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Commission President José Manuel Barroso introduced the Economic Strategy Europe 2020 on 3rd of March. If its predecessor, the Lisbon Strategy was still under the motto to make Europe the “most competitive, knowledge-based economic area in the world”, the EU now aims at creating economic growth on an “intelligent, sustainable and integrative” basis. What is behind this title and above all, what can workers expect from the new strategy?

Employment

The EU 2020 Strategy aims to achieve an economy with high employment and economic, social and territorial coherence. Especially the integration of women, older workers and migrants into the labour force should be improved in order to achieve an employment rate of at least 75 percent. An “Agenda for new skills and job opportunities” has been introduced as a flagship initiative. This will among others promote the mobility of workers within Europe, guarantee a development of the Flexicurity-Agenda under integration of the social partners and enable further education in the sense of lifelong learning. What is lacking here is a commitment to full employment, “good” working conditions and an adequate income for all workers.

Reform of the financial system

The aim is to recreate a “sound, stable and healthy” financial sector after the crisis. To achieve this, the agreed reforms in the financial supervision sector will be carried out, the existing regulatory gaps will be closed and transparency and stability will be promoted. Apart from that, it is the aim to create a policy, which is successful in preventing future economic crises. In view of the role it has played in creating the current crisis, an “adequate contribution of the financial sector is also under review”“. Instead of just tackling the symptoms, AK Europa demands a restructuring of the financial architecture, which has to include a rethinking of the tax systems. The introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax would be a first step to a fairer financial system.

Combating poverty

The target of combating poverty is to reduce the number of Europeans affected by poverty by 25 percent. This step would lift 20 million out of poverty. The relevant flagship initiative is called “European Platform against Poverty”, which contains the statement of the Commission that the Member States have to develop their social security systems to “guarantee adequate income support and access to healthcare”. The demand for a fair distribution of income and wealth, however, has not been taken into account at all. Poverty and social exclusion can only be removed permanently if target measures are taken to distribute resources from top to bottom.


Further information:

The Commission Proposal on the EU 2020 Strategy

AK position paper on the Consultation on the future EU 2020 Strategy