Guest Editorial
| Author | Danny Pieters |
| DOI | 10.1023/A:1020543304695 |
| Published date | 01 June 2002 |
| Date | 01 June 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Guest Editorial |
European
Journal
of
Social
Security,
Volume
4/2, 85-88, 2002.
©
Kluwer
Law
International
(KLI).
Printed
in
the
Netherlands.
Guest Editorial
THE
CONVENTION
FOR
THE
FUTURE
OF
EUROPE
AND
SOCIAL
SECURITY.
85
In March
of
this year I was appointed by the Belgian Parliament as an alternate
member
of
the Convention for the Future
of
Europe. Although I was appointed as a
representative
of
the Belgian Parliament, my appointment provides a link between
the European Institute
of
Social Security and this European Convention. I therefore
call upon all EISS members to express their views on the future involvement
of
the
EU in social security matters. Readers
of
this Journal who may not (yet) be mem-
bers
of
the European Institute are
of
course very welcome to send us their opinions.
Although the social dimension
of
the European Union is at the heart of the
debate in the Convention for the Future
of
Europe, there are still many questions
about what this means. In order to clarify the issues involved, I have designed a very
briefquestionnaire to take the pulse of public opinion in the applicant States as well
as EU Member States. This questionnaire has been sent to all members
of
national
Parliaments and the European Parliament, to ascertain their views on the future
of
the
European Union as regards social security. The questionnaire focuses on substantive
issues because it is essential to know what we want before deciding on the legal tools
to achieve these objectives. The questionnaire was sent out in May and results are
expected in late summer. We thought it might be interesting to present readers
of
the
Journal with the questions we asked before reporting the results and analysis of them.
The Questionnaire contains one complex and one simple question. The first,
complex question asks who should be competent to deal with the enumerated mat-
ters relevant to social security: the Member States and/or the European Union? The
form relating to this question is set out below.
If
you want the Member States to have exclusive competence, please only tick
the box 'Member States'.
If
you want the EU to be exclusively competent, tick the
box 'European Union'.
If
you are in favour
ofa
combination
ofEU
and Member
State competence, tick both boxes.
If
you ticked the box 'European Union', please tell us also how you would pre-
fer this competence to be exercised. You can do so by filling out one or more
of
the
following letters, each
of
which corresponds to a certain way the EU could exercise
competence in the area in questions:
a) Formulating general principles/setting a general framework;
b) Formulating fundamental social rights;
c) Formulating minimum standards;
d) Formulating bench marks;
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SECURITY
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