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Yesterday, one Commissioner told us “Europe is in an extremely serious situation. We have taken the right decisions but it is clear that the financial crisis has created situations that have reached the limits of political acceptability.” From this understanding of the dire social consequences of austerity measures, the Commission has “softened” the budget consolidation requirements in several member states by delaying deadlines to reach deficit and debt targets (at least for France and Spain). But this might not be sufficient to regain people’s support.

Last week the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) clearly warned the Heads of State on the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). “It is essential that the roadmap on the social dimension that will be produced by the European Council in June is more than a band-aid solution. This roadmap must not avoid the crux of the matter: it is the current austerity policies that are eroding the social fabric of our societies. If there is no clear indication that these policies are going to change, there can be no serious roadmap for the social dimension. It is the condition for trade union support for the European project”. This last sentence deserves to be highlighted: it is the first time that the worker’s movement warns EU leaders of its disengagement from the EU project if austerity measures are not changed. There should be a strong social pillar in the EMU to ensure the wellbeing of all people.

We will say the same when we meet tomorrow with the President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy. Economic policy can only be effective if it is developed in parallel with a social agenda that must have the same level of priority.

We will come up with our own proposal of the social dimension of the EMU and we will present it to the Heads of State before their meeting in June.

For the moment, I’m dubious that we or the trade unions have been listened to yet. Why? Today the Commission organised a conference on the blueprint for a deep and genuine EMU. All the speakers are dealing with economic and financial affairs (Barroso, Rehn, Dijsselbloem, Marco Buti) and when it deals with the democratic legitimacy and accountability, there is not a single representative of the social partners or from civil society organisations in the panels. The social dimension is not even an item on the agenda.

Changing the narrative might be one thing, getting the blueprint changed is another. How close to the limits of political acceptability do we have to be to change our policies?

Let’s engage

Pierre Baussand – Director