The Action Plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights was welcomed, on Thursday 4 March, by the social partners, with the European trade unions giving the Action Plan a rather positive reception, while the employers welcomed in particular the recommendations for the Effective Active Support to Employment (EASE).
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said it had thus found most of the tools and measures (see EUROPE 12671/2) it was expecting in the areas of employment, skills and gender equality. But it deplored the lack of strong proposals to combat precarious work, common social security standards and the lack of commitment to continue employment and wage support measures in the post-coronavirus recovery.
Above all, for the unions, the regret is the lack of legislative initiatives, both on minimum income and on a permanent mechanism for unemployment reinsurance. Concerning the strengthening of social dialogue, the trade unions said they were “confused” by the proposal for a new Prize for innovative practices.
On the side of large companies, BusinessEurope expressed satisfaction with the EASE recommendations (see EUROPE 12671/3). Its reticence mainly concerned the directive on pay transparency (see EUROPE 12671/1), stressing the division of competences between the European and national levels and the need to avoid further red tape. For SMEunited, satisfaction seems to be total, both with the Action Plan and with the EASE recommendations.
On the civil society side, FEANTSA (the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless), welcomed the announcement of the creation of the platform, but regretted the lack of quantified targets as a sub-target for reducing the number of people at risk of poverty. Age Europe, which represents the interests of people over fifty, has called for more attention to be paid to the level of pensions in the context of the recommendations on minimum income, but also on the working conditions of informal carers. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)