13 Nov 2014, 10:35
The EU’s Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth should move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and attempt to address regional disparities between and within Member States in a more meaningful manner, according to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs.
13 November 2014
The Committee believes the introduction of a ‘territorial dimension’ will allow regions and local authorities to contribute to country targets and encourage a mixed top-down and bottom-up planning process.
In a report published by Committee this morning, the growing disconnect between citizens and the European Institutions is also highlighted. The Committee is calling for better engagement with citizens, as a sense of ownership among citizens must exist in order for the Strategy to succeed.
The Report on the Europe 2020 Strategy- Mid Term Review includes apolitical contribution which will be sent to the European Commission, other European Institutions and Ireland’s Minister for European Affairs.
During the summer months, the Committee invited submissions from the public following the Commission’s launch of a mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy. A series of hearings with key stakeholders followed.
The Committee has also made a number of recommendations on the approach the EU 2020 Strategy should take in the areas of employment, enterprise, education and social inclusion:
- The introduction of a ‘job quality target’ to promote the sustainability of jobs;
- More precise education targets to monitor whether the skills obtained through education systems match the requirements of the labour market;
- Greater investment in early childhood education is required to reach the Strategy’s target of reducing school drop outs to less than 10%, and
- Believes that the social indicators should be better harnessed to guard against negative social outcomes and to promote positive measures on poverty, equality and social inclusion.
Committee Chairman Dominic Hannigan says: “What happens at European Union level plays an integral role in all our lives and this report seeks to assess the Union’s ten year strategy for jobs and growth. In July, we issued a call for submissions from the public to ensure that the Committee could be furnished with the broadest range of viewpoints on this key policy strategy, prior to making a submission to the Commission. This report raises important questions for the Strategy in the social and education spheres. Our call for the Strategy to take account of regional disparities is timely, particular in an Irish context where some areas of the country seem not to be benefitting from the recent economic uplift. The Committee thanks the wide range of stakeholders for their engagement in what is a critical overarching strategy for the European Union. The Political Contribution has been sent to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Minister for European Affairs and we look forward to positive engagement on what we believe are practical and common sense recommendations.”
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Committee Membership
Deputies: Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard J. Durkan, John Halligan, Dominic Hannigan (Chair), Seán Kyne, and Joe O’Reilly
Senators: Colm Burke, Aideen Hayden, Terry Leyden, Catherine Noone and Kathryn Reilly