FEPS Next Left Focus Group meeting and National Round Table Debate by Fundacja "Amicus Europae"

ACTIVITY REPORT

FEPS Next Left Focus Group meeting and National Round Table Debate, 29th September – 1st October 2013 – Warsaw, Poland

FOR A NEW SOCIAL CONSENSUS IN EUROPE A PROMISE OF JOBS, WELFARE AND EMPOWERMENT WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE FOUNDATION AMICUS EUROPAE, THE CENTRUM IM. IGNACEGO DASZYŃSKIEGO AND THE RENNER INSTITUT “For a New Social Consensus in Europe – a promise of jobs, welfare and empowerment” was the leading theme of the three days Next Left activity that FEPS organised together with the two Polish Foundations, Amicus Europae and Centrum im. Ignacego Daszyńskiego, as also with its’ programme partner Renner Institut, held in Warsaw, Poland on 29th September – 1st October 2013. The patronage of this event was taken respectively by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski (former President of Poland), Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer (Chair of the FEPS Next Left Research Programme and former Chancellor of Austria) and Dr. Ernst Stetter (FEPS Secretary General).

E. Stetter, Dr. A. Gusenbauer, President A. Kwásniewski and I. Bil.

The event was composed of two integral parts. First of all, it consisted of the closed session of the FEPS Next Left Focus Group (FG). Following the respective meetings in Vienna (February

2013) and in Lisbon (May 2013), the FG members (for a full list of its members, please see annex 1) gathered for the third review of their papers that constitute the core of this year’s research on the state and future of the European social democracy. The questions tackled this year focus on the review of the cornerstones of the Social Europe’s vision, and as such include, among others: way forward for welfare society; stadium on the labour market institutions and concepts such as flexicurity; lessons from Lisbon Strategy and EU2020 agenda; cultural, economic and political underpinning of Social Union; judicial assessment of accessibility of legal instruments that empower people and enable construction of European social citizenship. The discussion deriving from different presentations was a very lively and stimulating one, inducing a review of matters that European social democracy frequently takes for granted. To give an example, it was debated that while talking about social protection and employment’s security, the movement may still be operating with understandings that were adequate over two decades ago. Taking into account the new stage of globalisation, worrisome developments of financial capitalism and at the same time weakening of the idea of Europe, it seems more than urgent

FEPS Next Left Focus Group meeting and National Round Table Debate – 29th September – 1st October 2013 – Warsaw, Poland FOR A NEW SOCIAL CONSENSUS IN EUROPE – A PROMISE OF JOBS, WELFARE AND EMPOWERMENT

to frame better answers to what societies (and individuals) fear on one hand, and aspire to on the other. The richness of the debate served undoubtedly as additional inspiration for the members to reconsider the questions brought in within this round of the peer-reviews and to revise the material once again prior to the last meeting of this cycle in the end of November. The Focus Group session was chaired by the FEPS Next Left Research Programme’s Chair, Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer – who for the opening was also joined by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, in whose foundation hospitable premises the meeting was held. Following the good tradition of the other events, when the Next Left Focus Group meeting and the

political situation in details with representatives of four different centre and centre-left parties and three foundations. Though the main thread of this debate concerned potential set up of the political scene prior to the European election, nonetheless much attention was also paid to the overall ideological questions regarding the future of Europe and social democracy on the EU level. For that reason, the main findings of the Next Left Research Programme were presented.

FEPS Next Left National Round Table Debate

FEPS Next Left Focus Group meeting

National Round Tables were brought together, the session was joined by a group of Polish colleagues, among them: Dr. Ireneusz Bil (Director of Amicus Europae), Dr. Bartosz Rydliński (Amicus Europae), Tomasz Kalita (Centrum im. Ignacego Daszyńskiego), Konrad Gołota (SLD), Dr. Robert Smoleń (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne). The exchange was most helpful, as it steered the attention to a number of new aspects – perhaps more vital in the specific Polish context. The FEPS Next Left Focus Group meeting was followed by a dinner, hosted by Dr. Ernst Stetter, FEPS Secretary General together with Dr. Gusenbauer and President Kwaśniewski which was an opportunity to discuss the Polish

