of the civil society.

The European Commission plays an important role by encouraging cooperation amongst member states, promoting exchange of information and best practice and increasing capacity of local actors to address social exclusion. These tasks are being carried out within the framework of the “Community programme for Employment and Solidarity (Progress)”.

Member states are responsible for formulating and implementing the European social protection and social inclusion process at national level through the analysis of the different sectors and the definition of objectives and strategies. States do this in the so-called “National Action Plans” (NAPs) for Social Inclusion, for Health and for Pensions, respectively.

Main features of the OMC

Two sorts of objectives can be differentiated, depending on their scope of application:

Since the adoption of the new framework for the social protection and social inclusion process (the re-launched Lisbon Strategy) the overarching three objectives of the OMC for social protection and social inclusion are the following:

§ promote social cohesion and equal opportunities for all through adequate, accessible, financially sustainable, adaptable and efficient social protection systems and social inclusion policies;

§ interact closely with the Lisbon objectives for achieving greater economic growth and more and better jobs, as well as with the EU Sustainable Development Strategy;

§ improve governance, transparency and the involvement of stakeholders in the design, implementation and monitoring of policy.

- Ensure the active inclusion of all by promoting participation in the labour market and by fighting poverty and exclusion among the most marginalized groups;

- Incorporate the fight against poverty and social exclusion into all relevant public policies, including economic and budgetary policies, and the Structural Fund programmes (especially the European Social Fund).

- Guarantee an adequate retirement income for all and access to pensions which allow people to maintain, to a reasonable degree, their living standard after retirement;

- Ensure the financial sustainability of public and private pension schemes, particularly by supporting a longer working life and active ageing, thus guaranteeing an appropriate and fair balance between contributions and benefits, and maintaining the security of funded and private schemes;

- Ensure that pension schemes are transparent and that people receive the information they need to prepare for retirement.

- Guarantee access for all to adequate health and long-term care, and ensure that the need for care does not lead to poverty and financial dependency;

The broad methodological framework consists of a list of primary and secondary indicators for an overarching portfolio and the three strands (Social Inclusion, Pension, Health and long-term Care). Primary indicators are a reduced set of lead indicators, which cover all essential dimensions of the defined objectives. Secondary indicators aim at supporting these lead indicators by providing a greater insight into the nature of the problem. These indicators are used for the overall National Reports on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion and the specific National Reports on the different strands (Social Inclusion, Pension, Health and Long Term Care) as well as for the joint report presented by the European Commission and the Council.

3) Development of an adjustment of the common EU objectives into the national level on the basis of National Reports on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion.

The national reports for each of the three areas of work should be sent to the Commission on a regular basis - every two years - in the form of a “National Report on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion”.

Subject to an informal agreement, the member states and the Commission have developed a common approach to prepare these national reports. According to the current guidelines, national reports must contain four parts:

4) Publication of reports as a joint analysis and assessment by the European Commission and the Council of the NAPs submitted by the member states.

The Joint Reports assess the progress made in the implementation of the OMC, set key priorities and identify good practice and innovative approaches of common interest to the member states on the basis of the submitted NAPs.

Through this programme the Commission seeks to encourage cooperation between member states by:

§ promoting the exchange of information and best practice in the context of the NAPs;

§ increasing the capacity of actors to address social exclusion and poverty effectively and to promote innovative approaches.

The Commission is responsible for the direct implementation of the Community actions covered by this programme. To this end, a Programme Committee made up of government representatives from the EU member states assists it.

Peer reviews aim at benchmarking key policies or institutional arrangements of the host countries. These are critically analysed by a selected group of decision-makers and experts from other countries (“peer countries”), stakeholders’ representatives and European Commission’s officials.

The network of 28 non-governmental social inclusion experts aims at providing analysis and assessment on key policies and national plans to the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

They are conducted by research institutes. Generally, they focus on policy measures, indicators, transnational comparisons and particular target groups.

The annual European Round-Table on poverty and social exclusion aims at raising awareness and at promoting dialogue between all stakeholders in the context of the OMC. The event is jointly organised by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. The Fifth European Round-Table will take place in Tampere, Finland on 16 and 17 October 2006.

These events aim at mobilising all actors, including people who experience poverty with the purpose of involving them in the process as well as giving insight in daily-life experiences of these people. The fifth European meeting of people experiencing poverty took place in Brussels on 12-13 May 2006, and was organised under the Austrian Presidency of the EU.

The objective of this call is to increase awareness about the preparation and implementation of the NAPs on Social Inclusion to all relevant actors.

In 2002, under the Community Action Programme on Social Exclusion, the Commission launched a Transnational Exchange Programme. PICUM’s project is co-funded in the framework of this programme. This instrument will be soon replaced by the “Community Programme for Employment and Solidarity – Progress”, which will be a simplified instrument of existing funding programmes in the field of employment and social policy.

The European Commission plays a key role as regards the coordination and stimulation of the process at different levels. Its main instrument is the “Community Programme for Employment and Solidarity – Progress”.

The Commission supports selected Research Institutions and key European-level networks involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. They are permanently involved in the different activities of the process.

Developing a more participative approach to policy-making is one of the key objectives of the Social Protection and Social Inclusion Process. However, participation in the context of social inclusion remains a challenge. There are still many barriers preventing public bodies, social partners, NGOs and other relevant actors from getting involved at each stage of the policy cycle. They participate through projects, round-tables and conferences.

It has been underlined the importance of directly involving people experiencing poverty in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of social policies. Their participation at European level is foreseen through the “Presidency events”. At national level, however, the contribution of people experiencing poverty differs across countries. Certainly, only few countries structurally involve them in the development of policies.

THE SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION PROCESS

The Open Method of Coordination (OMC)

Main features of the OMC