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!( !)*POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester

Taking stock of the 2018 cycle and launching the 2019 Semester

Eurodiaconia is a dynamic, Europe wide community of organisations founded in the

Christian faith and working in the tradition of Diaconia, who are committed to a Europe of

solidarity, equality and justice. As the leading network of Diaconia in Europe, we connect organisations, institutions and churches providing social and health services and education on a Christian value base in over 30 European countries.

We bring members together to share practices, impact social policy and

on Diaconia in Europe today.

Editor: Heather RoyAuthor: Alexander Elu

Rue Joseph II 166 Tel: +32 (0)2 234 38 601000 Bruxelles Fax: +32 (0)2 234 38 65Belgium E-mail:

www.eurodiaconia.org

and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020). For further information, please read

http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi. Eurodiaconia is a network of social and health care organisations

founded in the Christian faith and promoting social justice.

Editor: Heather RoyAuthors: Laure Drege, Alexander Elu, Anne-Sophie Wislocki, Gabriela AgatielloOctober 2018

4

Introduction: Eurodiaconia’s work on the European Semester in 2018 8

Assessing the 2018 European Semester: an increasingly social Semester which needs further improvement to reflect the Social Pillar 9

The 2018 Country Reports: an increased focus on social analysis whichwouldbenefitfrombetterstreamlining 9

The2018Country-SpecificRecommendations: moresocialissuescoveredbutstilloftenwithafiscalsustainability orlabourmarketangle 10

TheNationalReformProgrammes:adisappointinglackofevolution 12

Theroleofcivilsociety:theimprovementsatEUlevelarenot mirroredintheMemberStates 15

Social priorities for the 2019 European Semester: promoting fair economies 17

Promotequalityemploymenttoensuresustainablegrowthandput anendtotheincreasingin-workpovertytrend 17

Tacklechildpovertytopromoteequalchancesofchildreninsocieties 19

Providetargetedandtailoredservicesfornon-EUmigrants, especiallywomen,topromotetheirlabourmarketparticipation 21

Ensure affordable and accessible housing across Europe andtacklethegrowinghomelessnesschallenge 22

Increasethefocusonhealthandsocialservicestoadapt to the ageing of European societies 23

Contents

Executive Summary

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 4

Eurodiaconia, Better social reforms to foster sustainable growth: An assessment of 2018 draft country-specific rec-ommendations by Eurodiaconia and its members, May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodiaconia_CSRs-assessment_201805.pdf

Eurodiaconia is a network of 47 organizations in 33 European countries providing socialservices and working for social justice.Founded in the Christian tradition we work to ensurethatoursocietiesprovideopportunitiesforallpeopletoliveindignityandrealizetheirfullpotential.

Building on the two reports we published earlier this year1, a survey of our members’involvementintheSemesteratnationallevel,and on our general policy work, this paper aims at taking stock of the evolutions of theEuropean Semester in 2018, and at settingpriorities for the coming cycle. It thereforeassesses whether the social challenges in the MemberStates have been adequately takeninto account and if the key documents areeffectively monitoring the implementation oftheEuropeanPillarofSocialRights–bearinginmind that thiswas the first cycle since itsproclamation.Buildingonthis,itanalysesthepolicy areas which should be the priorities in thenextcycleinordertopromotesustainablegrowthandsharedprosperity.

The report is organised in twosections.Thefirstoneprovidesageneralassessmentofthe2018EuropeanSemesterandlooksattrendsand evolutions in the way social issues arebalanced with economic ones following theadoptionofthePillar.The second section presents the policy priorities Eurodiaconia would like to see at the forefront of the coming cycle, taking intoaccount our members’ experience and thelessonslearnedfromthe2018Semester.

• A section summarising Member States’performance on the Pillar would be auseful addition to the Communicationaccompanying the publication of thecountryreports.

• Improve the monitoring of theimplementation of theEuropeanPillar ofSocial Rights, beyond the box highlighting thecountry’ssituationwiththeindicatorsofthesocialscoreboard.

• Set up a systematic analysis of theimplementation of each principle of thePillar throughout all country reports. Ifsome principles are chosen as politicalpriorities for the cycle, give clear andtransparent guidance to Member Statesand other stakeholders at the beginning of theSemester.

• Add quantifiable targets to reach for allsocialscoreboard indicators,makinguseoftheEU2020targetswhenpossible.

• Broaden the focus of the healthcare and pensions recommendations, which too

Assessing the 2018 European Semester: an increasingly social Semester which needs further efforts to reflect the Social Pillar

1 Eurodiaconia, Rebalancing social and economic policy analysis in the European Semester; An appraisal of the 2018 Country Reports by Eurodiaconia and its members, May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodi-aconia-response-country-reports_201806.pdf

The 2018 Country Reports: an increased focus on social analysis which would benefit from better streamlining

The 2018 Country-Specific Recommendations: more social issues covered but still often with a fiscal sustainability or labour market angle

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester

Executive Summary:

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 5

oftenonlyconcernfiscalsustainabilityandcost-effectiveness. These are importantaspects but they should be balanced with questions of adequacy, affordability,or access more often in order to avoidimpactingquality.

• Focusmoreontheissuesofsocialhousingandhomelessness.

• Continue the efforts to rebalance economic and social recommendations,making sure that economic and financialrecommendations do not contradict therecommendationsgiveninthesocialfield.

• MakesureallNRPsareavailableinbothEnglish and the national language(s) in order to ensure their full accessibility by all European and national stakeholders.

• Promote a uniform structure between allNRPssothattheyallhaveapartlookingat the progress towards reaching the national 2020 targets, detailing what the target is and what the situation is now.Similarly, they should all have a part onthe involvement of stakeholders whichdetails how civil society is involved inNRP drafting, the Semester at nationallevel, and reform-making in general.

• Use the NRPs as a way to report onthe Social Pillar implementation, usingthe examples of the NRPs which putthisforwardin2018.

• makesureallNRPshaveasectioninwhichtheyreportonthesocialpolicymeasurestaken to tackle themost importantsocialchallenges.

• Continue the efforts to improve theinvolvement of civil society at EU level,especiallytheStrategicDialogues.

• The results from the survey we didamong Eurodiaconia membership showthat this isnotreflectedatnational level.Encourage Member States therefore tomirror these efforts and better includecivilsocietyintheprocessbyconsideringthem as important partners for reform-makinginthesocialfield,institutionalisingconsultation and participation processes that have a meaningful impact on thecontent of the NRPs and reforms,thereforevaluingtheirinputaskeyactorsof thesectorandeventuallypromotingamoreinclusiveanddemocraticSemester.Updating the NRP guidance to includethis seems necessary, in view of theSocialPillarandtheupdatedEmploymentGuidelines.

The National Reform Programmes (NRPs): a disappointing lack of evolution

The role of civil society: some improvements at EU level which are not mirrored in the Member States

• Promotingjobqualitytobuildasustainablepath of economic growth and socialdevelopmentintheEU;

• Putting access to affordable and qualityservices at the heart of employmentpolicies;

Using our policy work and our members’experience,we have drawn up the followingprioritiesforthecomingSemestercycle:

Social priorities for the 2019 European Semester

Promote quality employment to ensure sustainable growth and put an end to the increasing in-work poverty trend by

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 6

• Mainstreaming the role played by socialservices as an essential pillar towardssustainablejobinclusion;

• Minding the degree of inclusiveness oflabour markets, fighting discriminationand promoting equal opportunities forunder-representedgroups;

• Closely monitoring the adequacyof social protection for all types of workers, including those in non-standard employment, in line with the proposedCouncil Recommendation on accessto social protection for workers and the self-employed;

• Using the European Semester tounderscore the need for targeted efforts towards the employment and socialintegration of wider groups of people andleverageonEUfunding.Wesupportthe new MFF proposal which highlightsthe need to couple EU funding withthe priorities in the country-specificrecommendations.

• Recognising that children are the age group mostatriskofpovertyorsocialexclusion,and that child poverty has increased insomeMemberStates.

• Encouraging direct support to familiessinceachild’swellbeingdependsheavilyonthefamilyinwhichhegrowsup.

• Promoting measures such as adequatechild allowance and fostering participation inafter-schoolactivities.

• Highlightingthatmigrants’socialinclusiondependsonpositiveinteractionsbetweenthemandthehostsociety.

• Recognising that obstacles to integration arenumerous:limitedaccesstothelabourmarketandeducation,culturalorlinguisticbarriers,discrimination, lackofaccess toaffordablehousingandhealthcare,limitedaccess to social rights in general, etc.These obstacles maybe be particularlyfeltbymigrantwomen.

• Introducingmeasuresatthenationallevelthat are tailor-made and give greaterconsideration to the specific challengesfacedbymigrants.

• Promotingthesetupofaneffectivesystemat the national level that recognisesmigrants’ skills, experience, and existingqualifications.

• Tailoring language courses to the needs and daily organisation of migrants,especially of women with caringresponsibilities.

• Supporting mentoring programmes tofoster integration on the labour marketand social interactions with the local population.

