The European Commission presented its roadmap on a Social Europe for a Just Transition on Tuesday 14 January in the margins of the European Parliament plenary session for a public consultation which will run until November.
A few changes are to be noted compared to the version EUROPE obtained last week (see EUROPE 12401/10). Thus, in the first quarter of 2020, the main initiatives planned are the launch of a first phase of consultation of the social partners on minimum wages, the presentation of an investment plan for a sustainable Europe and the proposal for a Just Transition Fund (see other news).
During this first quarter, the European Commission will present a European Gender Equality Strategy, immediately followed by binding measures to ensure pay transparency. The institution will also submit an update of the skills strategy. Finally, it will present an industrial strategy and another for SMEs, both of which will include an important social component.
In the second quarter, the Commission will seek to strengthen the Youth Guarantee and present an updated digital education action plan.
In the third quarter, the Commission will organise a Platform Work Summit. Here, the aim is to tackle the phenomenon of casualisation and impoverishment linked to the growth of work on digital platforms. "The aim is to avoid the rise of a 19th century model", explains one source. The Commission will also present an initiative on the European Education Area, planned for 2025. Here, the institution will establish a new framework for cooperation in education and training to increase the rate of young people reaching upper secondary education.
Finally, the fourth quarter will be particularly busy, in particular with the presentation of a European unemployment reinsurance scheme, a flagship proposal of the new Commission in the social field. The Commission will also present: an act on digital services, a green paper on ageing, a plan to combat cancer, a plan dear to the EPP, and finally, an initiative on equality and inclusion of the Roma.
In 2021, the Commission inflated its programme compared to earlier versions of the roadmap. It now foresees an action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, will launch a child guarantee initiative, an action plan on the social economy, a strategy for disability, and a long-term vision for rural areas.
The unions are rather satisfied, but cautious. Contacted by EUROPE, the Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Liina Carr, was rather satisfied with the roadmap, particularly in view of the Commission's willingness to appoint a Chief Enforcement Officer for social and environmental enforcement in the context of free trade agreements and the Investment Plan for a Social Europe. However, she remains cautious about the source of funding and the content of the initiatives that will ultimately be presented. The trade unionist also deeply regretted that nothing had been presented in the field of occupational safety and health. An absence which has also been noticed in the European Parliament, which is expecting a 4th revision of the directive on carcinogens and mutagens in the field of work.
To consult the roadmap: http://bit.ly/2tkRqVl (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)