Conference on Inequalities in Europe and the future of the welfare state

The European Commission currently holds a conference aiming at taking stock of how inequalities develop and explore ways of how to mitigate them. The debate is in line with the focus of the EU's Europe 2020 strategy on inclusive growth, and notably on sharing the benefits of growth widely. It will serve as inspiration for European policy making and its results will be summarised in a flash report to be released after the conference.
The participants include both policy makers, social partners, academics and Commission staff.

Seven panels will deal with crucial aspects of inequalities:
•    Labour market inequalities and their mitigation
•    Geographic dimension of social inequalities and their mitigation
•    Mitigating inequalities through taxation – taxing fairly and efficiently
•    Role of health and equal opportunities policies in mitigating inequalities
•    Redistribution, cash benefits for mitigating inequalities
•    Role of education and child policies - tomorrow's inequalities are here, in our children
•    Conclusions, Europe 2020 and the future of a sustainable welfare state in the EU

Income inequalities have increased in most EU countries in the past decades, and they are feeding a growing public discontent. According to a recent Eurobarometer, there is no EU country where people would think that inequalities are handled better now than five years ago. Currently, 1% of the richest people in the world own 40% of the global assets and during the past decades, top income earners have constantly increased their share of national incomes. At the same time, the difference in life expectancy between poor and rich in Europe can be as high as 25 years in the same city.

While some inequality is unavoidable, reflecting real differences or rewarding performance, a very high level of inequality may be economically and socially damaging.  The discussions cover the causes and consequences of social inequalities, including their territorial dimension, but also possible solutions to mitigate them, e.g. fairer taxation, better design of benefits, improved functioning of labour markets as well as the role of education, social services, health and equal opportunity policies. OECD will also present a major report on inequalities. 

The inequality conference can be followed live on web streaming here.