Tackle child poverty to promote equal chances for children in our societies by

Provide targeted and tailored services for non-EU migrants, especially women, to promote their labour market participation by

• Breaking the intergenerational povertycycle by promoting equal opportunitiesandputtinggreateremphasisonthefightagainstchildpoverty.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 7

• Promoting a coordinated approachto coherently address the challenges associated to the rising demand ofcare provisions, the declining supply ofcarers and the financial pressures to

Increase the focus on health and social services to adapt to the ageing of European societies by

• Highlighting the growing challenges of homelessness and housing exclusioncaused by structural factors (poverty,insufficientincome,unemployment,lackofaffordable housing) as well as relationship-basedones.Thestrongincreaseofrentsover the lastyearsand lackofadequateand affordable housing in many citiesacross Europe represent an additional riskforvulnerablepeople.

• Recognising thatmigrants (EU and non-EU)areparticularlyatriskofhomelessnessas they combine multiple risk factors.

• Addressinghousingandthefightagainsthomelessness throughout the entireEuropeanSemestercycle,inlinewiththeprinciple on housing and assistance to the homelessoftheEuropeanPillarofSocialRights.

• Encouraging Member States to developnational strategies establishing access for all to a decent and affordable housing asapriority, to investmore inpreventivemeasures to avoid homelessness, andto move towards a long-term visionwith reintegration into permanentaccommodationasanultimategoal.

Ensure affordable and accessible housing across Europe and tackle the growing homelessness challenge by

deliver high quality health and socialservices;

• Promoting and monitoring theimplementation of the measurescontainedintheinitiativetosupportwork-lifebalance;

• UsingtheSemestertostressthepotentialgainstobereapedfromincreaseintegrationofhealthandsocialcareservices,

• Promoting socially responsible publicprocurementpracticesinlinewithDirective24/2014/EU.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 8

2 Eurodiaconia, European Semester 2015: Evaluation and Recommendations3 Eurodiaconia, Rebalancing social and economic policy analysis in the European Semester; An appraisal of the 2018 Country Reports by Eurodiaconia and its mem-bers, May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodi-aconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/

Eurodiaconia-response-country-reports_201806.pdf 4 Eurodiaconia, Better social reforms to foster sustaina-ble growth: An assessment of 2018 draft country-specific recommendations by Eurodiaconia and its members, May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodiaconia_CSRs-assessment_201805.pdf

Introduction: Eurodiaconia’s work on the European Semester in 2018

Eurodiaconia is a network of 47 organisations in 33 countries, founded in the Christian faithandworking in the traditionofdiaconia.Representingover30000localorganisations,Eurodiaconia members provide social andhealthcare services and promote socialjustice. They are engaged in all facets ofsocialinclusion,fromtheintegrationofpeoplewith a migrant background, to work withdisadvantagedyouth,andelderlycare.

Eurodiaconia has been closely following the European Semester process since itsbeginningin2011.Asanetworkandtogetherwith other civil society organisations, wehavebeencallingfortheinclusionofstrongersocialanalysiswithintheEuropeanSemesterand have published regular reports on theEuropean Semester2, calling strongly on the EuropeanCommission to develop the socialdimension of the European Semester, asmacro-economic recommendations shouldnot be made without carefully taking intoaccount the potential effects on the well-being of citizens. Although aiming for economicgrowthisimportant,itshouldbebalancedandgohand inhandwith theobjectiveofsharedprosperity. This is particularly important at atimewheretheEuropeanUnionanditssupportfor globalisation are increasingly questionedby those citizenswho are left aside or evenlosingfromthisprocess.

Puttingcitizens’ faithback into theEuropeanprocesscomesthroughpoliciesthatpromotethefairsharingofthebenefitsofgrowthwithinEuropean societies. Therefore, the network

welcomed the proclamation of theEuropeanPillar of Social Rights inNovember 2017 aswell as the use of the European Semesterfor themonitoring of its implementation.Wepublished two reports this year, based on our members’ input and assessing respectivelythe country reports3 and the country-specificrecommendations4. We also welcome therenewedcall for investing in reformsand forpromotingsocialinvestmentinthiscycle.Wecall for the 2019 cycle to pursue this trend and strengthen it, in line with the negotiations of the newMFFand the proposal for a newReformSupportProgramme.

Buildingonthetworeportsmentionedabove,asurveyofourmembers’ involvement in theSemesteratnationallevel,andonourgeneralpolicywork,thispaperaimsattakingstockofthe evolutions of the European Semester in2018,andatsettingpriorities for thecomingcycle.Itthereforeassesseswhetherthesocialchallenges in theMemberStates havebeenadequately taken intoaccountand if thekeydocuments are effectively monitoring theimplementationoftheEuropeanPillarofSocialRights–bearinginmindthatthiswasthefirstcyclesinceitsproclamation.Buildingonthis,itanalyses the policy areas which should be the prioritiesofthenextcycleinordertopromotesustainablegrowthandsharedprosperity.

The report is organised in twosections.Thefirstoneprovidesageneralassessmentofthe2018EuropeanSemesterandlooksattrendsand evolutions in the way social issues arebalanced with economic ones following theadoptionofthePillar.

The second section presents the policy priorities Eurodiaconia would like to see at

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 9

the forefront of the coming cycle, taking intoaccount our members’ experience and thelessonslearnedfromthe2018Semester.

Assessing the 2018 European Semester: an increasingly social Semester which needs further improvement to reflect the Social Pillar

The 2018 Country Reports: an increased focus on social analysis which would benefit from better streamlining

Eurodiaconia and its network recognise and welcometheincreasedfocusonsocialpoliciesintheEuropeanSemesterin2018,whichhasalso been reflected in the Country Reports(CR)andCountry-SpecificRecommendations(CSRs). Following the proclamation of theEuropeanPillarofSocialRights,theEuropeanSemester now needs to prove that it caneffectively play the expected crucial role ofimplementationmonitoring framework for theSocialPillar.

Several issueswhichEurodiaconiahadbeencalling for have received more attentionrecentlywithintheEuropeanSemesteroutputs.The2018CountryReportsforexample,stressthe importance of investments in improvingsocial safety nets and social infrastructures, includingsocialhousing.Althoughthereisstillsomewaytogo,thelasttwoyearsmarkashiftofperceptionfromsocialexpenditureascoststowards considering them as investments,whichhelptobuildmoreresilienteconomies.In addition, the European Commission alsorecognized the problematic issue of in-workpoverty, which has significantly increasedacross Europe recently and currently affects about 10% of all workers. In this regard,Eurodiaconia welcomes the Commission’s

The proclamation of the European Pillar ofSocial Rights provides a unique opportunityto enhance the social analysis within the European Semester and achieve a betterbalance between economic and socialreforms. Expectations have therefore beenhigh, and while the Country Reports and the Communication from the Commission5 havevisiblytakentheSocialPillarintoaccount,thisremains below expectations. In our analysisof the 2018 country reports published this summerthankstotheinputofourmembers6, wemakethefollowingpoints.

Firstly,asectionsummarisingMemberStates’performance on the Pillar would be a usefuladditiontotheCommunicationaccompanyingthe publication of the country reports. ThiswouldprovideashortanalysisofthegeneralstateofimplementationoftheEuropeanPillarofSocialRights in theEU,beforegoing intothecountry-specificanalysis–itcouldbeusedforcomparison’ssake,andtokeepwatchontheglobalimplementationtrendsintheEU.

Secondly, we regret that the monitoring ofthe implementation of the European Pillarof Social Rights has mainly been includedthrough a box reflecting the results of the

5 https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2018-europe-an-semester-communication-country-reports-0_en6 Eurodiaconia, Rebalancing social and economic policy analysis in the European Semester; An appraisal of the

2018 Country Reports by Eurodiaconia and its members, May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodi-aconia-response-country-reports_201806.pdf

attentiontoqualityemployment.

Youwill find below amore detailed analysisof the different outputs of the 2018 European Semester.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 10

Social Scoreboard. The addition of this boxis an improvement and adds value to thecountry reports compared to previous years.However, the Social Scoreboard fails toreflecttheentireSocialPillar.Inparticular,theprinciples concerning social inclusion are not well reflected through theSocialScoreboardand are thus hardly included in the Country Reports.This ispartlydue to thedifficultyofquantifyingsuchpoliciesand thuscalls forawider analysis of the Pillar implementation,beyondthesocialscoreboard.

Asystematicanalysisoftheimplementationofeachprincipleof theSocialPillar throughoutall Country Reports would be the way to achievethisgoal.Itwouldclearlyidentifyeachprinciple,matchlawsandpolicymeasurestothem, and follow with an evaluation of theirimplementationandreforms.Thiswouldallowformore consistency throughout the countryreports and would be complemented by thePillarbox.

