Jacques Delors proposes adding a new social protocol to the Treaty

(B2) With Jacques Delors, you are sure to never be bored. At 81, the former President of the European Commission probably retains more “greenness” than most European leaders. A delight… Evidenced by his performance in Brussels, at the Committee of the Regions on February 28, where he proposed to go further towards “a new social Europe” Extracts….

"The climate seems favorable to me, trying to get out of the constitutional dilemma, to write a wise social protocol, with words that count, and not words that do not engage".

THE SOCIAL OPENS ITS EARS
“While the European Union is in crisis, social issues again seem to be opening the ears of some. The Council of Ministers is concerned about the quality of work, there is the declaration of these 9 Member States which proposes a new impetus to social Europe - let's hope that it will not be "word, word, word..." as it was said a singer—, the economy ministers are seriously plunging—which is surprising on their part—on the question of whether the distribution of productivity was good. This changes us from a discourse that says that if employees are mobile and do not receive too much money, everything will be fine. I seem to hear noises near Frankfurt (headquarters of the European Central Bank), but I must have restless nights”.

IDENTICAL CHALLENGES
“Beyond the major differences between countries, there are identical challenges between all the Member States: demography (birth rate and aging), globalisation, technological advances, the question of welfare (adequate pensions, aid for families and childhood, education, etc.). And also "new issues that need to be tackled: the single-parent family and single people, access to care, the notion of collective goods ("the standard of living of each person does not depend only on the wallet but on these collective goods, those that are ensured by taxation. In France, for example, the standard of living thus rises by 30%"), territorial polarization (suburbs, segregation, rural desertification), early childhood ( poor children make poor adults).

DELORS’ SIX IDEAS TO INCLUDE IN A PROTOCOL
1° the rebalancing of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with an economic coordination pact (as I had moreover proposed in 1997 without success) "and mission given to the European Commission to produce a report every six months on how Member States ensure convergence”;
2° the harmonization of corporate tax within the EMU, “first of all of the bases, and then of the rates”;
3° a minimum wage “established according to the wealth of each country”;
4° a tripling of Erasmus credits and student exchanges (currently very low subsidies and governments have to make a big effort, which is therefore done at the expense of the least favored young people);
5° a two-year education check to allow the young person who abandons his studies to resume them when he wishes and can;
6° A framework law for services of general interest (SGI). “Personally, I would never have accepted that the Services Directive, even amended, be adopted without having in parallel a framework law on GIS. Society lives on both, public and private services, there is no reason to favor one over the other”.

His fellow Party of European Socialists, Dane Poul Nyp Rasmussen, added:
1° ask the Council of Ministers of the Economy to decide within 4 years on an investment plan; which could lead to 10 million more jobs over four years and improved public finances.
2° Why not create a right for workers to lifelong learning, a credit for continuous training, of a few hours, a mutually recognized right.
3° Develop a campaign for early childhood services.

SOME MUST BE SILENT, OTHERS ACT
Jacques Delors also released a few scratches
On the Heads of State and Government "they flex their muscles at home but at the European Council, they are no longer there, the European Council must stop interfering in everything" —,
The European Commission: "If an institution considers that social problems are vital, which prevent it from taking initiatives, this institution must be considered and the Council of Ministers must take decisions"