Thyssen stresses commitment to social Europe

The centre-right Flemish MEP tells the employment committee that she will strengthen social indicators in the EU’s economic programme.

Marianne Thyssen gave a sure-footed performance in front of her fellow MEPs on Wednesday (1 October) and made a clear effort to allay concerns over an erosion of social protection in Europe. T

he nominee of Belgium, a Flemish Christian Democrat, Thyssen has been nominated to be the next European commissioner for employment, social affairs, skills and labour mobility. She focused largely on the latter two categories, in a likely effort to address concerns from the left about this portfolio going to a politician from the centre-right. “I am a convinced supporter of a social market economy, where freedom and responsibility go hand in hand.

We don’t have to choose between competitiveness and social fair-handedness,” she told MEPs. “I want employees, workers, to be able to contribute their labour to the creation of wealth in such conditions that will guarantee their dignity, their fundamental rights and their opportunities.” She said that employment and social policies needed to be much more present in the European semester, the EU’s system of peer review of public finances.

She agreed that ‘social indicators’ should be strengthened in the semester exercise – and, in particular, that such indicators should play a greater role in the country-specific recommendations. As an MEP herself, Thyssen’s frequent promises to involve the Parliament more in employment policy were probably genuine. She said she wants the Parliament to play a greater role in the European semester.

“Even before we have the annual growth survey, we need to hear the Parliament’s views,” she said. Indeed, while speaking she sometimes seemed to forget that she will not be an MEP over the next five years. On the maternity-leave directive, which the Parliament has passed but member states are blocking, she said: “In the Parliament we were talking about 22 weeks; that’s too much as far as the Council is concerned. We may need to be less ambitious.”

It was unclear whether the ‘we’ referred to MEPs, or to the EU as a whole. One issue that came up again and again at the hearing was the gender gap in pay. For all her concern over the issue, Thyssen was unable to suggest what the EU can do specifically to address it. “I doubt whether it can be done through legislation, but the agreements we have must be implemented,” she said.

She pointed to rules that say salaries have to be transparent, that the average pay for men and women has to be public. The youth-employment initiative launched by Council President Herman Van Rompuy last year was another policy that came up often during the hearing. Thyssen said that this project would be one of her top priorities, pointing out that much had been done such as front-loading money and exchange of best practices.

But member states needed more help with implementation. By the end of the hearing, one could have been forgiven for forgetting that Thyssen is not from the centre-left. Granted, a Flemish Christian Democrat is not exactly the same as one from Poland. But Thyssen presented herself as someone who wants to preserve the European social- welfare model, and centre-left MEPs seemed comforted.

Employers’ associations left the hearing more sceptical, disappointed with a lack of specific plans about how to cut red tape and tax structures that they say make it difficult for employers to hire people. It does not help that Thyssen comes from one of the countries where it is most difficult to hire.

“The commissioner needs to introduce policies to drive job creation in the new reality of a low-growth environment,” said Denis Pennel, managing director of Eurociett, hopeful that Thyssen might yet be an ally. “She has a golden opportunity to iron out labour-market imperfections and create a properly functioning employment market for all EU citizens.” Eurociett wanted to see firm commitments on driving up labour mobility within the EU, supporting co-operation between public and private employment services and getting rid of red tape.

Read the live blog from the hearing – as it happened