MEPs from the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) decided on Wednesday 30 November to question the EU Council and the European Commission on how proposals to update national minimum income schemes will improve labour market inclusion in the Member States, says a statement.
The questions for the Council were adopted by 39 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions. Those for the Commission were adopted by 40 votes to 1 with 5 abstentions.
The Council will be asked, among other things, about measures to “gradually increase their minimum income schemes to at least the national at risk of poverty or social exclusion threshold and to reintegrate those who can work into the labour market”. MEPs also want to know “how the Council intends to improve the coverage of the existing national minimum income schemes and ensure that their beneficiaries are not forced to accept precarious work”.
The European Commission will be asked about its plans to monitor the effective mainstreaming of minimum income measures and to involve social partners at EU level in both implementation and monitoring.
These questions will be asked at the December plenary.
The Member States approved their political agreement on this recommendation on 30 November (see EUROPE 13073/20). Formal agreement will be reached later this year or under the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council.
Links to the questions: https://aeur.eu/f/4ep ; https://aeur.eu/f/4ea (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)