Secondly, 1st October featured a public event, held under the same title and gathered over 70 representatives from different streams of the Polish progressive forces. Among them were representatives of the political parties, associations, foundations, trade unions, as also academics and journalists. The conference was composed of 3 panels, which were framed by the following questions: For a working society – providing quality employment for all; For a welfare society – transforming our social models; For a prosperous society – framing a new socio-economic paradigm. The event was opened and summarised by Dr. Ernst Stetter, Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer and President Aleksander Kwaśniewski. The more detailed programme and the list of speakers can be found below (please see annex 2). The success of this FEPS Next Left activity lies in a number of features. First of all, it allowed the creation of a junction between the pan-

European debate on renewal of social democracy and the specific Polish one. The cooperation with both the foundations Amicus Europae and Centrum im. Ignacego Daszyńskiego has been most appreciated. Secondly, it enabled presenting the main aspects of FEPS’s work in general and of the FEPS Next Left Research Programme to the Polish audience. The publications distributed during this event were received very warmly. Thirdly, it facilitated advancement of the FEPS Next Left Research Programme. As such, it

enriched it with new questions that emerged from within the Polish specific debate on one hand, and was also a great opportunity to complete a traditional review of the current state of the research done by the Focus Group on the other. The immediate confrontation with the audience that is not involved in the elaborated discourse on an everyday bases served additionally as a great test for plausibility of the proposals that have been formulated so far.

For more information, please contact: Dr. Ania Skrzypek (FEPS Senior Research Fellow) at ania.skrzypek@feps-europe.eu or Ms. Ischi Graus at (FEPS Events Coordinator) at ischi.graus@fepseurope.eu.

ANNEX 1 – MEMBERS OF THE FEPS NEXT LEFT FOCUS GROUP Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer, Chair of the FEPS Next Left Research Programme and former Chancellor of Austria Dr. Rémi Bazillier, Assistant Professor at the University of Orléans and a research affiliate at the Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orléans (LEO-CNRS). He is also member of the FEPS scientific council, France Dr. Andrius Bielskis, Professor of Political Theory at Mykolas Romeris University, Director of the DEMOS Institute of Critical Thought Demos, Lithuania Dr. Nadia Carboni, Lecturer in Public Administration at the Faculty of Political Science and in Business Organisation at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Bologna, Italy Dr. Patrick Diamond, senior research fellow at Policy Network and Gwilym Gibbon Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, United Kingdom Dr. Carlo D’Ippoliti, Research Fellow in political economy at the Department of Statistics of "La Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy Dr. John Halpin, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, United States Dr. Ronny Mazzocchi, Assistant Professor of Monetary Economics at the University of Trento, Italy Dr. Matjaz Nahtigal, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Management at the University of Primorska Primorska University, Slovenia Monika Sie, Director at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, the Netherlands Dr. Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Senior Research Fellow, Brussels Dr. Ruy Texeira, Fellow at the Center for American Progress, United States Dr. Dimitris Tsarouhas, Assistant Professor in European Politics and Jean Monnet Chair at the Department of International Relation at Bilkent University, Turkey Dr. Igancio Urquizu Sanchez, Assistant Professor in Sociology at Complutense University, Spain Dr. Adriaan van Veldhuizen, Lecturer at the History Department at Leiden University, the Netherlands Dr. Pascal Zwicky, Political Secretary for the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

ANNEX 2 – PROGRAMME - FEPS NEXT LEFT NATIONAL ROUND TABLE DEBATE Tuesday, 1st October 2013 09:00

Opening Ernst Stetter, FEPS Secretary General Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Chair of Amicus Europae and former President of Poland Alfred Gusenbauer, Chair of the FEPS Next Left Research Programme and former Chancellor of Austria

