The European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, confirmed the presentation of the action plan on the European pillar of social rights at the beginning of March, during his speech to the MEPs of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on Monday 1 February.
The College of the European Commission is expected to adopt this action plan on Wednesday 3 March, he said. In this respect, he recalled that the aim of this action plan was not to modify the content of the European pillar of social rights, but rather to ensure that its priorities were implemented. He also indicated that his services were working on an update of the Social Scoreboard as part of the budgetary process for the European Semester.
The presentation of this action plan will be an important step towards the Porto Social Summit in May (see EUROPE 12616/19), which he is looking forward to. “I sincerely hope that we can say that we have given impetus to social Europe”, he told the parliamentarians.
Platform and digital work
Pressed by MEPs, the Commissioner indicated that the Commission intended to act on the issue of platform workers. “Work related to platforms must be covered by a Directive, unless the social partners surprise us by putting forward their own proposal”, he replied, stressing that he had high expectations of the report by Sylvie Brunet (Renew Europe, France).
As such, the Commissioner said his aim was not to open an endless debate on worker status, but to provide equivalent social protection for all workers. Similarly, the Commissioner reiterated the need to guarantee the same right to disconnection for workers (see EUROPE 12641/4).
Homelessness and child poverty
On the issue of homelessness, he reiterated his willingness to make progress through the platform for the exchange of good practices which should be launched by June. He also expressed his wish to make progress on the Child Guarantee (see EUROPE 12544/27), which should be the subject of EU Council recommendations. He recalled the crucial role of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) in the fight against extreme child poverty.
Coordination of social security systems
The Commissioner expressed “realistic optimism” about the possibility of reaching an agreement on Regulation 883 on the coordination of social security systems, which is progressing with great difficultly in inter-institutional negotiations (see EUROPE 12618/24).
Minimum wage and social partners
During the exchange, the Commissioner indicated that negotiations on the minimum wage Directive were, for the time being, awaiting the legal opinion of the EU Council. He stressed the importance of the role of the social partners in this respect. In this capacity, he announced the imminence of the report by Germany’s Andrea Nahles, former German Minister of Labour on the issue. The report was published today.
To consult Ms Nahles’ report: http://bit.ly/39GdBYz (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)