WeunderstandandsupporttheambitionoftheCommission to focuseach year ona coupleof specific principles. Within the proposedconsistent structure for analysis, the chosen principlescouldthereforebesubjecttolongeranalysis,buttheimplementationoftheotherswould still be assessed (though in a perhaps shorter manner). Furthermore, we wouldcall for a clear, transparent announcementof the prioritised principles at the beginning of the European Semester cycle. There, theAnnualGrowthSurvey(AGS)isprobablythebest document for such yearly focus to beexplained. This would be more transparent,andwouldallowfornon-for-profitorganisationssuch as ourselves to providemore strategicinput, targeted towards the priorities of the Commission.

Finally and coming back to the scoreboard,adding quantifiable targets to reach for allsocial scoreboard indicators would makeit clearer, since the comparison with othermember states’ performance is not easilyunderstandable and does not reflect thewhole picture of the country’s performance(doing better than an average which ispoormeans that there is stillmuch room forimprovement).Moreover,thiswouldbeagoodwaytocombinetheEU2020targetswiththeSocial Scoreboard, and keep visibility andmomentum for both instruments rather thanhavingoneunderminetheother.

Thisyear’scountry-specificrecommendations(CSRs) covered more social issues thanprevious years: according to the EuropeanCommission, “the share of social sub-partsgrew from 41% to 44%”7 in 2018. This canprobably be attributed to the integration of the European Pillar of Social Rights in thecountry reports, and isawelcomeevolution.Hence, all member states received at leastone recommendation on a social challenge,exceptforDenmark.

However, the Commission’s understandingof “social CSRs” is very broad since itencompasses all recommendations relatedto employment, health, education, andsocialpolicies.When looking inmoredetailstherefore, the share of recommendationsactually related to social challenges ismuchlower, and only corresponds to 21% of all

The 2018 Country-Specific Recommendations: more social issues covered but still often with a fiscal sustainability or labour market angle

7 According to the presentation given by the European Commission during the Strategic Dialogue of 02/07/2018.

Our calculations come up with 55% compared to 50% in 2017.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 11

CSRs on average. It varies from 0% forCyprus or Portugal to 100% for Sweden, ascanbeseenonthegraphbelow.

Indeed, a high number of so-called “social”recommendations focus on employment andlabour market challenges, which are oftenquiteunrelatedtosocialconsiderations.The graph shows the share of employment,health,education,andsocialrecommendationsper country compared to the total amountofsub-recommendations, and gives a betteridea of the policy spread. The amount ofsocial and employment recommendations isequalonaverage(2.5),thencomeeducationrecommendations (2), and health ones(0.8).

However, when looking at the employment,health,education,andsocialrecommendationsin the light of the Social Pillar principles, itsinfluenceisparticularlynoticeable:

• Principle 1 on education, training andlifelong learning: 12 countries got a

recommendation on skills this yearcomparedto6lastyear;

• Principle 17 on inclusion of peoplewith disabilities: 3 countries received arecommendation,whilstnonehadone in2017;

• Principle18onlong-termcare:3MemberStates got a recommendation in 2018compared to one the previous year (seetablebelowformoredetails).

Theseevolutionsgointherightdirection,butthereisnoroomforcomplacencysincemanyeffortsremaintobedonetobetterreflectsocialchallenges in the recommendations. Indeed,and as highlighted in our report on the 2018 draftcountry-specificrecommendations8, a lot of recommendations related topensionsandhealthcarearefocusedonfiscalsustainabilityand cost-effectiveness. The number ofrecommendations related to pensions andhealthcare both increased by respectively 4and 2 countries in 2018, but nearly half the

Share of Employment, healt, education, and social recommendations per country in 2018

Country Number of CSRs per country Employment recommenda7onsHealth recommenda7onsSocial recommenda7onsEduca7on recommenda7onsShare of employment, health, social, educa7on sub-CSRs Share of social sub-CSRs Other recommenda7ons share of employment CSRsshare of social and heath CSRsAT 12 2 2 2 2 66.67% 17% 4 33%BE 15 5 1 1 3 67% 7% 5 13%BG 20 3 3 2 3 55% 10% 9 25%HR 19 3 0 3 2 42.11% 16% 11 15.79%CY 22 2 1 0 3 27.27% 0% 16 4.55%CZ 15 4 0 1 2 46.67% 7% 8 6.67%DK 1 0 0 0 0 0% 0% 1 0%EE 8 2 0 3 0 63% 38% 3 38%FI 10 1 1 6 0 80.00% 60% 2 70.00%FR 19 4 0 2 3 47% 11% 10 10.53%DE 14 4 0 0 3 50.00% 0% 7 0%HU 19 2 0 2 3 36.84% 11% 12 10.53%IE 18 0 1 5 2 44.44% 28% 10 33.33%IT 28 6 0 3 3 42.86% 11% 16 10.71%LV 17 1 3 3 3 59% 18% 7 35%LT 15 0 3 3 4 66.67% 20% 5 40.00%LU 4 2 0 1 0 75% 25% 1 25%MT 7 1 1 1 0 43% 14% 4 29%NL 14 4 0 7 0 79% 50% 3 50%PL 15 3 0 4 2 60% 27% 6 27%PT 22 2 1 0 3 27.27% 0% 16 4.55%RO 20 3 2 1 3 45.00% 5% 11 15.00%SK 21 4 2 1 4 52.38% 5% 10 14.29%SI 17 4 2 3 1 58.82% 18% 7 29.41%ES 20 3 0 5 4 60.00% 25% 8 25%SE 7 0 0 7 0 100% 100% 0 100%UK 5 0 0 2 2 80% 40% 1 40%EU 14.962962962963 2.40740740740741 0.8518518518518522.518518518518522.03703703703704 54.58% 21% 7.14814814814815 26%Total 404 65 23 68 55 52.23% 17%Share of the total na 16.09% 5.69% 16.83% 13.61% na nShare of the "social" CSRs 30.81% 10.90% 32.23% 26.07%

Graph 1: Share of employment, health, educa7on, and social recommenda7ons per country in 2018

0.00%

25.00%

50.00%

75.00%

100.00%

AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE UK EU

Share of employment, health, social, educa7on sub-CSRs Share of social sub-CSRs

8 Eurodiaconia, Better social reforms to foster sustaina-ble growth: An assessment of 2018 draft country-specific recommendations by Eurodiaconia and its members, May

2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodiaconia_CSRs-assessment_201805.pdf

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 12

pensions(AT,CZ,IE,IT,LU,MT)andhealthcare(AT, IE,MT,PT,SK) recommendations focussolely on financial sustainability, withoutbalancing these considerations with social ones such as adequacy, affordability, oraccess.Thesimplefactthatmostofthemarelocatedinthepartdedicatedtoeconomicandfiscalrecommendationsisalreadyverytelling.In the end, there is indeed a risk of

impacting quality if the recommendationson fiscal sustainability are not balancedwith other considerations. Similarly, therecommendations on housing are too oftenfocused on market issues and do not coverthe growing challenge of homelessness inEurope – although the recitals have amoresocial angle for 3 out of 4 of the countries concerned(IE,NL,SE,UK).

Employment, healt, education, and social issues in 2018

Country Number of CSRs per country Employment recommenda7onsHealth recommenda7onsSocial recommenda7onsEduca7on recommenda7onsShare of employment, health, social, educa7on sub-CSRs Share of social sub-CSRsOther recommenda7ons share of employment CSRsshare of social and heath CSRsAT 12 2 2 2 2 66.67% 17% 4 33%BE 15 5 1 1 3 67% 7% 5 13%BG 20 3 3 2 3 55% 10% 9 25%HR 19 3 0 3 2 42.11% 16% 11 15.79%CY 22 2 1 0 3 27.27% 0% 16 4.55%CZ 15 4 0 1 2 46.67% 7% 8 6.67%DK 1 0 0 0 0 0% 0% 1 0%EE 8 2 0 3 0 63% 38% 3 38%FI 10 1 1 6 0 80.00% 60% 2 70.00%FR 19 4 0 2 3 47% 11% 10 10.53%DE 14 4 0 0 3 50.00% 0% 7 0%HU 19 2 0 2 3 36.84% 11% 12 10.53%IE 18 0 1 5 2 44.44% 28% 10 33.33%IT 28 6 0 3 3 42.86% 11% 16 10.71%LV 17 1 3 3 3 59% 18% 7 35%LT 15 0 3 3 4 66.67% 20% 5 40.00%LU 4 2 0 1 0 75% 25% 1 25%MT 7 1 1 1 0 43% 14% 4 29%NL 14 4 0 7 0 79% 50% 3 50%PL 15 3 0 4 2 60% 27% 6 27%PT 22 2 1 0 3 27.27% 0% 16 4.55%RO 20 3 2 1 3 45.00% 5% 11 15.00%SK 21 4 2 1 4 52.38% 5% 10 14.29%SI 17 4 2 3 1 58.82% 18% 7 29.41%ES 20 3 0 5 4 60.00% 25% 8 25%SE 7 0 0 7 0 100% 100% 0 100%UK 5 0 0 2 2 80% 40% 1 40%EU 14.962962962963 2.40740740740741 0.8518518518518522.518518518518522.03703703703704 54.58% 21% 7.14814814814815 26%Total 404 65 23 68 55 52.23% 17%Share of the total na 16.09% 5.69% 16.83% 13.61% na nShare of the "social" CSRs 30.81% 10.90% 32.23% 26.07%

