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Social Europe Cohesion and convergence in Europe László Andor Mercator Senior Fellow at Hertie School of Governance (Berlin) Visiting Professor at ULB (Brussels) Poznan, 18 May 2015
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Social Europe Cohesion & convergence in EU Treaties Treaty on European Union (TEU): Preamble: RESOLVED to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an economic and monetary union including … a single and stable currency… Article 3 TEU (objectives of the union): The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. … It shall promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States. Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU): Article 121(3) - economic policy coordination: In order to ensure closer coordination of economic policies and sustained convergence of the economic performances of the Member States, the Council shall … monitor economic developments in each of the Member States and in the Union as well as the consistency of economic policies with the broad [economic policy] guidelines … and regularly carry out an overall assessment. + the ‘convergence criteria’ agreed in the Maastricht Treaty as pre-conditions for Member States to join the single currency (inflation, exchange rate stability, interest rate, 3% deficit rule, 60% debt/GDP rule) + Title XVIII on economic, social and territorial cohesion
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Social Europe Single Market (EU-28) Cohesion policy (budget ~0.4% EU GDP) supporting long-term cohesion & convergence mitigating core- periphery dynamics resulting from competition within Single Market Social legislation preventing a race-to- the-bottom in working conditions Currency union (€A-18) Much stronger constraints on monetary and fiscal policies, yet: No lender of last resort No shared fiscal capacity to help deal with cyclicality & asymmetry “Internal devaluation” as the only remaining adjustment mechanism This set-up deepens core-periphery divergence
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Social Europe Convergence and divergence in GDP per capita across the EU (1995–2013) Reading note : EU-15 Centre (BE, LU, NL, DE, FI, FR, AT), EU-15 North (DK, SE, UK), EU-15 South and periphery (EL, IE, PT, ES, IT), EU-13 Centre and North (CZ, HU, PL, SI and SK), EU-13 South and periphery (BG, CY, EE, LV, LT, MT, HR, RO). Source: Eurostat, calculations DG EMPL. Note: GDP in real terms (in euros) — some missing values were kept constant : BG, EE, HR, CY, MT (1995-99), LV (1995-98), EL, LT, SK (1995-97), PL, RO (1995-96), HU, SI (1995).
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Social Europe Convergence and divergence in unemployment rates across the EU (1990–2013) Reading note : EU-15 Centre (BE, LU, NL, DE, FI, FR, AT), EU-15 North (DK, SE, UK), EU-15 South and periphery (EL, IE, PT, ES, IT), EU-13 Centre and North (CZ, HU, PL, SI and SK), EU-13 South and periphery (BG, CY, EE, LV, LT, MT, HR, RO). Source: Eurostat, calculations DG EMPL. Note: GDP in real terms (in euros) — some missing values were kept constant : BG, CY, EE, HR, MT (1995-99), LV (1995-98), LT (1995-97), PL, RO (1995- 96), HU, SI (1995), AT (1990-93), DE (1990), EL (1990-97).
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Social Europe Convergence and divergence in poverty rates (AROPE) across the EU (1995–2013) Reading note : EU-15 Centre (BE, LU, NL, DE, FI, FR, AT), EU-15 North (DK, SE, UK), EU-15 South and periphery (EL, IE, PT, ES, IT), EU-13 Centre and North (CZ, HU, PL, SI and SK), EU-13 South and periphery (BG, CY, EE, LV, LT, MT, HR, RO). Source: Eurostat, calculations DG EMPL. Note: GDP in real terms (in euros) — some missing values were kept constant : HR (2004-09), RO (2004-06), BG (2004-05), CZ, DE, CY, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, SI, SK, UK (2004).
