Social Europe

  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • eBooks
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Social Pillar: Time For Principled Opposition To Austerity Consensus

John Weeks 21st November 2017

John Weeks

John Weeks

On 17 November in Gothenburg, Sweden, EU leaders met for a “social summit”, presided over by Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, who had also attended the previous one 20 years before. According to the official press release, a central purpose of this gathering of heads of government and EU officials was to proclaim a European Pillar of Social Rights, that would build a “fairer and more inclusive European Union”.

Politico gave the gathering a less exalted and more cynical interpretation, suggesting that the purpose was “to work out how to convince sceptical citizens that the EU is more than a fiscal watchdog whose response to the financial crisis has made many of them worse off”. The putative purpose of the Social Pillar is to improve working conditions, reduce inequalities and improve social protection throughout the Union.

Among its innovative measures to achieve these laudable outcomes will be a “social scoreboard” (I am not making this up). This marking system will tally up each country’s progress in achieving specified social targets, including among others “work-life balance” (specified in a Social Pillar-linked pdf document).

Given the decidedly anti-social measures and attacks on “work-life balance” inflicted upon several member states, most obviously Greece, by many of the same EU and national leaders, the temptation to cynicism and mockery is hard to resist. But it should be resisted, because a comparison of the Gothenburg gathering and to forthcoming events in the European Parliament provides an important insight into the EU’s long-standing descent into neoliberalism.

The Commission will at some point propose legislation for the specified workplace and employment protections of the Social Pillar. This legislation is unlikely to come to a vote in the near future, delayed by formal consultations over contentious issues such as parental leave. Further delay is implied because national governments as well as the European Parliament must endorse the elements of the Social Pillar.

This laborious process contrasts with the intention of the European Commission to introduce to parliament on 6 December legislation to institutionalize austerity for all EU governments. The legislation will “integrate the substance of the TSCG into EU law”. TSCG refers to the Treaty on Stability, Cooperation and Governance, which includes draconian and non-democratic mechanisms to eliminate any flexibility in adherence to the infamous Maastricht Convergence Criteria.



Don't miss out on cutting-edge thinking.


Join tens of thousands of informed readers and stay ahead with our insightful content. It's free.



In previous articles for Social Europe I showed why the original version of the TSCG was dysfunctional and undemocratic, and explained that the legislation version offers no improvement. The contrast between the rapidity by which the EU governance system will without doubt solidify the austerity dogma, and the uncertainty of achieving enforceable social protection tells us much about the real State of the Union.

Losing ground

The New Year will arrive with austerity legally entrenched and further social protection for citizens under discussion and negotiation. It must be stressed that there is no compromise involved. Those who support further austerity and constraints on the ability of national governments to manage their fiscal systems in the interest of their citizens will have what they want. With a substantial working majority in the EP, the European Peoples Party and allies further to the right have victory assured.   The Socialist Group, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, has little hope of legislative victory for an effective, enforceable Social Pillar.

For decades the EP has operated on the basis of compromise and consensus, to an extent mirroring the negotiation process among heads of government in the European Council. In part this may reflect that the EP, unlike national parliaments, does not form governments. It may be that the give and take of compromise and negotiation served the Union well in its early days. But, as shown in successive treaties, for the last three decades this mode of operation has resulted in an increasingly neoliberal and austerity-burdened EU.

The time has come – long past many of us would say – for the Socialists and Democrats to join with other left groups and form a Progressive Opposition. The loathsome and dysfunctional legislative version of the TSCG cannot be stopped. But it can be opposed, vigorously and in a principled manner.

But the symbolism to EU citizens will be powerful – that progressives have made their compromises and no more until there is definitive progress towards an effective and enforceable Social Pillar. The purpose of an opposition is to oppose legislation that contradicts its basic principles. The time has come to be that type of opposition in the European Parliament.

John Weeks

John Weeks is co-ordinator of the London-based Progressive Economy Forum and professor emeritus of the School of Oriental and African Studies. He is author of The Debt Delusion: Living within Our Means and Other Fallacies (2019) and Economics of the 1%: How Mainstream Economics Services the Rich, Obscures Reality and Distorts Policy.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u42198344ce 92c9 4f54 9a14 edee35fb9221 3 Europe’s Quest for Technological Sovereignty: A Feasible Path Amidst Global RivalriesChristian Reiner and Roman Stöllinger
u4219834670ab 1 Reclaiming Sutan Sjahrir: The Quiet Moral Core of Democratic Socialism in Southeast AsiaDeny Giovanno
u421983467 4b96 a2b4 d663613bf43e 0 A Fair Future?  How Equality Will Define Europe’s Next ChapterKate Pickett
u42198346742 445d 82f2 d4ae7bb125be 2 A Progressive Industrial Policy for the Global South: A Latin American PerspectiveJosé Miguel Ahumada and Fernando Sossdorf

Most Popular Articles

u4219834676 bcba 6b2b3e733ce2 1 The End of an Era: What’s Next After Globalisation?Apostolos Thomadakis
u4219834675 4ff1 998a 404323c89144 1 Why Progressive Governments Keep Failing — And How to Finally Win Back VotersMariana Mazzucato
09d21a9 The Future of Social Democracy: How the German SPD can Win AgainHenning Meyer
u421983462 041df6feef0a 3 Universities Under Siege: A Global Reckoning for Higher EducationManuel Muñiz

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

With a comprehensive set of relevant indicators, presented in 85 graphs and tables, the 2025 Benchmarking Working Europe report examines how EU policies can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals to ensure long-term competitiveness. Considered a key reference, this publication is an invaluable resource for supporting European social dialogue.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out!


It is time to take action and to forge a path towards a Socialist renewal.


European Socialists struggle to balance their responsibilities with the need to take bold positions and actions in the face of many major crises, while far-right political parties are increasingly gaining ground. Against this background, we offer European progressive forces food for thought on projecting themselves into the future.


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss the transformative power of European Social Democracy, examine the far right’s efforts to redesign education systems to serve its own political agenda and highlight the growing threat of anti-gender movements to LGBTIQ+ rights – among other pressing topics.

READ THE MAGAZINE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Search Archives

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

BlueskyXWhatsApp