The European Commission updated its employment guidelines for Member States on Wednesday 3 June, as part of the European Semester budgetary process.
This comes within a more difficult context than two years ago at the point of the last update, since the impact of the war in the Middle East is now putting around 1.3 million jobs at risk – particularly in highly energy-intensive industries – said the Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu.
This war is also having an impact on household budgets, with national governments being urged to support the most vulnerable through targeted measures.
The Vice-President also explained that 77% of SMEs say they are struggling to recruit staff with the skills they are seeking. The various recommendations issued on 3 June must therefore resolve this equation.
The guidelines addressed to Member States respond to three priorities, according to the European Commission: investing in human capital and skills; improving working conditions at a time when poor conditions, such as poor pay, are one of the causes of staff shortages; tackling the cost of living crisis.
This year, the European Commission has also decided to devote a chapter to housing issues in the country-specific recommendations.
Guidelines. While the EU is on track to achieve by 2030 the employment targets it set itself in Porto in 2021 – namely 78% of working-age population – it is making slow progress on poverty reduction targets and on those relating to adult lifelong learning (60% of the active population).
The European Commission also explained that new elements have been incorporated into the guidelines, particularly on job quality, in connection with the Roadmap for Quality Jobs, presented by the European Commission in December 2025, on skills and education (in line with new Council Recommendation on human capital), and on poverty reduction and social inclusion, in line with the Anti-Poverty Strategy, presented by the Commission in May 2026.
The guidelines, presented in the form of an EU Council decision, recommend, for example, that Member States make full use of the European funding available, notably the European Social Fund Plus and the Social Climate Fund, in order to promote quality employment and skills development, combat poverty and support social and employment-related reforms and investments. “This includes fighting social exclusion, combatting discrimination, ensuring accessibility and inclusion, and promoting upskilling and reskilling opportunities for the workforce, lifelong learning and high-quality education and training for all”.
The employment guidelines should inform the programming of national and regional partnership plans for the financing period after 2027.
In its introductory communication, the European Commission explains that the functioning of labour markets and the development of human capital have improved, but further measures are needed to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and productivity.
Progress has been made, for example, in improving employment prospects, thanks to strengthening of active labour market policies in certain Member States.
“For example, in Belgium, the duration for which unemployment benefits can be claimed has been limited to two years for most jobseekers, while strengthening active labour market policies and providing support to vulnerable groups. Vocational education and training programmes have been developed, notably in Bulgaria and Spain”.
The country-specific recommendations continue to emphasise improved educational outcomes and a better match between skills and labour market needs, “which remain key priorities, as well as to address labour and skills shortages, which are particularly acute in strategic sectors such as cybersecurity, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and semiconductors”.
For several Member States, it is crucial to raise skill levels, for example by strengthening basic skills and tackling leaving school at an early age (Spain), encouraging enrolment in STEM subjects and improving labour market relevance of training (France), and expanding upskilling and reskilling opportunities for low-skilled people and older workers (Estonia and Latvia).
Several Member States – for example Greece, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania, Croatia and Slovenia – are encouraged to tackle labour shortages, notably: - by strengthening active labour market policies; - by supporting the integration into the labour market of underrepresented groups, such as persons with disabilities, young and older people, people with a migrant background and Roma people; - or, where relevant, by better attracting and retaining talent from outside the EU.
Participation of older workers must also be strengthened, for example in Luxembourg and Germany, with a view to raising effective retirement age. The European Commission also indicated that social dialogue and collective bargaining, as recommended for example to Hungary and Italy, remain essential tools for addressing labour market challenges.
Housing. For the first time, the European Commission explained, each country report produced as part of the European Semester exercise includes a specific annex devoted to housing, providing an analysis of housing market in each of the 27 EU Member States.
For the European Commission, this is about helping “Member States design effective reforms in the area of social and affordable housing, taking into account the specific context of each country”.
The recommendations include various measures, such as increasing the stock of social and affordable housing, boosting the overall housing supply, simplifying and accelerating authorisation procedures, and streamlining land-use and planning procedures.
Progress has been made, but it remains limited. Some Member States have notably expanded their supply of social and affordable housing through initiatives such as Denmark’s comprehensive housing plan and Ireland’s projects aimed at increasing supply of social housing. “However, significant challenges persist across all Member States, notably: - the need to simplify and accelerate planning and authorisation procedures; - severe housing shortages, particularly in urban areas and tourist regions; - rising homelessness and declining affordability of housing; - restrictions on professional and educational mobility; - growing inequalities”.
Measures are also needed to make better use of public land and to stimulate the construction and renovation of affordable housing.
See links to country reports and employment guidelines: https://aeur.eu/f/m5u ; https://aeur.eu/f/m5v (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)