The organization Business Europe which represents employers at the EU level on the 24th of August 2016 has published its contribution to debate about the European Pillar of Social Rights, launched in March of this year. Through the European Pillar of Social Rights the EU attempts to supplement the social acquis, in order to guide the Euro zone members, and other EU members on the voluntary bases, in the fields essential for well-functioning of the labour markets and welfare systems. The position of BusinessEurope towards this initiative is fairly reserved because the organisation fears that the EU could address the gaps in the EU social legislation according to ‛common high level standards’, which could have negative economic consequences. They underline that Europe’s social problems are not due to a deficit of social policy but to lack of competitiveness and that social problems could be overcome only through economic growth and increased employment. However, BusinessEurope welcomes the announced development of benchmarks within the European Pillar of Social Rights, since they could support implementation of reforms and linkages with the European Semester.
More information:
https://be-extranet-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/2016-08-25_pillar_social_rights.pdf
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52016DC0127
