The European Commission envisages three main objectives for the EU in the field of employment, skills and social protection, linked to the UN sustainable development goals, according to a draft version of the action plan for the European pillar of social rights obtained by EUROPE on Friday 26 February.
These objectives, expressed in rates, and which, in the version available to us, were not yet defined, are in line with the 20 principles of the European pillar of social rights and those enshrined in the Multiannual Financial Framework. They are in addition to the green and digital transition objectives.
Thus, the Commission wants to set a target for the employment rate of the European population aged between 20 and 64 by 2030. The institution has a specific sub-objective for women’s employment rates with a view to catching up with the male employment rate. It mentions another sub-objective relating to the employment of young people who are not in education, employment or training (so-called ‘NEETs’).
The European institution also wants to set a rate for participation in training among adults by 2030. It cites another sub-objective comprising a digital basic skills target and an upper secondary education graduation target.
Finally, the Commission is setting a target for the number of people at risk of poverty by 2030. Here, the institution includes a sub-objective on child poverty and the social exclusion of children.
It will be up to the European Council to endorse these three objectives and to the Member States to set their own national targets as a contribution to this common effort, says the institution. The achievement of these new objectives will be monitored in the framework of the Social Scoreboard, which will be revised periodically.
Future of the welfare state, minimum income and the European social security number
Generally speaking, the Commission is rolling out its work programme for 2021 with precision, but has become rather vague for the following years in terms of timing. According to the project, the European Commission intends to present recommendations for national minimum incomes in 2021. Thus, no legislative act is in sight for the time being.
It also wants to launch a high-level expert group to look at the future of the welfare state, its financing and its interconnections with the changing world of work. This group will present a report before the end of 2022.
It also wants to launch a pilot project in 2021 to explore, by 2023, the launch of a digital solution to facilitate interaction between mobile citizens and national authorities. It also plans to improve the portability of social security rights across borders (a “European Social Security Card” - ESSPASS) by building on the European e-ID initiative.
Attached to the Action Plan are a series of annexes, with a multiannual timetable up to 2025, the content of the revised Social Scoreboard, and a review of the 20 priorities of the European pillar of social rights. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)