Steamrolling social services

The financial crisis is having a devastating effect on Europe’s welfare state. At the helm are the banks and the Ministers of the Economy. Their mantra is “budget cuts.”

“There is a general undervaluation of the impact that the global financial crisis is having on internal European social policy,” said Andrea Simoncini, professor at the Dirritto Costituzionale in Florence.

He describes the situation in Greece as a warning sign to the rest of Europe.

“The Greek crisis has been used to make a case for budget cuts.”

What are the consequences of the financial crisis?

In Europe we have always praised our model for being different to that of the United States, if not a welfare model at least a model for well-being. However, now I have the impression that the European model is being put into question, as a lot of big questions are being asked.

For example?

What kind of legitimacy does the EU have in making decisions on social policy? The EU, born out of the market, has widened its stance and taken positions on environmental and social issues. Yet, there is no mention of social policy in its founding EU Charter or in any of its treaties. It worries me that Europe, under pressure from the financial crisis, has started to discuss delicate issues like the concept of society before having clearly defined its own values.

What is it about the budget cuts that worries you?

The fear is that “cuts” is the only real value the EU holds dear. This choice is not necessarily negative. But I think that Europe must seriously rethink its role as a state and as a society. One path could be to model the EU after the United States. One should not forget, however, that the Obama administration is not following the classic American model and has not cut government spending. With his health care system, he is imitating Europe.

The USA is imitating Europe and vice versa?

To lift ourselves out of the crisis we are assuming an American model that has already proved itself to be a failure. It is the moment to start considering reducing consumption. It is also in this period that we should ask ourselves what defines a society. How can society respond and meet the needs of citizens? Finally, will cuts really solve the problems that face European society or should we be refocusing our core values? In my opinion there exists a need to reclaim the original nature of European culture, to revalue European social traditions.      

Is the heterogeneous nature of Europe part of the problem?      

I’m not saying that new European social policy should be founded slowly on a revival of the traditionally rooted principles of Europe. We find ourselves confronted by a crisis and there should be an intervention at the national policy level to render social policy in Europe more homogenous. You can’t have one common labor market but such different pension programs in each country. At this moment European social policy is being dealt with by the national ministers of finance and by the European Central Bank. It’s not right that the ministers of social affairs, those of labor or the national prime ministers are not being involved in the decision making process.

Who is at fault for the current crisis?

After years of devotion to the technocrats in Brussels, I started to asked myself “but isn’t Brussels auditing the national budgets? Why didn’t those responsible for checking the Greek budget respond sooner?” The reality is that they knew perfectly well the numbers were being fudged. Regardless, the technocrats won’t be the ones to save us.

How can Europe save itself?

Europeans need to reassess what their needs are. We need to go back to the basics, we need to start needing less. Thanks to certain European traditions we are in a good position to do so.  We can choose to believe that the crisis was the work of global finance or we can realize that its roots go deeper than that. The real discussion should be around the growth model we have become dependent on. Cuts will not fix the problems associated with the growth model. What did we expect? Citizens have been brainwashed by the consumerist ideology. They have been convinced that economic problems are tied to consumption not labor.

A recent EU act recognized the strategic role of social enterprises…

It is true that their importance has been highlighted, beyond this piece of legislation major attention is being paid to social cohesion. It is also true, however, that the growth of the sector across Europe is a non linear trend. This is due to the lack of any type of shared European direction or plan. This has left way for the private bankers and the EU economists to take over the helm and to take over direction of Europe’s social policy.     

Could civil society play a role in reversing this trend?

That is the big question. Public institutions should not be doing the same work as civil society. But this logic assumes that a civil society is both present and a strong force in society. It is fundamental that the principle of responsibility be maintained. When confronted with a problem the first questioned that an individual should ask is “what is my responsibility,” not “what is the responsibility of the state.” My point is that some societies underline the idea of personal responsibility, while others encourage individual demand. These are two very different visions. From one point of view social relations are seen as a blessing from the other point of view as a curse.

What creates this sense of personal responsibility?

Judo-Christian roots certainly play an important role, but not the only one. There are many other cultures, some with no religious foundations that have encoded this sense of civic responsibility into their society. It is important that this sense of civil society remerges in a meaningful way. Without some force from civil society we are left on our knees staring up at a financial machine that is all to ready to “save us.”

Why have government ministers remained silent and not fought against these cuts?

Their silence is the result of society’s definition of social policy as spending policy. I think that the way we understand social policy needs to be reoriented. It should not be seen as a way to spend money but as a way to activate resources.

By Maurizio Regosa for Vita magazine, translated from Italian by Courtney Clinton.

To find out more about the auterity measures across Europe read:

Europe is on its knees and is tightening its belt