Graph 2: Employment, health, educa7on, and social issues in 2018 CSRs

0

7.5

15

22.5

30

AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE UK EU

Employment recommenda7ons Health recommenda7ons Social recommenda7ons Educa7on recommenda7ons Other recommenda7ons

Country Number of CSRs per country Employment recommenda7onsHealth recommenda7onsSocial recommenda7onsEduca7on recommenda7onsShare of employment, health, social, educa7on sub-CSRs Share of social sub-CSRsOther recommenda7ons share of employment CSRsshare of social and heath CSRsAT 12 2 2 2 2 66.67% 17% 4 33%BE 15 5 1 1 3 67% 7% 5 13%BG 20 3 3 2 3 55% 10% 9 25%HR 19 3 0 3 2 42.11% 16% 11 15.79%CY 22 2 1 0 3 27.27% 0% 16 4.55%CZ 15 4 0 1 2 46.67% 7% 8 6.67%DK 1 0 0 0 0 0% 0% 1 0%EE 8 2 0 3 0 63% 38% 3 38%FI 10 1 1 6 0 80.00% 60% 2 70.00%FR 19 4 0 2 3 47% 11% 10 10.53%DE 14 4 0 0 3 50.00% 0% 7 0%HU 19 2 0 2 3 36.84% 11% 12 10.53%IE 18 0 1 5 2 44.44% 28% 10 33.33%IT 28 6 0 3 3 42.86% 11% 16 10.71%LV 17 1 3 3 3 59% 18% 7 35%LT 15 0 3 3 4 66.67% 20% 5 40.00%LU 4 2 0 1 0 75% 25% 1 25%MT 7 1 1 1 0 43% 14% 4 29%NL 14 4 0 7 0 79% 50% 3 50%PL 15 3 0 4 2 60% 27% 6 27%PT 22 2 1 0 3 27.27% 0% 16 4.55%RO 20 3 2 1 3 45.00% 5% 11 15.00%SK 21 4 2 1 4 52.38% 5% 10 14.29%SI 17 4 2 3 1 58.82% 18% 7 29.41%ES 20 3 0 5 4 60.00% 25% 8 25%SE 7 0 0 7 0 100% 100% 0 100%UK 5 0 0 2 2 80% 40% 1 40%EU 14.962962962963 2.40740740740741 0.8518518518518522.518518518518522.03703703703704 54.58% 21% 7.14814814814815 26%Total 404 65 23 68 55 52.23% 17%Share of the total na 16.09% 5.69% 16.83% 13.61% na nShare of the "social" CSRs 30.81% 10.90% 32.23% 26.07%

Graph 2: Employment, health, educa7on, and social issues in 2018 CSRs

0

7.5

15

22.5

30

AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE UK EU

Employment recommenda7ons Health recommenda7ons Social recommenda7ons Educa7on recommenda7ons Other recommenda7ons

When analysing the 2018 National ReformProgrammes(NRPs),thefirststrikingfeatureisthecompletelackofuniformitybetweenthereports,both in termsof formatandcontent.This is a source of great confusion, lack of transparency,andcauses importantvariationinthequalityofthereports.ThefirstthingisthatallNRPsarenotavailableinboththenationallanguageandEnglish.Indeed,twoNRPsare

The National Reform Programmes: a disappointing lack of evolution

only available inEnglish (EEandSK)whichdoes not facilitate greater national ownership and national stakeholder involvement.Conversely, seven NRPs are only availablein the national languages (BE, DE, HR, FR, IT,PT,andES)which impedes transparencyand stakeholders engagement at EU level9.Concerningcontent–andkeeping the focusonsocialmatters,only13outofthe27NRPsgiveaclearindicationofthecountry’sprogresstowards reaching the national 2020 povertytarget.The others usually dedicate a part to

9 This prevented the author of this section from analysing four of the NRPs (DE, HR, IT, PT).

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 13

Chapter 1: Equal opportuni2es and access to the labour market

Chapter 2: Fair working condi2ons Chapter 3: Social protec2on and inclusion

1. Educa2on, training and lifelong learning

T=20

2. Gender equality

T=4

3. Equal opportuni2es

T=11

4. Ac2ve support to employment

T=11

5. Secure and adaptable employment

T=4

6. Wages

T=7

HR, DE, NL, PT, RO

9. Work-life balance

T=4

11. Childcare and support to children

12. Social protec2on

T=1

13. Unemployment benefits

T=1

14. Minimum income

T=3

15. Old age income and pensions

T=14

16. Health care

T=12

17. Inclusion of people with disabili2es

T=3

AT, BE, BG, HR, CY, CZ, FR, DE, HU, IE, IT, LV, LT, PL, PT, RO, SK, SI, ES, UK

AT, CZ, IT, SK

AT, BG, BE, CZ, FR, HU, IT, LU, PL, RO, SK

BE, BG, CY, CZ, FI, DE, HU, IT, SK, SI, ES

NL, PL, PT, ES

BG, HR, EE, FR, DE, NL, RO

IE, IT, PL, SK NL HU BG, LV, RO

AT, BE, HR, CZ, FR, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, NL, LV, PL, SI

AT, BG, CY, FI, IE, LV, LT, MT, PT, RO, SK, SI

CZ, EE, LV

The 2018 CSRs compared to the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights

Chapter 1: Equal opportuni2es and access to the labour market

Chapter 2: Fair working condi2ons Chapter 3: Social protec2on and inclusion

1. Educa2on, training and lifelong learning

T=20

2. Gender equality

T=4

3. Equal opportuni2es

T=11

4. Ac2ve support to employment

T=11

5. Secure and adaptable employment

T=4

6. Wages

T=7

7. social dialogue and involvement of workers

9. Work-life balance

T=4

11. Childcare and support to children

12. Social protec2on

T=1

13. Unemployment benefits

T=1

14. Minimum income

T=3

15. Old age income and pensions

T=14

16. Health care

T=12

17. Inclusion of people with disabili2es

T=3

AT, BE, BG, HR, CY, CZ, FR, DE, HU, IE, IT, LV, LT, PL, PT, RO, SK, SI, ES, UK

AT, CZ, IT, SK

AT, BG, BE, CZ, FR, HU, IT, LU, PL, RO, SK

BE, BG, CY, CZ, FI, DE, HU, IT, SK, SI, ES

NL, PL, PT, ES

BG, HR, EE, FR, DE, NL, RO

HR, DE, NL, PT, RO

IE, IT, PL, SK NL HU BG, LV, RO

AT, BE, HR, CZ, FR, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, NL, LV, PL, SI

AT, BG, CY, FI, IE, LV, LT, MT, PT, RO, SK, SI

CZ, EE, LV

itbutwithoutmentioningtheprogress,exceptfor BE and SI where the EU 2020 target isbarely mentioned. Similarly, the involvementofstakeholders,andespeciallyofcivilsociety,intheSemesterprocessandNRPdraftingatnational level is onlymentioned in 15 out of27NRPs.

This is also an area where the European Pillar of Social Rights needs to be betterstreamlined if its implementation at nationallevelreallyistobemonitoredintheSemester,sinceonly8NRPsmentiontheSocialPillar,ofwhichonlyone(FR)integratesitsignificantly,beyond mentioning it in the introduction (itis discussed in the part on social reformsand has a dedicated box in the Europe 2020 targetssection).Thereseemstobeaneedtoupdate theNRPguidance to take theSocialPillarintoaccount.Thiswouldalsobeagoodopportunity to aim for better uniformity inthe structure and content of NRPs, in order

to improve the quality, transparency, andaccessibilityofthesedocuments.ThisupdateoftheNRPguidancecouldgetinspiredbythebestpracticesinNRPdraftingthisyear,suchasthewaytheSocialPillarisincludedintheFrench one, or how all the key social aspects arecoveredinaclearandsystematicwayintheIrish,Polish,andRomanianNRPs.

When going into the details and based on our members’ feedback, the NRPs go fromhighlighting some of the important socialchallenges(SK,NL)tonotreallycoveringthemainones(CZ,SE,AT,FI).Thus,althoughourSlovak member, Evanjelicka diakonia ECAVnaSlovensku,welcomes the inclusionof theintegration of the unemployed, of trainingand education, of childcare for children below three years old, of the integration of Romapeople, and of the better social integration of disabled people, it regrets that the aging of society, youth unemployment, and reducing

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 14

theriskofpovertyandsocialexclusion inallthe population (not only for Roma) are notgivenhigherprominence.

