EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL : "A UNITY OF VALUES WITH A DIVERSITY OF SYSTEMS".

On the initiative of the European Parliament's EPP-ED group, an open discussion on the future developments of the European social model took place at the EP in Brussels on 14 February.

MEP Jose Silva Peneda (Portugal), co-rapporteur on the future European social model, invited the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir pidla, and three other top experts to address an assembly of 200 participants, including MEPs, representatives of workers' and entrepreneurs' associations, NGOs and others.

In his speech, Silva Peneda outlined the four principal models of social policy in the European Union - the Nordic, the Anglo-Saxon, the Continental and the Southern European modelsa- pointing out that "the different social models all have a solid set of common features and values. They simply use different instruments to reach the same objectives," he said, adding that "the EU social model is a unity of values with a diversity of systems".

The MEP also drew attention to the main factors of change today and the challenges inherent in globalisation and demographic evolution: "The European social model is not untouchable and will not stay unchanged in the context of the mentioned changes. The key question is whether Europe has the capability to manage and control these changes, adapting the European social model to a new reality, but preserving the values that are its essence".

Commissioner pidla considered this debate...