A panel of senior Church of England bishops has told the EU that its plans for the next decade fail to reflect the needs of both the most disadvantaged and those 'ordinary citizens who indirectly contribute to its financial and political viability.

In a submission published today in response to EU 2020: a new strategy to make the EU a smarter, greener social market, the bishops – led by the Rt Revd Christopher Hill, Bishop of Guildford and Chair of the House of Bishops’ Europe Panel – argue:

• More effort must be made to improve the EU’s transparency – particularly its financial and accounting processes – and to reduce bureaucracy. The bishops add that the lack of progress in reforming the EU budget is “surprising” given the importance of the issue;
• The environmental focus of the report is welcome, but seems to be based purely on an economic argument for efficient growth rather than any plea for the sustainable stewardship of global resources for future generations;
• An emphasis on investment in vocational subjects that provide skills for industry ignores the importance of other subjects that sustain common life, and betrays “a fundamentally materialist approach that sees students as units of production subordinated to the demands of the market”.

Overall, while the bishops accept that “EU 2020 is a reasonable summary of some of the political and policy challenges that now, and over the next ten years, face the EU”, they argue that “the Commission’s hope of securing the active support of stakeholders such as the social partners and civil society in realising the EU 2020 vision would be made easier if the vision for an economically efficient and innovative market economy is supplemented more clearly by policies for solidarity that extend across national borders to assist the most disadvantaged.”

The response suggests that the EU faces much more fundamental issues than short-term economic problems: “If the financial crisis and economic recession has shown us anything it is that the very fabric of our economy and society was unstable. Europe’s citizens are now looking for something more stable and sustainable.”

The full submission can be found here.