Securing decent incomes at a crossroads: On the legal feasibility of a Framework Directive on Minimum Income
| Author | Ane Aranguiz |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262720968175 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Securing decent incomes
at a crossroads: On the legal
feasibility of a Framework
Directive on Minimum Income
Ane Aranguiz
University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Abstract
In spite of having been an alleged priority for the EU and the Member States over the last ten years,
the number of people in situations of poverty and social exclusion remains unacceptably high. As
the Covid-19 crisis unfolds, the EU is left at a crossroads that will likely be determinant for its
future. This contribution explores the possibility of taking the solidarity route at this crossroads by
activating the social competences in the form of a Framework Directive on Minimum Income. To
this end, this contribution first discusses the context of this proposal and the importance of
minimum income schemes in improving the living standards of the population. From there, it
explores the possibilities for legal action under the current Treaty framework. It then emphasizes
the importance of choosing adequate methodologies in such an instrument when aiming to secure
adequate incomes to live a life in dignity in any given Member State. It is argued that this is equally
important to comply with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. Ultimately, the EU will
have to bet on its social dimension to remain true to its raison-d’ˆ
etre of becoming a social market
economy.
Keywords
Social Europe, poverty and social exclusion, Framework Directive on Minimum Income, EU law,
European Pillar of Social Rights
1. Introduction
In 2010, Member States pledged to lift 20 million people out of poverty throughout
the ten-year-long Europe 2020 Strategy. It is 2020, and having lifted ‘only’ 3.1 million
people out of poverty, the Europe 2020 Strategy has not even lived up to a fifth of its
Corresponding author:
Ane Aranguiz, University of Antwerp, Venusstraat 23, S.V.179, Antwerp 2000, Belgium.
E-mail: ane.fernandezdearanguiz@uantwerpen.be
European Journal of Social Security
2020, Vol. 22(4) 467–485
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1388262720968175
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projections.
1
True, Member States had the challenge of confronting the immense societal impact
of the 2007 economic crisis over the first years of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and in fact, they
managed to attain a considerable poverty reduction from its peak in 2012.
2
Nonetheless, amidst
what is quickly unfolding as the next great recession, the discouraging results of what was once
considered a major breakthrough for social Europe leave little hope for the post-coronavirus crisis
society.
Undoubtedly, the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic will be felt long after the most urgent
hazard, the expansion of the pandemic itself as a major health threat, has been tempered. For one,
the freezing of the European economies for the better part of the spring of 2020 has led to an
unparalleled upturn of unemployment applications.
3
With the purpose of containing the negative
effects of the coronavirus crisis and protecting citizens and markets as much as possible, Member
States have deployed an arsenal of diverse extraordinary national responses. As regards social and
employment protection, emerging national responses focus mainly on ensuring effective access to
healthcare and supporting jo b and income security.
4
However, a recent study shows t hat the
potential of these measures in alleviating the effect of the crisis is unequally distributed throughout
the population, and that the young, low-earners
5
and casual workers
6
are hit the hardest,
7
which
evidences the poor coverage of contributory systems. In the absence of (sufficient) contributory
coverage, vulnerable individuals are left with no option but to recourse to last resort safety nets,
often in the form of minimum income schemes, which are still recovering from the previous crisis
and have proven insufficient in lifting people out of poverty.
8
From a social protection perspective,
this signals the need to improve the adequacy of our social protection nets, both contributory and
non-contributory.
A different concern relates to the role of the EU in securing adequate social protection safety
nets. For now, EU efforts against the coronavirus crisis have mostly focused on easing fiscal and
legal constraints for national governments to adopt the necessary measures and on the allocation of
additional funding.
9
While there had been talks of activating the European Stability Mechanism
(ESM),
10
it seems that the Commission has steered EU action on a different direction towards a
recovery instrument that aims at injecting 750 billion euros embedded in the EU budget.
11
1. Eurostat, ‘Europe 2020 indicators – poverty and social exclusion’ data extracted September 2017.
2. In 2012, the number of people at risk of poverty went as high as 123 million people in poverty and social exclusion,
which represents a decrease of 10 million compared to the latest numbers. Ibid. Note, however, that there is quite some
discussion about how to measure poverty and social exclusion in the EU’. For an academic reference e.g. Daudersta¨dt
(2019), Nolan and Whelan (2011), Decanq et al (2014).
3. Eurostat, ‘Unemployment Statistics’ data up do August 2020.
4. See overview in ter Haar (2020).
5. Regarding low-wage earners and the potential minimum wage instrument, see Marchal’s contribution to this Special
Issue.
6. For a discussion on platform work and the recent Recommendation on access to social protection, see Schoukens’
contribution in this Special Issue.
7. COM(2020)156, 3. Abi Adams-Prassl, et al. (2020a) (2020b).
8. Marchal and Marx (2020).
9. Commission, ‘Coronavirus response’ Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-
response_en (last visited 7 April 2020); ECB, ‘Our Response to the coronavirus emergency’ 19 March 2020. Available
at: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2020/html/ecb.blog200319*11f421e25e.en.html (last visited 7 April
2020); Alcidi and Corti. (2020). Watt (2020).
10. Euroactive (2020); EU news (2020); Claeys Wolf (2020).
11. COM(2020) 457.
468 European Journal of Social Security 22(4)
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