AKEL on the European Commission Recommendations for the European Semester

Statement by Skevi Koukouma, AKEL Political Bureau member and MP

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 24 April 2018, Nicosia

Today the meeting of the Parliamentary Committees of Finance and Labor was held with the Director of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs to discuss the European Commission’s Staff Working Document – 2018 Cyprus Report within the context of the European Semester 2018.

Despite the quite nice-sounding vocabulary which is used to describe the situation prevailing in Cyprus, some of the Report’s conclusions on our country are very distressing. As far as proposals are concerned are concerned, they cannot address the situation. They repeat existing initiatives, while some others are steps backwards.

Cyprus is still the country with the most dramatic widening of social inequality in recent years.

In the labour market sector, a very high unemployment rate is recorded among young people and long-term unemployed, well above the EU average. The percentage of young people (15-24 years old) not in employment, education or training remains one of the highest across the EU.

Wages, despite their relative improvement, remain at 2002 levels, while the income share of capital has increased significantly. Part-time and employment on fixed-time contracts are still 23.1% higher than before the crisis and above average in the EU, while in recent years the group of working poor has been created in Cyprus. .

Regarding the social policy pursued by the state, despite the relative improvement in the data, the risk of poverty and social exclusion for the disabled still remains at very high levels, while the significant increase in poverty among children is particularly worrying for Cyprus. Another issue of concern is the big gap between in pensions between men and women, which reaches the very high rate of 49%.

Last but not least, also particularly significant is the gap that exists, due to the absence of state structures and programs, for care and accommodation for people with disabilities and elderly people who, like all of us, have the inalienable right to a quality living. We are particularly concerned about the termination of the operation of state childcare facilities and their surrender to the private sector and the church.

For AKEL, the state’s social policy cannot begin and end with the so-called Minimal Guaranteed Income. This is why we will continue to monitor these issues by exerting the appropriate pressure on the government to implement a comprehensive strategy for people in need of state support, but to also defend working people’s rights.