Proposition 54K1174

Proposition de résolution visant à intégrer et à ancrer le droit à la protection sociale dans la politique internationale belge.

General information ¶

Authors

CD&V Sarah Claerhout, Franky Demon, Els Van Hoof

Submission date

June 16, 2015

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

resolution of parliament development aid social security

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR

Abstained from voting

PS | SP PVDA | PTB VB

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

May 4, 2016 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

I would like to report on the discussion in the committee of the draft resolution on the inclusion and anchoring of the right to social protection in Belgian international policy.

The Committee discussed this draft resolution during its meetings of 27 October 2015 and 19 April 2016. It was also decided to hold a hearing on 8 March 2016. There were nine speakers from different fields: the International Labour Organization, the DGD, the FOD Social Affairs, the National Union of Socialist Mutualities, the Institute of Tropical Medicine, 11.11.11 and SOCIEUX.

In her introductory presentation, the chief speaker of the draft resolution, colleague Van Hoof, emphasized the importance of social protection as a fight against poverty. However, in many developing countries the structures to ensure such social protection are lacking.

The policy on development cooperation should therefore pay particular attention to social protection as part of the policy on poverty reduction. She refers to Olivier De Schutter, a member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, who argues that social protection depends only on the political will to introduce it.

This political will first and foremost requires a clear framework to make social protection operational. Ms. Van Hoof refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Trade Organization and the European Commission.

It also points out that Belgium has recognised expertise in the field of establishing high-quality social protection. In this regard, our country could easily play a leading role in development cooperation.

Therefore, it calls for the adoption of the draft resolution, which calls on the Federal Government to do the following.

First, putting social protection at the center of future development strategies.

Secondly, to continue to play a leading role in international organisations in order to develop maximum universal social protection.

Third, the DGD will instruct to develop a position paper within a reasonable time to ensure and strengthen full social protection, decent work and universal health care through Belgian Development Cooperation and to consider social protection as one of the priority themes in the cooperation programmes with partner countries and in the common framework for the joint multi-year programming of the European Union’s development aid.

In the general discussion, Mr Grovonius stressed that his group actively advocates the right to social protection on an international scale as well as its inclusion in the Belgian development cooperation policy. It recalls that in the previous parliamentary term, the PS and the SPA submitted a proposal for a resolution on global social health protection. Although Ms. Grovonius agrees with the initiator of the resolution that social protection deserves Parliament’s attention and support, she does not consider it sufficient. Therefore, its amendments should be constructive in order to have an effective impact on development cooperation.

Mr Dallemagne stressed in his presentation that he welcomed the submission of this proposal for a resolution. In fact, it sets a link between the question of decent work and that of health, in this case through the broadest possible social protection. The proposal also offers the opportunity to exert greater influence on sustainable development.

I spoke on behalf of my group. We support the motion for a resolution. Decent work and social protection are essential elements of any policy aimed at sustainable development. However, we believe that a number of important aspects were lacking in the text. We have submitted a number of amendments, which we will explain further.

Collega De Vriendt had taken into account the importance of the topic and preferred that the various political groups had worked together. He adds that, nevertheless, he supports this proposal for a resolution.

Collega Hellings refers to the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Columbia and Peru, on the other, concluded in Brussels at the end of 2012. This will have negative consequences for the social protection of farmers in Columbia and, to a lesser extent, in Peru. In that regard, colleague Hellings regrets that this proposal for a resolution does not advocate for genuine binding rules, which, in his opinion, will leave the proposal dead letter.

Open Vld has submitted several amendments. They were approved by the majority parties. The whole amended draft resolution was adopted with ten votes in favour and three abstentions. Here is the report.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, before I begin my presentation, I would like to thank the colleagues who made it possible to bring this text to the plenary session. On this symbolic day, Parliament will vote on a resolution that places social protection at the heart of Belgian foreign policy. Just a year ago, a unique coalition of health funds, civil society organisations, NGOs and trade unions decided to strengthen this message. Social protection for all became a wide-ranging campaign.

Numerous countries and governments have responded to the crisis that broke out in 2008 by cutting spending, postponing poverty alleviation programmes, reducing social spending and removing labour rights. This approach was not in line with the message of the International Labour Organization, which stated: “Take social protection not as a problem, but as part of the solution. Make work of minimum social protection conditions for medical care, sickness benefit and family income.”This message was repeated in 2009 with Recommendation 202 of the International Labour Organization.

Why is social protection so important in developing countries? The ILO World Social Protection Report 2015 makes the consequences of the choices made in 2008 and 2009 painfully clear.

Five billion people have insufficient social protection, making them vulnerable to any disaster. It also causes fantastic events, such as the birth of a child, to be treated with fear, because their financial impact can lead them to poverty. Every year, 100 million people end up in poverty because they are unable to cover the costs of their health care. However, it has been proven that social protection creates a healthier and thus economically more productive population. This should focus both on the classical vulnerable groups, such as sick or elderly people, and on the large group of informal workers in developing countries, who may dare to take more risks to invest if they also feel that they are socially protected when they take a risk.