09:30

Session 1 – For a working society – providing quality employment for all

Social democracy holds up to its proud tradition of having emerged as a workers’ movement. Their achievements in terms of labour market regulations and social security provision have been of historical relevance, however the transformed labour market requires the movement to profoundly review their traditional agenda. To give some examples, it has become polarised, dividing workers in between what is called in literature as “lovely” and “lousy” jobs. The entry to the labour market proves to be more and more difficult, splitting societies in between “outsiders” and “insiders”. The value of labour got undermined, while the detachment between so called “real economy” and “financial sector” continues. Different groups speak about “broken promises” – which are reflected in growing numbers of young unemployed, features such as gender pay gap or working poor phenomenon. These provoke objections, which were raised, among the others – by the workers who went onto the streets of Warsaw in mid-September. While framing a new progressive agenda, following question emerge therefore: o

How can progressives base their programme on their traditional system of values, while their communitarian appeal seem obsolete in fragmented, individualised society? Following that, how to overcome polarisation of the labour markets, while also combating socially erosive divides between insiders and outsiders? How to bring back value to labour? How to rebuild sense that it is providing social and economic emancipation of individuals, while offering them ways to contribute to the societies? How to prove that there is no trade-off between equality and efficiency, that competitiveness cannot be measured by a “race to the bottom” as far as social provisions accompanying labour are concerned? What are the ways to re-link labour, real economy and financial-markets? In what ways can progressive empower employees and workers, while dealing with what J. Stiglitz called “asymmetry of information”? How can the role of trade unions and social partners be reemphasised and their bargaining power restored, allowing a renewal of the spirit of “industrial democracy” and principle of co-determination? What are the sectors where new jobs can be created? How can progressive change the terms of the current conversation about fighting unemployment, putting forward a solid agenda of quality jobs? Can the ways be envisaged through which other forms than contract-based labour is recognised as a contribution to a society? Following that, can they change the understanding of care sector – that until now is viewed mostly in terms of “spending”?

Can a pledge of a Social Europe still be realised, while the prognoses of growth are negative and “more Europe” translates in public perception as “more austerity”? Can the intra-countries competitions be tamed and the issues such as posting of workers revisited? Can there be a European consensus reached on issues such as working time, minimum income, posting of workers etc. while the crisis weakened the member states commitment? Is EU 2020 Agenda that social democrats should carry or drop, shall they get a chance to regain strong position by the steering wheel of the EU? Experts Carlo D’ippoliti, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ Dimitris Tsarouhas, Bilkent University Ankara Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz, Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (Democratic Left Alliance Poland, SLD) Maria Skóra, University of Economics in Wroclaw Moderator Wiesława Taranowska, Trade Union Poland

10:30

Coffee break

11:00

Session 2 – For a welfare society – transforming our social models

The recent predicament has proven a profound failure of the neo-liberal doctrine. Its impact has been corrosive to economies, societies and politics, which is why all across the globe there is a clear demand for alternative scenario. At the beginning, many progressives seem to have cherished and idea that this would be the engine to bring back the historical pendulum and help them regain power again. This thoughts, as also already back in the history, have proven nothing more than a wishful thinking. Especially, that the prevailing understanding of the crisis was neo-liberal one – pointing fingers at social democracy as the movement that put forward an “unsustainable project of welfare state”. Herewith progressives got double challenged – on one hand trying to protect it against the austerity measures, on the other aiming at liberating themselves from the defensive position in order to change the framework of the conversation. They have known well enough that even before 2008 the welfare arrangements were mostly no longer adequate to assist the contemporary societies and help them transform to realise the promise of prosperity and progress for all. This has led to a conclusion that a “New Deal” was needed, which idea carries along a number of questions: o

