FAILURE by the EU to include measures to help marginalised groups like the long term unemployed in the new treaty will erode social solidarity as one of its core values, according to the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa.
In that situation creeping deregulation would place increasing pressure on the working conditions and welfare rights of EU citizens as the Single Market led to greater mobility of capital, labour and goods.
Mr De Rossa was speaking yesterday on the eve of the first Social Affairs Council to be held under the Irish Presidency of the U. It will take place in Dublin Castle between tomorrow and Friday. Although an informal session, it will provide the first opportunity for the Irish presidency to gauge the mood of other member states.
Britain opted out of the Social Chapter in the existing Treaty, and Germany has shown increasing resistance to any measure that might increase the possibility of its having to make extra contributions to EU budgets. It has even joined Britain in blocking the introduction of the Poverty IV Programme, a modest scheme to build on the lessons of its predecessors and develop new models for tackling social exclusion.
At present there are considerable differences between governments over the best way to tackle issues of social exclusion and employment policies. Mr De Rossa and his colleagues will be walking a tightrope between trying to improve the competitiveness of companies and workers in order to generate growth, and ensuring there is an adequate safety net for the vulnerable.
Because the Irish presidency gas decided to make unemployment a priority, it will have to be seen to have at least achieved greater co-ordination in EU policies on tackling the problem. It is expected that a Government subcommittee will be set up to put some meat on the bones of the Santer Pact on Employment, which was adopted during the Spanish presidency.
Besides Mr De Rossa, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, the Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald and the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, are expected to be involved. Ms Fitzgerald will chair most of the Social Affairs Councils, because Social Affairs in EU terms relate primarily to the needs of workers.
Like Mr De Rossa, she emphasises the need to incorporate social protection into the main body of the new treaty so that states will not be able to opt out of measures they dislike. She says the long term unemployed are being targeted because the Irish experience shows they are not being helped by economic growth.
Of 160,000 vacancies arising yearly in the economy only 10 per cent are going to this group. Irish unemployment figures show how difficult it is to reduce long term unemployment.
Between April 1994 and April 1995, for instance, the number of people at work rose by 52,000 to 1.234 million, but unemployment only fell by 28,000 to 190,000, according to the Labour Force.
The LFS recorded a further fall in the unemployed total to 180,000 by April of this year. And, even though at least 36,000 extra people are expected to be at work by April 1997, the number of unemployed will still be around 175,000, according to LFS projections.
Another 80,000 can be added to work out the Live Register total, which is still the official measure of unemployment.
One of the problems is that EU data on which decisions must be based are usually at least 18 months out of date.