It is a very old right that we need to update and operate. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises the right to social protection in Article 25. However, the concept of social protection has long been understood. The resolution presented today resolutely chooses to value social protection and to give it a central place in the future Belgian international policy and not least in development policy. The text of the resolution also reminds the federal government not to skip lightly with commitments in this area that our country has already made.

When it comes to development cooperation, the international spirit of the time also forces us to put social protection into practice. Think of the 2030 Agenda with the SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals, where social protection occupies a very prominent place. Social protection is both a goal and a means to ⁇ other objectives. It is more specific to target 1.3, which presupposes the implementation of national protective mechanisms that contribute to health, gender equality and decent work. Social protection is a means of moving towards the realization of a good income and a good life.

With the present resolution, Belgium demonstrates itself as a guided country that understands the needs of today’s international reality very well. At the SDG Summit, Prime Minister Charles Michel reiterated his commitment to social protection and decent work. Also the policy letter of Minister De Croo recognizes social protection as a condition sine qua non to come to a serious development policy. The consequences of a lack of social protection for developing countries are huge.

Working on social protection is also a way to address system challenges. We all know them: the climate, the environment, the migration flows. If we can address this with social protection, it also means that people can live in their own country in a good way.

It is not a question of being able, but above all of wanting. Olivier De Schutter, a member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Political and Cultural Rights, also calls the realization of social protection not a question of being able but of wanting.

Studies by the ILO and the UN indicate that an investment of 3 % of a country’s GDP guarantees a minimum level of social protection. This is significantly less than what some countries spend on weapons and defence.

Social protection, colleagues, is about investing in people, from Brazil through Central Africa to Southeast Asia. We can give numerous examples. We did this during the hearings and discussions. I will not repeat them today.

Wanting and able, that is the essence. This brings me immediately to the heart of this resolution. As far as it may be concerned, our country is among the top groups worldwide in terms of social protection. Thro ⁇ its history, our country has built up a huge tradition of social consultation. Social partners, government and civil society have built this country into the social welfare state it is today. Exporting that expertise internationally is a strength of Belgium in the world.

What this resolution does is to provide that Belgian expertise with the political will to anchor social protection as an integral part of the future Belgian international policy. This resolution puts concrete building blocks on the table to make social protection a Belgian export product that meets the highest quality standards.

We want to take the lead internationally and we want to use the Belgian expertise through the FOD Social Security, through BTC and DGD to give the people in developing countries a better life.

In this resolution, we predict primarily the multi-factor approach. The Belgian government must not do it alone, but it must especially support social actors, NGOs and civil society to work on it.

Social protection should also be a priority in the indicative cooperation programmes with partner countries. Therefore, we ask the Minister for Development Cooperation to develop a Belgian position paper, and through the Belgian international policy to ensure and develop social protection, decent work and universal health care.

On the eve of Rerum Novarum, this Parliament votes on a resolution that translates a 125-year-old message into today’s world. By fulfilling these commitments, Belgium makes people elsewhere dream about the future again. The question is not whether Belgium can do this, because this question has long been answered. The only question that remains to the House of Representatives is whether we want it too. I think this resolution makes it very clear that this is so.

I thank you for your attention.

Mr. Speaker, I will keep it very brief. Most of this has already been said by Ms. Van Hoof.

Following the Millennium Goals, the post-2030 Agenda has been developed with a chapter focused on social protection.

It aims not only to break the cycle of poverty, but also to engage in the fight against inequality, climate change, security and more.

With the present proposal for a resolution, the applicants are choosing for the flight ahead and are already taking action on the recommendations of the European Commission from 2012.

For the N-VA group, a resolution was not necessary in itself. After all, we had confidence that social protection would be addressed through the sustainable development goals and thus also in the policy choices of Minister De Croo, which the latter also stimulated in his policy statement.

However, we have absolutely nothing against the resolution proposal, which we will approve.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, not all of them are good.

On the form, we are surprised to see the majority of MR-N-VA focus on social protection around the world, while ironically, this same majority is constantly trying to undermine our security and social protection. When the N-VA wants to de-socialize Belgium, the majority claims to want to do the opposite in the rest of the world. It gives a bit of the feeling of hearing "do what I say, not what I do." Of course, there is something to ask questions.

Still on the form, the Open Vld found it reasonable to remove, through amendments, any reference to development cooperation. In fact, it would be a shame to grant a voluntary mandate to Minister De Croo. Development cooperation, together with our diplomacy, however, has a major role to play. This text no longer speaks of cooperation, but of “international policy” of our country. We can also regret it.

Now to the analysis of the substance. Like you, Mrs. Van Hoof, my group actively advocates for the defense of the right to social protection internationally, thus through our development cooperation. We go even further, since, during the previous legislature, PS and sp.a had drafted, together, a text relating to the promotion of universal social protection of health. For my group, this is indeed a priority. In this regard, we took the initiative and then adopted a proposal for a resolution on sexual and reproductive rights. It was my colleague Karine Lalieux who defended it.