Could criteria of equality and solidarity, as hence justice in rights and reciprocity in responsibilities become a backbone of new communities? What is the way to re-unite fragmented societies? What is the modern progressive sociological understanding that allows it to conceptualise a political agenda? How does it perceives individuals, communities and societies tangles in mutual relationship throughout the length of their lives? Can progressives go beyond predominant focus on redistribution, re-linking their proposals with pre-distribution and distribution policies? Can they succeed in formulating a credible

agenda that encapsulates both social protection and activation policies, while standing up to the criticisms deriving from the question of limited resources? Can progressive conceptualise a modern welfare society that reflects a communautarian way of thinking, while allowing space for individual assistance? How to enable politics to anticipate on the civilisation, technological and societal changes and hence enable it to be a tool to truly shape everyone’s everyday’s lives? Could that then realise the pledge of social inclusion and individual empowerment? Can progressive change the terms in which the conversation on welfare state is currently led? Can they demonstrate the productive aspect of welfare provisions, changing the debate from the one on “unsustainability” towards the one on “inadequacy”? Can they indicate new paths of social mobility, addressing the matters of: social investment, productivity, competitiveness, and none-the less access to means and properties (here especially the intellectual one)? With the crisis undermining the idea of the European Social Model, is there still a chance to rebuild its credentials? Especially that different countries were affected in different ways? Can the debate on public services and goods (social services, services of general interest etc.) be brought back to the European table with an expectation for a different outcome than the one in 2005? What are the tough choices that progressive need to make in this area? Experts Matjaz Nahtigal, University of Primorska Ania Skrzypek, Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Mirosław Grewiński, Pedagogical University Janusz Korczak in Warsaw Piotr Szumlewicz, Centrum im. Ignacego Daszyńskiego Moderator Zuzanna Dąbrowska, Polish radio

12:00

Lunch

13:00 Session 3 – For a prosperous society – framing a new socio-economic paradigm The debate on the need to frame a new socio-economic paradigm is not new to the progressive movement. In the 1990s, the reflection was driven by an understanding that the globalisation brings along new challenges further context with growing interdependences of regions, states and actors. Herewith capitalism has entered a new stage. The clash in between different take on the matters has been especially hard within the European social democratic family, where parties split among supporters and opponents of so called “Third Way”. Though social democracy had anticipated on the crisis (of which the work in the EP on i.e. hedge funds is an example of), still when the predicament hit – the movement found itself unprepared to grasp the momentum and propose a complex alternative. Though it had the story right, it also gave into temptation of telling that in chapters on respectively economic side, financial side or social side – without a more holistic picture. Furthermore, despite the numerous calls for distinctive alternative, no new way of thinking emerged that would answer the question in how far building a social market economy can be possible in the times of financial capitalism. FEPS Next Left Focus Group meeting and National Round Table Debate – 29th September – 1st October 2013 – Warsaw, Poland FOR A NEW SOCIAL CONSENSUS IN EUROPE – A PROMISE OF JOBS, WELFARE AND EMPOWERMENT

In the context of that following issues appear as especially debate-worthy: o

How to re-politicise the issues of economy and restore primacy of politics, while revitalising its sense as a tool to shape reality? How can progressives translate their agenda of social inclusion, communitarian reciprocity and individual emancipation into a comprehensive economic programme of progress and prosperity for all? How to create a new way of thinking about economics, which may involve a broader public? How to inaugurate a new debate on social market economy? How to go beyond traditional, limiting perceptions of economic growth? And in that aspect: what is and what creates a wellbeing of people nowadays? Can in that dimension new approaches emerge that would allow better comprehension of terms such as productivity? What are the ways of engaging with the contemporary financial capitalism, so that its erosive practices are tamed, regulated and supervised? What are the ways to re-link so called “real economy” and “financial economy”? In the agenda of fighting against tax heavens, tax evasion etc. strong enough as the progressive post-crisis narrative?

Can the idea of the European Union be still defended, when its engine of economic cooperation is no longer living up to the promises? What will be the costs of austerity that societies will need to face in short and long term? Could strategies such as re-industrialisation provide new solutions Experts Ronny Mazzocchi, University of Trento Pascal Zwicky, Social Democratic Party of Switzerland Kamil Liberadzki, Warsaw School of Economics Jacek Tomkiewicz, Research Centre for Transformation, Integration and Globalisation TIGER Moderator Alina Sulowska, Warsaw School of Economics 14:00

Closing Ernst Stetter, FEPS Secretary General Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Chair of Amicus Europae and former President of Poland Alfred Gusenbauer, Chair of the FEPS Next Left Research Programme and former Chancellor of Austria