The results of the EMIN project were presented at the Conference of the European Social Insurance Platform. Over 130 people took part in the Conference. The outcomes were presented by EMIN coordinator, Fintan Farrell as part of a panel on ‘Future Perspectives for the EU”. The other contributors to the panel were Frank Vandenbroucke, Professor of Economics, University of Leuven who spoke on the social dimension of the EU and former Commissioner Laszlo Andor who presented the need for an EU Unemployment Insurance scheme.   All the presentations can be downloaded from the ESIP website at: http://www.esip.eu/index.php?q=node/1645

Following a discussion of the college of Commissioners on ‘Policy Orientations for a Social Europe’ in Strasbourg yesterday, Commissioner Thyssen included the following statement in the Press Conference that followed:

“Our social protection systems need to remain sustainable for the future. I believe that upwards social convergence is the key to achieve this. We can encourage gradual convergence by establishing minimum standards, expressed in benchmarks. These can cover for example the duration and level of unemployment benefits, minimum income or access to child care or basic health care. I believe the European Semester would be the appropriate instrument to monitor its application”.

This gives a positive orientation for the follow up from the EMIN project.

The Council of Europe at a recent meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, discussed the need for a citizen income.  The debate supported the need for an adequate minimum living income as a means of protecting human dignity and autonomy. The Rapporteur for the report is Ms Nunzia CATALFO, from Italy. Fintan Farrell, Project Coordinator EMIN, presented the results of the EMIN project. See Fintan’s presentation here