Similarly,KerkinActiewelcomestheextensiveanalysis of the challenges represented by the over-flexibility of the Dutch labour market(pressing down effects on wages, social uncertainty, increase of in-work poverty),aswell as some of the proposedmeasures.Likewise, the proposed reforms to tacklein-work poverty and child poverty arejudged to be likely to have positive impacts.They underline however that although theannouncedmeasurestotackleover-flexibilityare a progress, they do not deal with the heart oftheproblemwhichisthatover-flexibilisationmakes work cheap: the measures proposedreduce inequalities by diminishing theprotectionoffixed-termcontracts,butthiswillkeep pushing for cheap labour. Moreover,ourmemberlamentsthelackoffocusonthedistressing situation of disabled people at the bottomoftheDutchlabourmarketinthe2018NRP.

Our Czech member, Slezska Diakonie,considersthatthisyear’sNRPdoesnotreallycover the main social challenges which aretheageingsociety, the increasingnumberofpeoplewithmemory disorder, the increasingnumberofyoungpeoplefacingdrugaddiction,thereformofpsychiatriccaretomakeitmorecommunity-based, the support to familymemberswho care for disabled people, andthepositionofsocialworkintheCzechsociety.They highlight that a full implementationof the national reform of psychiatric care,and a strengthening of the interconnections between social and healthcare systems tomove towards an integrated care system

shouldbetheprioritisedsocialreformsintheCzechRepublic.

Church of Sweden also considers that the SwedishNRPdoesnotreallycoverthemainsocial challenges, since social work and a focus onsocialinclusionratherthanonemploymentare clearly missing. Besides, the integrationofmigrants,socialinequalities,mentalhealthissues, and tackling social exclusions are not highlighted enough in the report which our member considers is quite abstract anddoesnotmentionallongoingsocialinitiatives.Similarly,DiakonieAustriaconsiders that the2018 NRP is not very relevant to their worksinceitmainlyfocusesoneducationpolicies.

Finally,theSalvationArmyFinlandwelcomesthementionofthereformofcounties,social,and health care, aswell as the employmentreforms.However theyhighlight thepotentialnegative impacts of the reform of counties,social, and health care: experts’ opiniondivertfromtheviewsofthegovernment,andthere are fears that the reform will be doneinahurrybeforenextspring’selections.Thisreformmayalsoaffectthefundingofnon-for-profit organisations which currently comesfrom municipalities. Furthermore, the reformwill impact services and their availability:Finland being a large, sparsely populated country,thereformwillweakentheavailabilityofservicesinlargepartsofitbyconcentratingservices, which will no longer be close topeople.Similarly,theemploymentreformsdonot cover some important challenges, suchas the difficulty to access services equallyacrossthecountry,andthepotentialnegativeeffectsoftighteningtheemploymentbenefits.Additionally, the Salvation Army Finlandconsidersthattwomainsocialchallengesare

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 15

The effective involvement of civil societyorganisations at all levels in the EuropeanSemester process is a key pre-condition formaking theEuropeanSemestermoresocial.Civil society organisations have a differentperspective onmany aspects of society andhave valuable insight, especially in the areaof social inclusion. Besides, they have on-the-ground knowledge and are key actors for socialreformimplementationatnationallevel.Eurodiaconia welcomes the steps taken bytheEuropeanCommissioninorder toimprovethe civil dialogue at EU level. The StrategicDialoguesarean importantstepforwardandwe hope they can continue to take place at regularintervalsduringtheupcomingcycles.

However,wehavearguedearlierthisyearthattheseeffortsdonotseemtobetranslatedsofaratnationallevel10.Inordertogetabetterideaofthescopeofcivilsociety involvementin the European Semester at national level,Eurodiaconiaconducteditsownsurveyamongitsmembership.Thesurveyaskedfordetailsofnationalmembers’involvementintheNRPsdraftingandintheSemesterintheircountry.

The role of civil society: the improvements at EU level are not mirrored in the Member States

10 Eurodiaconia, Rebalancing social and economic policy analysis in the European Semester; An appraisal of the 2018 Country Reports by Eurodiaconia and its members,

May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodi-aconia-response-country-reports_201806.pdf

The results show that the system does notworkatnationallevel:ofthesevenresponseswe received, three were aware of a formalconsultation process for civil society ontheNRP at national level. In two cases it isdone through the involvementof committeessuch as the economic and social committee(CZ, SK), and/or through formal invitationsby ministries (CZ), forums (SE), or generalprocedures open to all civil society (SE).However, despite the existence of formalconsultation processes in at least three of the seven Member States covered, noneof the respondent organisations took part in the consultation process in 2018.OurDutchmember,KerkinActie,wastheonlyonewhotook the initiative,aspartofawidernetworkcalled the National Council of Churches, to send their assessment of the country reporttotheDutchDepartmentofsocialaffairsandemployment. The positive sign here is thattheir contribution was taken seriously by the SecretaryofStatewhorepliedextensively totheir assessment and organised a meetingwiththem.Butourmember’sfeelingwasthattheir contribution was not much reflected inthefinalNRP.In fact, the six members who gave a reasonfor not taking part all put forward the lack of consideration by authorities (RO,AT,SK,SE,NL,CZ).Thisisworryingconsideringthattheseorganisationshavebeendeliveringhealthandsocial services at national level for decadesand should therefore be key partners in social reform-making.Twoalso say that theydonottakepartintheformalconsultationprocessdueto their doubts in its usefulness or relevance(SE,NL),whichisagainquitealarming.Indeed,after detailing the existing consultation process inSweden,whichtakestheformofaninvitationto Sakrad, our member, Church of Sweden,

missingfromthe2018NRP:thecontroversialissue of the freedomof choice in social andhealth care services for vulnerable people(weak,poor,sufferingfrommentalhealth,drugaddicts), and the need for affordable housing sincehousingcostsinmetropolitanareasareexcessively high compared to income andlikely contribute to the current high households debtlevels.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 16

This graph represents the answers to the following multiple choice question in the Survey: Do you take part in the consultation? If not, please specify the reasons: lack of resources, unsure who to talk to in ministries, bad relationship with the national officers in charge, lack of consideration by the authorities, other (please explain). It is in the “other” choice that two members expressed their main reason to be the doubts on the usefulness/relevance of the NRP consultation process at national level.

Reasons for not getting involved in NRP consultation process - 2018 Eurodiaconia Survey

explains that since the consultation of civilsociety is coordinatedby thePrimeMinister’sofficebut the report isdraftedby thedifferentministries,theconsultationprocess’sinfluenceover the drafting is very limited. Furthermore,themeetings are felt to bemore information-giving sessions than dialogue. Similarly, Kerkin Actie (NL) explains that during the Dutch Presidency in 2016, they took part in theconsultationprocessasmembersoftheSocialAlliance for Society without Poverty, but thatthis alliance stopped getting involved in theconsultation after that, due to its doubts in the relevanceoftheprocess.

This isaworryingfinding: ifcivilsocietystopsgetting involved in the formal consultationprocess on the Semester at national level

unsure who to talk to in the ministries 1lack of resources 1doubts on its usefulness/relevance 2lack of considera8on by the authori8es 6Reasons for not ge=ng involved in NRP consulta8on process:

Graph 3: Reasons for not ge=ng involved in NRP consulta8on process - 2018 Eurodiaconia Survey

lack of considera8on by the authori8es

doubts on its usefulness/relevance

lack of resources

unsure who to talk to in the ministries

0 1.5 3 4.5 66

because they have the feeling it is useless,thereisaclearneedforrevampingthisprocess.Itwillalsobemoredifficulttoconvincethemtogetinvolvedagain.All the other respondents highlighted that their Semester involvementwassolely takingplacethrough Eurodiaconia, at EU level, and evenourDutchmemberinsistedthattheirbeingabletocontributetothenational levelprocesswasduetoEurodiaconia’stimelywarningandusefulanalysis.

TheupdatedEmploymentGuidelines,adoptedon 11 July 2018 by the Council of ministers,contain a clear reference to the need for involving civil society11 and, coupled with the SocialPillar,theCommissionnowhasleverageto push Member States to make civil society

11http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-10464-2018-INIT/en/pdf

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 17

In light of the above-mentioned assessmentand of the upcoming Autumn package,Eurodiaconia would like to set out its priorities for social policies in Europe in the comingSemester cycle. They are derived from ourpolicyworkandfromthechallengeshighlightedbyournationalmembersduringaworkshoponthe Semester we held at ourAnnual GeneralMeeting inJune2018.Theyaimatpromotingshared prosperity in the sense that the proposed reformsandorientationsallowforthegainsofgrowthtobenefitallandincreasethefairnessinoursocieties,therebypromotingeconomicandsocialimprovements.

This is particularly needed at a time wherecitizens increasingly question the Europeanproject. Rebalancing European policies toensure the promotion not only of economicgrowth but also of social inclusion and fairness isthereforekeytomakesurethatnooneisleftasideandeveryonegains.But,asit isarguedinthefinalreportoftheIPPR12, “it is not enough to seek to redress injustices and inequalities simply by redistribution. They need to be tackled at the source, in the structure of the economy in which they arise”.

