On 16 October, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus, held a conference in Nicosia on restoring stability, trust and confidence in Europe. The President of the EESC, Staffan Nilsson, exchanged views on the future economic, political and social model for Europe with Titos Christofides, Under-Secretary to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and Sotiroula Charalambous, Minister of Labour and Social Insurance. Then, representatives of the EESC and Cypriot civil society discussed the way out of the economic crisis and the role of civil society.
After the extraordinary Bureau meeting of the EESC in the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Dr Titos Cristofides, Under-Secretary to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, welcomed the participants to the debate on restoring stability and trust in Europe. He explained that the Republic of Cyprus advocated a new strategy to tackle the crisis that went beyond austerity and implemented a pact for growth and employment. To make this possible, solidarity was urgently needed. The Minister of Labour and Social Insurance of the Republic of Cyprus reinforced this view, recalling the importance of social cohesion and inclusive growth.
President Nilsson picked up the argument of solidarity and pointed out that a Union of 27 Member States was needed, that could provide solutions to different problems in different countries. «Growth is not the only issue though: confidence and hope are also crucial. The crisis is a painful reality, but continuously repeating the word «crisis» can become a kind of a mantra. Instead, we need hope and solutions to challenges. Together, at the next Council meeting, I firmly believe that we can send a tangible message of hope. The most important thing is to find new avenues for political solidarity between Europeans”, said President Nilsson.
Many of the answers as to how to create a sustainable economic model that secures high social standards in Europe are provided by the Europe 2020 strategy. However, the success of Europe 2020 depends on its actual implementation. In its opinion on “Participatory processes in the implementation of Europe 2020”, requested by the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU, the EESC calls on the European institutions and national governments to make a renewed political commitment to engage with all relevant partners, be it the European Parliament, the social partners or organised civil society.
The first panel of the conference addressed the role of civil society in restoring confidence and trust in Europe. According to Luca Jahier, President of the EESC Various Interests’ group, civil society needed to have a stronger influence on political decision-making. “We as civil society representatives know very well the daily problems of the citizens, which is why we call for regulation and control of the financial economy to save the real economy. Let the banking industry that has built on speculation pay the bill for its own mistakes and let us invest in education and research and make credit affordable forSMEs. This is the way out of the crisis”. The Cypriot civil society organisations agreed with this statement and highlighted the danger of a lost generation without access to employment and excluded from the European welfare state.
In the second panel the participants discussed the way for the EU to tackle the economic crisis. George Dassis, President of the EESC Workers’ Group called on whose who blamed Europe for the crisis to consider the successes of the EU, founded by a generation of Europeans who had gone through two world wars. “We, the social partners, have to remind people that the answer to our problems is more Europe. Just imagine the cost of not having the EU. I can give some concrete examples like the creation of a European university research network, a real common defence policy or sharing external representation through the European Foreign service”.
For his part, Henri Malosse, President of the EESC Employers’ Group, closed the debate stating: “Europe is an island of democracy, welfare and freedom, but if we don’t update our model and increase our integration, we risk becoming an island of recession. We need more ethics in politics and the economy and we must forget about ideological confrontation. However, the values that underpin European ethics are not new, they just have to be refreshed to make sure that Europe continues to be a success story for our citizens”.