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Social Europe Convergence and divergence in income inequality (S80/S20) Source: Eurostat, DG EMPL calculations – Years refer to income reference years
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Social Europe Convergence and divergence in gross household disposable income per capita (GHDI) Source: Eurostat, DG EMPL calculations – adjusted for inflation and at fixed exchange rates for countries outside the euro area
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Social Europe Weakening of stabilisation of household incomes in the crisis Source: Eurostat and ECB. Benefits GHDI Contributions to nominal growth of gross disposable income of households (EA 17) Labour incomes
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Social Europe Weakening of automatic stabilisation: 2011 and 2012 Source : Eurostat, National Accounts, DG EMPL calculations Note: 2012 data are estimated based on quarterly data from the first 3 quarters. In the current recession, N is year 2009. Estimates of the deviation from the trend in social protection expenditures are based on a standard Hodrick-Prescott filter. Reading notes : in the year of the recession, in the current crisis, social expenditure were around 5% above their trend in Europe, while the GDP was about 4% below its potential (output gap of -4%). Averages are unweighted country averages (since countries do not always experience a recession the same year). Public social expenditure and GDP: deviation from trend during current and past recessions
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Social Europe Development of household income in Germany and Spain After 2010 Germany : Market income increases with recovery; benefits no longer needed After 2010 Spain : Weakened social benefits do not compensate for fall in market income
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Social Europe Social divergence in the Economic and Monetary Union EMU with serious design flaws: --uniform fiscal (and centralised monetary) policy without risk sharing or transnational fiscal transfers --social problems generate spill-over effects on other members of euro area (e.g. falling demand) --deterioration of human capital, loss of competitiveness and risk of destablisation and disintegration Need to restore socio-economic convergence in EMU, e.g. Youth Guarantee and Youth Employment Initiative
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Social Europe Stronger social dimension of the EMU Ability of economic governance mechanisms & policy instruments to anticipate, take into account & address problematic developments & challenges related to employment & social policies in the EMU; helping all MS to realize their growth & employment potential & improve social cohesion Better monitoring of employment & social dynamics in EMU: scoreboard of five indicators introduced in European Semester Better coordination of employment & social policies to collectively ensure timely action Better involvement of EU-level & national social partners in EMU governance
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Social Europe Need for automatic stabilisers in EMU Countering „asymmetric shocks” and resulting imbalances with rule-based, conditional and temporary fiscal transfers Supporting aggregate demand economic activity employment social cohesion in zones of economic downturn (lacking autonomous fiscal/monetary policy) Options: --automatic income support (based on „output gap”) --reinsurance of national unemployment insurance funds transfers triggered by major crises --partial pooling of unemployment benefit systems (need for partial harmonisation)
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Social Europe Example of a basic EMU-UBS
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Social Europe Dynamic CEE growth since late 1990s: compensation for major income loss in early 1990s Source: IMF, "25 Years of Transition: Post-Communist Europe and the IMF", October 2014
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Social Europe EU13 employment still well below EU28 average (employment rates across the EU, 1995–2013) Reading note : EU-15 Centre (BE, LU, NL, DE, FI, FR, AT), EU-15 North (DK, SE, UK), EU-15 South and periphery (EL, IE, PT, ES, IT), EU-13 Centre and North (CZ, HU, PL, SI and SK), EU-13 South and periphery (BG, CY, EE, LV, LT, MT, HR, RO). Source: Eurostat, calculations DG EMPL. Note: GDP in real terms (in euros) — some missing values were kept constant : HR (1995-01), BG, MT (1995-99), CY (1995-98), LT, LV, SK (1995-97), CZ, EE, PL, RO (1995-96), HU, SI (1995), AT, FI, SE (1990-94).
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Social Europe Structural shift from agriculture Source: Eurostat, National Accounts Share of primary sector in total … employment … Gross Value Added Source: Eurostat, National Accounts
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Social Europe …but manufacturing remains significant Source: Eurostat, National Accounts Share of manufacturing in total… … employment … Gross Value Added
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Social Europe Stronger labour productivity growth in East before and during the crisis… Source: Eurostat, National Accounts Real labour productivity per person employed (2005=100)
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Social Europe...limits increase in cost of labour Source: Eurostat, National Accounts Real unit labour cost, 2005=100
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Social Europe Low share of GDP for wages Adjusted wage share in manufacturing industry: Compensation per employee as % of nominal gross value added per person employed Source: AMECO data-base, National Accounts.
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Social Europe Still a major income gap between EU13 & EU15 Difference in GDPpc between EU28 average and two groups of EU13 Member States (1995–2013), expressed as % of the EU28 GDPpc, in real euros (not PPS) EU-13 Centre and North EU-13 South and periphery Reading note : EU-13 Centre and North (CZ, HU, PL, SI and SK), EU-13 South and periphery (BG, CY, EE, LV, LT, MT, HR, RO). Source: Eurostat, calculations DG EMPL. Note: calculations based on GDP in real terms, in euros. Note — some missing values in the beginning of the period were kept constant for the calculation of averages: BG, EE, HR, CY, MT (1995-99), LV (1995-98), LT, SK (1995-97), PL, RO (1995-96), HU, SI (1995).
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Social Europe Large labour outflows from some CEE countries (as % of labour force) Source: Eurostat EU LFS Recent (<10 years) mobile (economically active) EU citizens by nationality, as % of labour force of country of origin (2013)
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Social Europe Faster population decline in some EU13 countries (combined result of low fertility, low life expectancy & emigration) Total population, 1995=100 Source: Calculation based on Eurostat
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Social Europe Gender gap in employment and pay levels Gender pay gap (2012) as % of men's average hourly earnings (paid employees) Source: Eurostat, LFS Gender employment gap (2013) (difference between empl. rates for men and women in percentage points) Source: Eurostat, SES
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Social Europe 2 nd decade of EU membership should be about human capital investment! The European Social Fund is EU’s key financial instrument for investing in human capital: to improve employment opportunities to promote education and life-long learning to enhance social inclusion and combat poverty to improve efficiency of public administration An integral part of EU cohesion policy In 2014-20, the ESF has been given a minimum share of 23.1% of the total cohesion policy budget; in practice close to 25% (€ 85bn) Poland is greatest beneficiary...
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Social Europe Thank you for your attention!
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