2pm - 5pm 28th June
GMCVO, Ardwick Green North, Manchester M12 6FZ

This is a crucial time for the future of Europe. Decisions being taken now about the response to economic crisis throughout Europe will affect not only the future of the European institutions, but civil society and people's way of life throughout Europe for the coming year. This seminar will discuss the 2020 strategy recently issued by the European Commission and the forthcoming EU budget, and assess the EU's response to recession in Europe. A particular focus will be placed on implications for civil society and the ways in which civil society can enter into a productive dialogue on this issue with the European institutions.

This seminar is being jointly organised by European Alternatives and NCVO, with the support of the European Commission Representation in the UK To pre-register for the conference please e-mail: editors@euroalter.com Speakers: Jean Lambert MEP (Greens, on the Social affairs and Employment committee of the European Parliament) Sandra Turner (Third Sector European Network) Juraj Draxler (Center for European Policy Studies) George Irwin (SOAS) Here below is the report from the event: The event in Manchester’s civil society centre addressed a series of issues surrounding Europe’s response to the financial crisis, the 2020 strategy of the European Commission and Council, and in particular the impacts on civil society. The use of European structural and cohesion funding was a particular topic for discussion in this regard, many of the audience members themselves administering or receiving European grants of this kind.

The afternoon started with an overview of the Europe 2020 strategy presented by Oliver Henman of NCVO and Niccolo Milanese of European Alternatives. A focus was put on the headline target in the strategy for combating poverty and the fact that European social funds will come up for review in the EU’s budget from 2014.

A discussion followed of what civil society should be asking for with regards to this review. The need to reduce barriers for applying for such funds, the need for simplification of the rules and also proportionality of auditing requirements were chief amongst the concerns raised. Jean Lambert MEP presented some of the discussions that have been taking place inside the European Parliament’s Employment and Social affairs committee around the Europe 2020 strategy. Jean expressed her view that it is particularly regrettable that the role of parliament and civil society in the strategy has been reduced to that of ‘communication’ and ‘mobilisation’ of citizens around the strategy. She said she thinks that the parliament and civil society will have a particularly important role to play in ensuring that the poverty reduction target in the Europe 2020 strategy is translated into national legislation in a smart and ambitious way.

Jean Lambert then entered into a dialogue with audience members around a series of issues affecting civil society organisations. George Irvin presented a short paper demonstrating that the response of the European nation states to the economic crisis is largely misguided, and drawing conclusions for what an effective European strategy might be. He particularly emphasised that simultaneously deficit reduction across the EU would likely have a very detrimental impact on growth and risks leading to a double-dip recession. George was generous in explaining some of the basics of economics to the participants in a very comprehensible manner, which led to a fruitful discussion afterwards.

George Irvin and Juraj Draxler entered into an interesting dialogue about the competences of the European Commission and European Central Bank when it comes to fiscal and monetary policy, and what might be done to improve the situation. Juraj Draxler presented a study he had carried out for DG Employment on social indicators which could be applied across the EU to assess the impact of Commission policies, and discussed the possibilities for civil society involvement in the assessment of social impact. He brought examples from regions in Central Europe, which led to an interesting comparison with the situation in the Northwest.