----- Original Message ----- From: Marja Harms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 5:42 AM Subject: Declaration of Amsterdam EUROPEAN FOUNDATION ON SOCIAL QUALITY c/o SISWO, Plantage Muidergracht 4 - 1018 TV Amsterdam Telephone +31 20 527 0600 / Fax +31 20 6229430 To colleagues interested in new approaches of European Social Policies, Concerning: The 'Amsterdam Declaration on Social Quality' Amsterdam, March, 2nd, 2000 Dear colleagues, On June 10th, 1997 at a public ceremony in Amsterdam a group of European social scientists made a solemn declaration on the future of the European Union. At that time, the declaration was signed by 80 leading scientists from the fields of social policy, sociology, political science, law and economics and was formally presented to the Rectors of the University of Amsterdam, the Free University of Amsterdam and the University of Tilburg as well as the mayor of the City of Amsterdam. During the ceremony a copy of the Declaration was also presented to four students, symbols of Europe's future, who were asked to convey it to the President of the European Parliament. On 25 September these four students presented the Declaration to Mr Jos' Gil-Robles, President of the European Parliament in Brussels. Copies have also been distributed to all MEPs and will be presented to the mayors of the capital cities of the EU's Member States. At the moment more than 600 scientists signed this Declaration. The intention behind the Amsterdam Declaration is to remind policy-makers and citizens about the unique nature of the Western European approach of development, which comprises both economic growth and competitiveness and social justice. The promotors of the Declaration are committed to the European Union, but fear that too much emphasis on Economic Monetary union will lead to a downgrading of the other, social, half of the European approach and, with it, a loss of legitimacy for the Union. Thus the Declaration was made at the same time as the Heads of State gathered in Amsterdam for the European Council meeting under the Dutch Presidency. We have chosen the concept of 'social quality' to represent the essence of the social component of the European approach. Social quality is defined as the extent to which citizens are able to participate in the social and economic life of their communities under conditions which enhance their well-being and individual potential. The level of social quality experienced by citizens depends on: the degree of economic security, the level of social inclusion, the extent of social cohesion or solidarity and the level of autonomy or empowerment and health of European citizens. The concept of social quality is distinctly European in character and is Eur.Found designed to assist in the development of social priorities within the EU. This emphasis will ensure that the EU is inclusive, something that every citizen can engage with positively. This concept and its background are explored in a new book 'The Social Quality of Europe', published by Kluwer Law International, The Hague/Boston, June 1997 (hard cover) and by Polity Press, Bristol in July 1998 (soft cover). The concept of social quality and the Amsterdam Declaration builds on the work of the commission's Observatories on Social Exclusion and Ageing and Older People and on the important contribution of the Comit' des Sages (indeed the Chair of the Comit' has warmly praised the Declaration as representing the next step in their work). Especially, SISWO's three recent international expert-meetings paved the way for this concept. A European Foundation on Social Quality has been set up in order to further the scientific research on this subject and to assist European policy makers in developing new approaches to the quality of life and to social protection. Our aim is to create a social policy which has its own indepen dent rationale and legitimacy so as to counter-balance the dominance of economic and monetary policy within the EU. At the same time we are keen to work with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to see how far social quality may be promoted and achieved. The full text of the Declaration is printed below. If you agree with it and are willing to sign it, please notify the Secretary of the Board of the European Foundation, dr Laurent van der Maesen, c/o SISWO, Plantage Muidergracht 4, 1018 TV Amsterdam, Netherlands (email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]). Please inform us in that case regarding your name, title, institution and address. We hope you will invite your colleagues to sign as well. And of course we shall be pleased to give you more information with respect to our Foundation. Yours sincerely, Prof. dr Alan Walker (Chair European Foundation on Social Quality) Members of the Board of the European Foundation on Social Quality are: prof. dr Alan Walker (University of Sheffield), prof. dr Jos Berghman (University of Tilburg), prof. dr Kees Knipscheer (Free University, Amsterdam), dr Laurent J.G. van der Maesen (SISWO), prof. dr Kees Schuyt (University of Amsterdam). Advisor of the Board: dr Wolfgang Beck. AMSTERDAM DECLARATION ON THE SOCIAL QUALITY OF EUROPE Respect for the fundamental human dignity of all citizens requires us to declare that we do not want to see growing numbers of beggars, tramps and homeless in the cities of Europe. Nor can we countenance a Europe with large numbers of