Thus, Eurodiaconia supports the further streamlining of the European Pillar of SocialRights principles in the coming Semestercycle in order to rebalance the process as truly fosteringfaireconomicsystems.Thepromotion

12 https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/prosperi-ty-and-justice

Social priorities for the 2019 European Semester: promoting fair economies

of social investments within the EuropeanSemester is at the heart of this strategy as itisthebestwaytoensurethattheSocialPillarbecomesareality:nothingcanbedonewithoutthe appropriate funding. Because resourcesarenotunlimitedhowever,trade-offshavetobemade.Thatiswhy,inlinewiththeachievementsandlimitationsofthepreviousSemestercyclehighlighted in thefirstchapter,aswellaswiththe current economic, social, and politicalsituation in Europe, we call for promoting thefollowing five priorities for social investmentandmainstreaming them throughout the2019EuropeanSemestercycle.

The promotion of job quality is key to build asustainablepathofeconomicgrowthandsocialdevelopment in theEU. Increased inequalitiesinlabourmarkets,jobpolarisation,andtheriseof non-standard forms of employment or ofnewformsofworkconstitutemajorchallengesfor European labour markets. These haveimplications for the future of social protectionsystemsandthecohesionofoursocieties.

Social services act upon the declining qualityof jobsandrepairthenegativeeffectsofsuchtrends.Atthesametime,thelackofservicesisoftenabarrierformanypeopletoaccessqualityjobs, resulting in underutilisation of labour oraltogether inactivity.Also, the lack of servicesorobstaclestoaccessingthemmaypreventtheuse of untapped sources of workforce with large potential tocontributetoEuropeaneconomies– e.g. people with caring duties, migrants,etc. For these reasons, access to affordable

Promote quality employment to ensure sustainable growth and put an end to the increasing in-work poverty trend

involvementintheSemesteratnationallevelareality.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 18

13 Council Recommendation of 15 February 2016 on the integration of the long-term unemployed into the labour market, 2016/C 67/01.14 Commission Recommendation of 3 October 2008 on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market, 2008/867/EC15 These are the three dimensions of labour market per-

formance defined by the renewed OECD Jobs Strategy. For further details on the list of indicators contained in each dimension, see OECD, Employment Outlook, 2017, Paris, chapter 1. 16 Proposal for a Council Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed, COM(2018) 132 final

andquality services should lie at the heart ofemploymentpolicies.

The essential role played by social serviceshasalreadybeenemphasisedinkeyinitiativessuchasthe2016CouncilRecommendationontheintegrationofthelong-termunemployed.Itstressed in particular the synergies established between these and employment services toachieve sustainable employment outcomes13.This approach is also consistent with the principles enshrined in the Recommendationonactiveinclusion14.Inlinewiththese,thenewSemester cycle should seize the opportunitytomainstream once again the role played bysocial services as an essential pillar towardssustainablejobinclusion.

Together with job quantity and job quality,fully-fledged action on employment inthe EU must crucially pay attention to thedegree of inclusiveness of labour markets15.Employment should be viewed as a space tofulfilpeople’srightsandopentoall,fightingallforms of discrimination and promoting equalopportunities for under-represented groups.Such an approach is also economicallywise in light of the mutually reinforcing linksbetween poverty and exclusion from labourmarkets.Hence,the2019EuropeanSemestershouldpursuethecreationofmoreandbetteremployment opportunities for disadvantagedgroups of people in light of the preventativevalueoftheseagainstpovertyrisks.

Adequate social protection is needed toguarantee the well-being of workers, both employedandunemployed. Inaddition, it isasignificantdriverofqualitylevelsinemploymentbecauseinadequatelevelsofsocialprotection

may lead to suboptimal job placements withnegative implications for employees andthe economy as a whole in the form of skillsmismatchesandwastedproductivepotential.

Ascanbeseenintheprevioussections,someofourmembers(KerkinActie,NL)stillhighlightthemismatchbetweensomeformsofemploymentin their country and social protection, with the negativeimpactsonpovertyrisksinentails.WethuscallupontheEuropeanSemestertocloselymonitor the adequacy of social protection forall types of workers, including those in non-standard formsofemploymentalong the linesof the proposedCouncil Recommendation onaccess to social protection for workers and the self-employed16.

Also, we call upon the European Semesterto underscore the need for targeted efforts towardstheemploymentandsocialintegrationofwidergroupsofpeopleandleverageonEUfundingtounderpinsuchactions.EurodiaconiamembershaveexperiencedtheadvantagesoftargetedEUfundingtosupporteffortstobringpeoplebackintoemployment.

For instance, theYouth Employment Initiative(YEI) has been key to operationalise the support to long-termunemployed youngpeoplewithintheframeworkoftheCouncilRecommendation.Atthesametime,supporttoothertargetgroupsequally affected by long-term unemploymentand at high risk of social exclusion has faltered duetothelackofadhocfundinginstruments.

The proposal for a newMultiannual FinancialFrameworkhasidentifiedtheneedtocoupleEUfundingwith theprioritiesandcountry-specificrecommendationsadoptedwithintheEuropean

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 19

17 Eurodiaconia, Rebalancing social and economic policy analysis in the European Semester; An appraisal of the 2018 Country Reports by Eurodiaconia and its members, May 2018, available here: https://www.eurodiaconia.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Eurodi-aconia-response-country-reports_201806.pdf18https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Children_at_risk_of_poverty_or_social_exclu-

Semester.Inlightofthis,wecalluponthenewSemestercycletodrawonlessonslearntandlay the ground ahead of the next MFF for acomprehensiveapproachtowardsemploymentchallenges, acknowledging their wider impactamong different target groups with specificsupportneeds.

Several Eurodiaconia member organisationshave stressed their concerns with regard tochildpoverty this year (Kerk inActie,NL,hashighlighted this in their country reports analysis for example17). In a number of countries ourmembers have observed high numbers offamilies with children experiencing povertyand in some countries those numbers are onthe rise, despite general improvement of theeconomicsituation.

Those observations by our members areconfirmed by Eurostat data, which show thatchildren are the age group most at risk ofpovertyorsocialexclusion(26,9%comparedto24,7%of18-64-yearoldsin2015)18.Comparedto previous years, this means only a slightdecrease of the number of children at risk ofpovertyandsocialinclusionatEUlevel.Infact,childpovertyhasevenincreasedinanumberofEUcountries19.

Despite thosenumbers, itneedstobekept inmindthatchildrenarenotpoorbythemselves.Achild’swellbeingheavilydependsonthefamilyin which he grows up.According to Eurostat,singleparentsandfamilieswith threeormorechildrenaremostatriskofpoverty(47.8%and31.7% respectively in 2015)20. Other familiesparticularly at risk are households with low work intensity, parents with low levels of educationand migrant families. In addition to this, our

Tackle child poverty to promote equal chances of children in societies

sion 19 According to OECD data, it has increased in 13 out of 20 OECD countries with available data, most of them being EU member states: http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/CO_2_2_Child_Poverty.pdf20https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Children_at_risk_of_poverty_or_social_exclu-sion

GoodpracticefromourmembersinGermany:Diakonie Dusseldorf and Renatec

Diakonie Düsseldorf works Diakonie Düsseldorf worksinthefieldof‘employmentandeducation’through Renatec, a social enterprise that combines work, vocational qualifications andasociallyeducativecoachingasastrategy tobringpeoplebackintoemployment.Renatecoffersitsservicestoaverydiverserangeof users, including people with disabilities and severalothergroupswithincreaseddifficultiesto become integrated in the labour market.RenatecoffersvocationaleducationinseveralfieldsandafirstcontactwithemploymenttakesplacethroughRenatec’sowncraftworkservice,whichprovidesservicesofpainting,installationandrenovationtoindividuals,organizationsandcompanies.AkeytargetgroupforRenatecarewomenwhohave interrupted their professional careers,usually as a result of maternity, and wish toreturn to professional life. For these women,a “re-entry career” programme has beenintroduced recently providing for a 6-monthaccompaniment. Such an accompanimentincludes personal coaching, a skill target planning, organisation of internships withexternal partners, promotion of personalbranding and support in time and family

management.RenatecispartiallyfoundedwithEUfundingandregionalresourcesfromNorthRhine-Westphalia.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 20

members stress the importance of supportingfamilies in debt and families where parentsexperiencein-workpoverty.Therefore,wecallonthenextSemestercycletoencouragedirectsupporttofamiliesinorderto support children. Effective support alsorequiresmeasuressuchasanadequatechildallowanceforeverychild,whichwouldensurethat children are not disadvantaged by lowwages,andthatlargerfamiliesinparticulararenotdisadvantagedduetothenumberofchildrentheyhave.Thisshouldalsobeencouraged intheupcomingSemestercycle.

Our members also observe the clear linkbetweenpovertyandsocialexclusion.Insomecountries, theremay not be children living onthestreet,buttherearefamilieswhereparentscan’t afford for their children to participate inextra-curricular activities or leisure pursuits.ArecentstudypublishedbyBertelsmanninJune2018, stresses the same strong link betweenchildpovertyandsocialexclusionofchildren.Itshowsthatchildrenexperiencingpoverty,evenonlyoccasionally,can’tparticipatetothesameextentinschoolandafter-schoolactivitiesthanother children21 Disadvantages and unequalopportunities such as these at an early age can lead to future exclusion and can foster an intergenerationalpovertycycle.