This, adopted by a large majority, already insisted on the need for universal social protection for all vulnerable persons. It is a fundamental right recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Social protection is a key prerequisite for sustainable, inclusive and equitable development to combat growing inequalities between countries and within countries. This social protection is one of the four pillars of decent work recommended by the International Labour Organization. This approach was adopted by the ministers. Magnette and Labille within the framework of the 2013 Law on Development Cooperation, as further emphasized in the explanation of the reasons for this resolution.

The current government must continue in this direction. We also welcome the fact that Belgium has made social protection and decent work absolute priorities in the new post-2015 development framework. In this context, the involvement of all partners in cooperation is obviously indispensable. I welcome the fact that our amendment aimed at integrating the role of health mutualities was unanimously adopted in the committee. It is also strange that it has been necessary to wait for this amendment to see this reference made in the text, while the mutual, as we know, do an essential job, including within the framework of international solidarity.

This is a minimal consolation for my group. In fact, our two red lines were unfortunately swept by the majority. The first concerned the primary importance of the role of the state in the field of social protection. The second was about the financial aspect and the importance of providing the means for the effective implementation of this principle, in particular through innovative sources of financing, such as the European Tax on Financial Transactions.

For the role of the State, Mrs. Van Hoof, you claimed in the committee that this was obvious. However, seeing how the current government seeks to destroy our public services and undermine our social security, we are still entitled to question. Similarly, cuts in cooperation budgets and questioning the role of the state in promoting social and environmental rights will be so different from what we advocate; for the PS group, it is the responsibility of states to ensure and assume this universal social protection for the benefit of their peoples.

Encouraging entrepreneurship is commendable and important, but it is by no means a goal in itself. The state must be a guarantor of high social standards. Where is the consistency? How can it be understood that this majority supports tax and/or trade agreements that are dangerous even for the countries concerned by this text? This coherence, before we advocate it at the European level or in international forums, we must implement it ourselves. We must fulfill our duty in this regard, including by demanding binding social and environmental standards in our international and commercial exchanges, by demanding decent wages and respect for human rights, or by assessing the impact of international treaties precisely on this coherence.

We must do this by continuing to advocate for a tax on European financial transactions that would allow for additional resources in this sense; the House adopted a text of the PS in this sense, which was also co-signed by the MR group at the time.

To have a social protection worthy of this name, it takes resources, but in the committee, the majority rejected our amendments aimed at providing it.

Everyone knows that the current finance minister’s leitmotiv is to bury the financial transaction tax. This is the consistency that this government shows.

If we support the author when she says that protection deserves the attention and support of parliament, this text leaves us a taste of too little. It leads us to think of deceit, or even hypocrisy.

These are all the reasons why my group will abstain when voting on this text.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, the draft resolution on the right to social protection responds to a real need. Social protection should have a central place in Belgian international cooperation. We must fight that people end up in poverty at the slightest disaster. Not only does Belgium have the expertise to take on a leading role, the Belgian engagement can also make a difference, relying on its own experience and expertise.

The big question is why we do not act on that. Why do we not give social protection a more central place in our development cooperation, not only on paper but also in practice? I can only find that there is insufficient attention to concrete policy measures. Social protection, not only advocated on paper but also in government policy, should become a real priority. That is why my group supports the resolution proposal that seeks to put that focus.

I have two comments on the final proposal.

First, the present proposal is a weakening of the original version. This is due to the various amendments submitted by the majority and also adopted. One of the amendments aimed to eliminate an explicit reference to more technical and financial support. The second amendment aimed to turn social protection as a priority theme into “one of the priority themes”. The third amendment stated that there could suddenly no longer be a strategy note, only a position paper, a clear weakening of the original proposal.

We regret these changes to the original resolution, as the original text went beyond the current version. This is a missed opportunity to give a strong and clear signal to the government.

My second observation concerns my submitted amendment, which contains an addition to the main part, namely an explicit reference to the resolution on global social health protection adopted by the Senate on 28 April 2009. This resolution has already emphasized the importance of promoting universal social protection, including by defending the right to health. It was adopted with an overwhelming majority, namely 45 votes for and 5 abstentions, with Open Vld, N-VA and CD&V also voting in favour. For the sake of continuity, therefore, a reference to this resolution cannot be missed. Unfortunately, the majority parties did not want that. However, the Belgian expertise in social protection is situated primarily in the health insurance. A reference to the resolution on universal health protection would therefore have been a logical consequence.

It is positive, however, that my amendment with the explicit reference to transformative social protection was approved at the committee meeting. If social protection focuses solely on protective, preventive and promotional measures, it will not ⁇ its purpose. There must also be transformative measures, and at all levels. Only then can the barriers to social protection – exclusion, inequality, poverty and vulnerability – be addressed structurally.

In summary, colleagues, the draft resolution puts the finger on the wound. Five billion people ended up in poverty due to the slightest disaster. However, minimum social protection is achievable and affordable everywhere.

That is why my group supports this proposal. We regret, however, that the applicants did not go further. The submitted amendments clearly weaken this proposal. This is a missed opportunity and, above all, contrary to the idea of making social protection a priority.