unemployed, growing numbers of poor people and those who have only limited access to health care and social services. These and many other negative indicators demonstrate the current inadequacy of Europe to provide social quality for all its citizens. We want, in contrast, a European society that is economically successful, but which, at the same time, promotes social justice and participation for its citizens. This would be a Europe in which social quality is paramount. Its citizens would be able and required to participate in the social and economic life of their communities and to do so under conditions which enhance their well-being, their individual potential and the welfare of their communities. To be able to participate, citizens must have access to an acceptable level of economic security and of social inclusion, live in cohesive communities, and be empowered to develop their full potential. In other words, social quality depends on the extent to which economic, social and political citizenship is enjoyed by all residents of Europe. In a globalized economy competitiveness should go hand in hand with the promotion of social cohesion and the realisation of the full potential of each European citizen. Social quality requires the following basic conditions: · security and protection from violence and ecological threats; · decent housing, heating, clothing, and food for all; · access to health care and other social services for all who are in need of them; · the opportunity to organise one's personal life in conformity with one's preferences, including the possibility to set up a common household and to raise children as well as to spend sufficient time with family and friends; · sufficient work for all, including not only employment in the labour market but also other non-paid activities upon which society depends; · an income for all workers that allows them to fully participate in society; · a decent income for all who cannot work or who, because of age of ill health, cannot be required to work; · the opportunity for all young, older, and disabled people, people belonging to an ethnic minority, and immigrants to fully integrate into the society and local communities they live in; · access to social protection systems which enable citizens to maintain, in solidarity, their standard of living in case of social contingencies; · these social protection systems should focus first on the prevention of social risks and only then address their cure and, finally, their financial compensation; · a lifelong access to education and training opportunities for all; · an equitable tax system; · the elimination of discrimination on the basis of nationality, age, gender, race, religion, political or other beliefs, marital status, and sexual orientation. These aspects of social quality must be realised through the recognition of enforceable fundamental rights that are legally binding for all legislators, administrators, and judges. These rights find their limits where corresponding rights of others begin. Social quality in Europe requires that European citizens can rely upon a clear and effective distribution of competencies between the Union, the Member States, and Local Authorities. · European citizens have a right to know who is politically responsible so that, if required, they can question inappropriate policies. · Strengthening the democratic quality of political decision-making at all levels requires that, in this process, the input of the societal organisations and movements concerned is guaranteed. · A globalized economy requires that Europe be fully aware of its social responsibility for the weakest on a global scale. The European Union is urged: · to make all major European policies subject to a social cohesion impact study; · to set up a programme that emphasises the cost of not having a Social Europe and that creates uniform statistical series on the social aspects of the European Union as a whole; · to draft clear measurable benchmarks for each social objective that figures in the EU legal documents (including recommendations) that have been adopted so far with respect to social aspects and to report regularly on the degree to which these targets have been reached; · to set a new agenda for the promotion of social quality in Europe, one which engages policy-makers, scientists and citizens. In our capacity as responsible European citizens we therefore solemnly declare that the European Union should urgently give priority to its social quality; otherwise it will not be the Union we support. Social quality may be the result of a variety of approaches, reflecting the diversity of the nations and peoples of our European Union. Supporting, guaranteeing, and maintaining social quality shall, however, be a constituent element in the making of Europe. The European Union is therefore urged to demonstrate its determination to complement, at Union level, the European social model of its Member States and to protect and adjust it to meet the challenges of the next millennium. Social quality and the European model which under-pins it are essential to the creation of an inclusive Europe, a Europe for all citizens. (Amsterdam, June 10, 1997) Marja Harms SISWO/Institute for the Social Sciences Plantage Muidergracht 4 1018 TV Amsterdam tel. +31 20 5270648 fax +31 20 6229430 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] INTERNET: http://www.siswo.uva.nl