Forthisreason,Eurodiaconiamemberssupportfamiliestoenabletheirchildrentoparticipateinsociety,tofeelincludedfromayoungage,andhavethesameopportunitiesasotherchildrenintheirschoolorcommunity.Thistypeofactivitiespromoting equal opportunities should bebetter fosteredwithin theEuropeanSemesterframework.Already in 2013, the European CommissionRecommendation “Investing in Children:Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage” urged

memberstatestointroduceintegratedstrategiesto reduce child poverty and provide equalchances to children22. This recommendationwas formulated in the context of the Europe2020 strategy and its implementation wassupposedtobemonitoredthroughtheEuropeanSemestercycle.However, fouryears later theprogress report of the recommendation notesthat only in six Member States the issues ofchildpovertyandsocialexclusionandofchildwell-being have improved since the adoptionoftherecommendation,whilethesituationhaseven weakened in two. The report concludesthat “the modest progress made in the direction outlined in the Recommendation is insufficient to the scale of the problem in many countries”23.

WiththeproclamationoftheEuropeanPillarofSocial Rights, the right to protection of children frompovertyhasbeenreconfirmedinprinciple11.Again,theimplementationoftheEuropeanPillar of Social Rights, is supposed to bemonitored through theEuropeanSemester. Inviewofthehighlevelsofchildpovertyreportedacross the EU and the existing frameworkscallingforactiontobetterprotectchildrenfrompoverty and social exclusion, the EuropeanSemester should put greater emphasison the fight against child poverty. MemberStates should be further asked through the EuropeanSemester to tacklechildpovertybyimplementing adequate support measures forvulnerable families,suchas theonesdetailedabove.

21https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2018/juni/kinderarmut-hae-ngt-stark-von-berufstaetigkeit-der-muetter-ab/22European Commission Recommendation - Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage, 2013

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PD-F/?uri=CELEX:32013H0112&from=EN 232017 Progressreport on implementation of the rec-ommendation on investing in children

GoodpracticefromourmemberinPoland:theWindowproject

DiakoniaPolska, (DiaconiaPoland) is runningtheso-called‘Window’projecttoprovideschoolsupplies to the most disadvantaged families.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 21

Migrant’s social inclusion begins on the firstday of arrival and is largely dependent onpositive social interactions between migrantsand the host society. Obstacles that canhave a significant effect on migrant’s abilityto integrate however, include limited accessto the labour market and education, culturalor linguistic obstacles, discrimination, lack ofaccess to affordable housing and healthcare, and limited access to social rights in general.Such challenges may be particularly felt bymigrantwomen,especiallythoseidentifyingasasylum seekers and refugees, those workinginlow-skilledsectors,orthosearrivingthroughfamilyreunification.

Provide targeted and tailored services for non-EU migrants, especially women, to promote their labour market participation

Introducingmeasuresatthenationallevelthataretailor-madeandgivegreaterconsiderationto the specific challenges faced by migrantwomenandtheirexperienceswillgoalongwaytoassistingtheirsuccessfulintegration.

Suchmeasures should include access to thelabourmarketuponarrival,accesstolanguageand vocational training, access to mentoringopportunities, access to social rights like healthcare, housing, welfare and education, andmeasures toprevent thediscriminationofmigrantsinallspheresoflife.

Withregardstomeasuresaimedat facilitatingaccess to the labourmarket, there should beaneffectivesysteminplaceatthenationallevelthatrecognisesmigrantsskills,experienceandexistingqualificationson themodelof theEUSkillsProfileToolforThirdCountriesNationals24.Language courses should be accessible to migrantwomen,especiallyintermsoflocationandtiming,andshouldbeadaptedtobeusefulfor employment and interaction with differentservicesthatthemigrantmightcomeincontactwith.Migrantwomenshouldalsohaveaccessto quality daycare so that they are able toparticipateinlanguageandvocationaltraining.

MentoringprogramsshouldalsobesupportedbythedifferentMemberStatesandpromotedbytheupcomingEuropeanSemestercycle.Morefunding should also be given to civil societyorganizations and social partners to developmentoringprogramsthatassistmigrantsgettherelevantworkexperienceneeded toenter thelabourmarketinthevariousMemberStates.

IftheEU’sobjectiveistoraisetheemploymentrateby75%by2020,ensuringthatmigrantsare

24 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?\catId=1412&langId=en

The aim of the project is to support childrenandyoungpeoplefromsociallydisadvantagedfamilies with school supplies and educationalmaterials,withtheultimateobjectiveofmakingeducationopportunitiesequalforall.Withintheproject,materialsareprovidedwhichwillenableyoungchildren toget themostoutof their time at school. As such, the projectwill cover the cost of school supplies, textbooks, school clothes or travel passes; all ofwhich enable the students to go to school and accesseducation.Thegoaloftheprojectistomakeeducationalanequalopportunity forall,regardlessof thesocial, religiousoreconomicstandingofthepupil.ThroughtheworkcarriedoutbyDiakoniaPolska,asmanyas200familiesin need of support have been outlined aspotentialbeneficiariesofthe‘Window’project.

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 22

Good practice from our member in Austria:Trainingcoursesforasylumseekers

TheEvangelischesDiakoniewerkGallneukirch-enisamodernsocialenterpriseforpeoplewithdisabilitiesandtheelderly.Theenterpriseofferssocial assistance training where students learn the necessary skills to support and care for peo-plewithspecialneeds.In2016,theydecidedtouse these existing structuresto offer a training course for asylum seekers.The coursehas twoaims: discover the socialeconomyand social carework, and learn theGermanlanguage.ThisprojectisfundedbytheDiakoniewerkandtheregionofUpperAustria.The training course is free and lasts one year and includes290hoursof lessons,150hoursofGermanclassesand200hoursofpracticalexperience. They feature an introduction topedagogy, psychology and nursing studies and training around basic health care principles.The participants improve their knowledge oftheGerman languageandcanfindout if theywant to continue with vocational education inthe social sector through practical experience in the social services of the Diakoniewerk.Those wishing to continue with a vocationaltraining can do this in one of the schools of the Diakoniewerkoncetheyhavereceivedrefugeestatusorsubsidiaryprotection.

AcrosstheEuropeanUnion,ourmembersreportongoing concerns as regards homelessnessand housing exclusion. Their concerns areechoedbyreportsshowingthathomelessnessisontherise inalmostallEUmemberstates.Accordingtothe2018Reportonhomelessnessin Europe by FEANTSA, Finland was the only countrythatmanagedtoreducethenumberofhomelesspeople25.

Eurodiaconia members observe structuralfactors, such as poverty, lacking income,unemployment,butalso the lackofaffordablehousing as main causes of homelessness.Furthermore, relationship-based factors,including domestic violence, divorce, andthe death of a family member; and personalfactors(mentalhealthandaddictionproblems)have also been observed as key causes ofhomelessness.

Migrantsareoftenreportedasbeingparticularlyat risk of homelessness, as they combine anumber of risk factors. Furthermore, most ofourmembersobserve thatEUmigrantsmakeupan importantshareof thehomeless,whichcan often be explained by the fact that they are notprotectedbyanysocialsecuritysystem(nolonger protected by the one in their country, not yetaccesstotheoneinthehostcountry).

In Denmark, the increase of young homelesspeople has been reported by our members,whileseveralcountriesalsoreportanincreaseofwomenandfamiliesbeinghomeless.

In addition to homelessness, some of our

Ensure affordable and accessible housing across Europe and tackle the growing homelessness challenge

betterintegratedandhaverealopportunitiestoparticipateinthelabourmarketwillbevital.WethereforecallonthisSemestercycletopromotemeasuressuchas theonesdetailedabove tofosterthesuccessfulintegrationsofmigrantsintheEUandcapitaliseontheirpotential.

25FEANTSA, Third overview of housing exclusion in Europe 2018, https://www.feantsa.org/en/report/2018/03/21/the-second-overview-of-housing-exclusion-in-eu-rope-2017

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 23

members,suchasDiakonieAustria,alsostressthe increase of people living in inadequateand precarious housing situations, such as rooms without windows, mouldy rooms andovercrowded housing. The strong increaseof rents over the last years and the lack ofadequateandaffordablehousinginmanycitiesacross Europe represent an additional risk for vulnerable people, as highlighted by theSalvationArmyFinlandabove.In this context, Eurodiaconia welcomes thatthe European Pillar of Social Rights includesa principle on housing and assistance to the homeless, which demonstrates a genuinepolitical commitment and a framework forinvestment of energy and resources in thefight against homelessness in Europe. Whilethis engagement was clearly reflected in the2018AGS,thefightagainsthomelessnesswasless prominent in the Country Reports thanexpectedandonlyfourmemberstatesreceivedCSRs related to housing and homelessness.Considering the rise of homelessness in allMemberStatesbutoneandtheriseofrentsinmanymajorEuropeancities,theissuehasbeeninadequatelycoveredintheCountryReports.

