Students demand a more social economicgovernance framework

On the 9th of November, a communication from the Commission was released outlining  the vision of the Commission in regards to the reform of the EU economic governance framework. As a civil society organisation concerned in many social aspects of the EU, the European Students’ Union (ESU) is reacting to the announcement of the communication by calling for more concrete actions to meet the challenges of the moment, especially when it comes to the youth – ‘the Future of Europe’ – and their education.

“Even if some of the most extreme elements of austerity have been watered down, including a more medium-term perspective and more focus on the European Pillar of Social Rights and digital and climate plans when assessing the reform paths, the focus is still too much on the ‘stability’ and too little on the ‘growth‘“ estimates Matteo Vespa, President of ESU. “Crucially, the ‘golden rule’ that certain investments, such as in education, should not be included in debt calculations and debt reduction measures is completely absent, and this is probably the biggest weakness of the communication.”

“In the Communication, the European Semester is given a role of surveillance of the reforms agreed in the debt reduction plans. Once more, the social element of the European Semester is missing: we need to monitor and steer investments in education based on the framework for the social dimension of the Bologna Process, as a way to support the convergence of student rights across the EU” says Iris Kimizoglu, member of the Executive Committee.

“The Stability and Growth Pact without a Growth instrument is a half empty tool. Today we have the Recovery and Resilience Facility, but we should discuss a future instrument that can consistently fund investments, also on education, at the European level. At the same time, we need to take stock of the lack of involvement of national and European stakeholders in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans and include thorough stakeholder consultations as integral part of the instrument” concludes Horia Onița, vice-President of ESU.

Point of Contact

Communications Manager of the European Students’ Union 

Maciej Rewucki – maciej.rewucki@esu-online.org