A draft of the declaration of the high-level conference of the Porto Social Summit, obtained by EUROPE on Tuesday 13 April, appears to support the European Commission’s approach to the European pillar of social rights action plan and calls on Member States to set “voluntary” national targets.
These national targets should, according to the draft document, contribute to the achievement of the European objectives, but always “taking due account of the starting situation of each country”.
As regards the European social targets for 2030, it is no surprise that the document drawn up by the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council also supports the targets set by the Commission: - an employment rate of 78%; - a reduction in poverty of 15 million people; - a 60% participation rate of Europeans in training to acquire or consolidate their skills. Interestingly, the paper proposes to focus on breaking the “generational cycle” of poverty in addition to child poverty.
Furthermore, the document confirms the use of the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process and related tools to monitor progress in the implementation of the European pillar of social rights. In this context, it calls for a regular assessment of the progress made in Europe towards the 2030 targets. As for the ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’, the document stresses the importance of consulting with citizens.
This is the declaration for the first day of the Social Summit, 7 May, not the second day with the Heads of State and Government.
To access the draft document: https://bit.ly/3a7Q42a (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)