In view of the implementation of the entireEuropeanPillarofSocialRights,itisurgentthathousing and the fight against homelessnessis addressed throughout the entire European Semester cycle. The European CommissionshouldinparticularencourageMemberStatestodevelopnationalstrategiesestablishingaccessfor all to a decent and affordable housing as a priority,toinvestmoreinpreventivemeasurestoavoidhomelessnessforexamplebypreventingevictions, and to move towards a long termvision, aiming to eradicate homelessness bylookingatreintegrationofhomelesspeopleintopermanentaccommodation.

Good practice from our member in France:ABEJSolidaritésupportsthehomeless

ABEJ Solidarité is a member organizationof the French Eurodiaconia member FEP(Fédération de l’Entraide Protestante) whichsupportshomelesspeopleinLille.Nexttodaycenters, emergency and night shelters andshelters for vulnerable persons with mentalhealthproblems,theorganizationalsoprovideshealthcaretothemostdeprivedandrunsare-integrationprogrammebasedonthe“housing-first”approach.The re-integration programme “Pôle Loge-ment d’Abord” provides a whole range of dif-ferentsupportservicesandshelters.Thepro-grammeaimsatenabling itsusers to leadanindependent life by entering and keeping their ownaccommodation.Usersarefirstwelcomedwithoutanyobligationandnotimelimitinshel-ters, which are intended to stabilize their health andsocialsituation.Theusershaveindividualrooms,canusethecommonroomsandreceivepersonalizedsupportthroughsocialworkers.In a second step users can move to smallstudios which are equipped with a kitchen.They are supported by social workers to (re)-learn how to lead an independent life, including how to care for an apartment, how to handleadministrative tasks and looking for a job.ThehousingsupportserviceofABEJwill thensupportusersinfindinganadequatelong-termhousingsolution.Whentheusermovesintohisown apartment, the organization continues tosupporthiminordertoensurethatthetransitionis successful and that the supported person can effectivelykeephisaccommodation.

The ageing of European societies is a strategic challenge for thecomingdecades. Ithasalso

Increase the focus on health and social services to adapt to the ageing of European societies

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 24

been highlighted repeatedly by ourmembers,bothduringtheEuropeanSemesterworkshopat Eurodiaconia’s Annual General Meeting inJune 2018 (ES, SE, PL, CZ, SK) and in thereplies to the Eurodiaconia surveys on theNRPs–atthequestion“whichimportantsocialchallengesaremissingfromthisreport?”,bothour Czech and Slovak members mentionedtheageingofsociety.Acoordinatedapproachis, therefore, needed to coherently address the challengesassociatedtotherisingdemandforcare provision, the declining supply of carersand the financial pressures to deliver highquality health and social services which areaccessibleandaffordable.

The initiative to support work-life balance26, which is one of the first deliverables of theEuropean Pillar of Social Rights, has put thespotlight on the need to uphold carers through astrongerserviceprovision.This would contribute to increased levels ofwell-being among service users and carers,andallowthelatterstoremainonoraccessthelabourmarket.

Inourview,theSemestershouldfulfilitsroleasatoolfortheimplementationatMemberStateleveloftheEuropeanPillarofSocialRightsandthe initiativesstemming from it.Therefore,wecall upon the EuropeanSemester to promoteandmonitortheimplementationofthemeasurescontained in the initiative. This includes thepromotionofaccessiblecareservices,boostingquality in services through activities such astrainings, monitoring, support to continuousimprovement, scaling up successful initiativesat local and regional levels, and promptingchanges in the programming of ESIF toguaranteetheprovisionofcareserviceswhenchallengesareidentified.

Beyond the recommendations put forward bythe work-life balance initiative, the European

26 An initiative to support work-life balance for working parents and carers, COM(2017) 252 final.

Semestershouldalsopointatkeystrategiestodeliverqualitycareinamoreeffectivemanner.Firstly, it should stress the potential gains to be reapedfromincreasedintegrationofhealthandsocial care services. Integrating care servicesandsupportingactivitiesmeansthatthedesignanddeliveryofcareismadeinamoreeffectivemanner.Thisway,usersreceiveacontinuumofpreventive,rehabilitative,curative,andsupportinterventionswhicharesuitedtotheirneedsovertimeandseamlesslyavailableacrossdifferentlevelsandareasofhealthandsocialsystems.Integration is also more efficient, because itfully releases the potential for synergies across services,itallowsforbetterallocatedresources,anditavoidsoverlapsandthenegativeeffectsand costs of service disruptions on healthstatus. Establishing and coordinating the fullrangeofservicesinthecontinuumofcarewillalsoincreasetheflexibilityandresponsivenessof resources to meet the changing needs ofolder persons and people with disabilities and providemoreadequateanswers.A second avenue to enable better service isthroughsociallyresponsiblepublicprocurementpractices. Such practices should take intoaccountthequalitycriteriawhichareessentialin the delivery of health and social services.To this end, the use of “best price-qualityratio” as the guiding award criterion is key,as well as the inclusion of principles such as continuity,accessibility,affordability,availability,and comprehensiveness of services. Also, areasonable duration of contracts should be promotedinordertoensurecontinuityofserviceprovision to users, with particular attention tothoseinvulnerablesituations.The inclusion of such criteria in contracting decisions has been made available by thenew public procurement rules introduced byDirective 24/2014/EU. However, their take upand implementation by contracting authoritiesintheirdailypracticeremainsunderdeveloped.Forthisreason,theEuropeanSemestershould

Promoting shared prosperity in the European Semester | 25

Good practice from ourmembers in Sweden:person-centred documentation and evaluation(PDE)

Bräcke Diakoni has developed a projectin Sweden called PDE – person-centreddocumentation and evaluation. The aim ofthe project is to increase and help guaranteehigh-quality, person-centred care for personssuffering from dementia and living in carehomes.Goingbeyondthecommonlycollectedbiomedical information (e.g. disease burden,diagnostic tests), staff use the International Classification of Functioning Disability andHealth(ICF)fromtheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO).Oftenwhenaperson suffering fromdementiamovesintoaresidentialcarehome,thepersonorfamilymembershavetomakealonglistofallthethingstheycannolongerdo.BräckeDiakonihas focused on using the PDE framework toshow a person’s resources and all the thingstheycanstilldo,regardlessof theirdiagnosis.As a result, 50% of the beneficiaries of PDEimprovedmentally and physically. Sometimesusers are more independent as a result ofthis treatment, thus requiring less care, andsometimes they are even able to move backhome.ThePDEprojectiscarriedoutbyfourdifferentpartners:BräckeDiakoni,FAMNA(TheSwedishAssociation for Non-Profit Health and Social

Service Providers), Jönköping Academy forImprovementofHealthandWelfare(JönköpingUniversity), and a Swedish IT company (AlkitCommunication). It is financed partly by aSwedish innovation agency (Vinnova) (50%)andpartlybythefourpartners(50%).

27 A Making Public Procurement work in and for Europe, COM(2017) 572 final.

Good practice from our members in Norway:anexampleofStrategicPublicProcurementinpractice

In Norway, the transposition of the PublicProcurementDirectiveconstitutesanexampleof a strategic approach towards the social potentialinprocurementlegislationbynationalauthorities.A specific role has been reservedto non-profit actors, who have been grantedreservedcontractsprovidedthattheirbidsmeettheobjectivesofthegoodofthecommunityandbudgetaryefficiency.One of Eurodiaconia members in Norway,Diakonhjemmet, reports on significant stepsmadewhenitcomestosocialpublicprocurement.Laws and regulation have opened specialtendercompetitionsespeciallyfornot-for-profitorganizations.Thispolicyonreservedcontractshas been approved by EFTA (European FreeTrade Association). Furthermore, the tendercompetitionstendtobemoreandmorelinkedto the quality and the content of the serviceprovisions.Finally,apoliticalgoalhasbeensetby theNorwegianParliament toensure thatagreater proportion of public procurement inthe health and care sector go to not-for-profitcompanies. The Norwegian authorities havemade an explicit commitment to a strategicobjective of 25%of public procurement beinggrantedtonot-for-profitprovidersoperatorsby2025.ThisapproachhasbeenbroughtforwardbyNorwegianlocalauthoritieswhichimplementsuchtargetsonpublicprocurementcontracts.

echo the efforts made at EU27 and national levels towards a more strategic approach topublic procurement by contracting authorities.Such an approach should make use of theavailable framework for socially responsiblepublic procurement that gives “best value formoney” by bringing quality, sustainability, andcosttogetherintothecontractingdecisionmix.

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Eurodiaconia is a federation of 45 social and health care organisations founded in the

Christian faith and promoting social justice.Eurodiaconia is a registered aisbl in Belgium. This publication has received fi nancial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020). For further information, please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi. The information contained in this publication does not necessarily refl ect the position or opinion of the European Commission.Copyright © 2017 Eurodiaconia All rights reserved.