Debate: Roadmap on a Social Europe: two years after Porto
Date: WEDNESDAY, 10 MAY 2023
Speaker: Nicolas Schmit
Language: EN

You recall the importance of strong social policies in the EU leading to social progress and fairness, and the key objective of a sustainable development where the economic, social and environmental dimensions stand on an equal footing. Two years ago, during the Portuguese Presidency at the Porto Social Summit, we discussed the future of social Europe and EU leaders, social partners and civil society agreed on a social commitment. We agreed to address the pressing challenges: fighting poverty, inequality, unemployment and addressing demographic change, as well as supporting the twin green and digital transition. A lot has happened since, not least – and it has been mentioned by the Presidency – not least with Russia’s criminal war of aggression that has brought devastation and destruction to our continent. Not only did it shake our conviction that peace was once and for all guaranteed on the European continent, high inflation and energy prices put a strain on many workers and households, especially the low and middle-income and mainly small businesses. The Portuguese Government, in cooperation with the Commission, convened the Porto Social Forum two years after the Porto Social Summit, and your resolution does not only recall the commitments that were taken, but also indicates how to shape further the social dimension. We have committed to our citizens to improve their living and working conditions, responding to their expectations. Therefore, our actions must live up to this promise. That is why the Commission wants to deepen the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights with the aim of a fair and competitive social market economy that works for people. Your proposed resolution makes key proposals on many fundamental aspects. It helps ensure that Europe’s social dimension remains high on the EU political agenda. Your resolution is a strong call to continue our work to fully implement the European Pillar of Social Rights and all its principles. And this objective is shared by the Commission. A lot has been achieved since the Porto Summit. A large majority of the concrete actions aimed at continuing to implement the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights have already been adopted or will be proposed. The adoption of the directive on adequate minimum wages certainly represents in this context an historic achievement. Together with Member States, we have finalised the programming of the European Social Fund Plus with almost EUR 100 billion in investments in employment and social policies. Now we must move forward together with Member States to ensure implementation and concrete results on the ground. The Porto main targets are essential, and Member States have presented their national targets that have to be respected. The fight against poverty remains of essence, not only because poverty divides our societies and increases social injustice. It also represents a loss of economic and human potential. Poverty and a high degree of inequality weaken the resilience of our societies. We must take bold action to tackle poverty, head on, investing in social and labour policies, inclusive education and training. Adequate social protection has to ensure equal opportunities for everyone and special support to those who need it most. We must prioritise investment in stronger social safety nets, better social infrastructure, including affordable social housing, healthcare and childcare. We are also working intensively to set the right conditions for the EU economy to thrive in the green and digital transitions. In this framework, the creation of quality jobs and good working conditions is a priority. Europe needs a strong and innovative industry, as the Commission is promoting in its green deal industrial plan. Too many workers do not enjoy, presently, decent working conditions and struggle with low wages, little job security, few opportunities for advancement. And next week we will have in Stockholm an important meeting on health and safety at the working place. Ensuring decent working conditions means, among other things, investing in safe workplaces, reducing precarious work contracts, better enforcing labour rights, guaranteeing gender equality and same wages. We also must improve work-life balance. We must promote collective bargaining and social dialogue as an essential tool to develop joint solutions to the challenges we are facing in today’s world of work, and the directives on adequate minimum wages and proposal for platform work are important steps in this direction. Investing in skills ensures that citizens have the competences to succeed in the new world of work. This is essential to empower workers and to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness. The European Year of Skills – we had a discussion yesterday, and it has been launched yesterday – helps instil a culture and mindset of upskilling and reskilling. For Europe to become an innovative industrial location by 2050, strong and targeted employment and social policies are needed in conjunction with industrial, economic and fiscal policies. Over several years now, the European Semester has a strong social anchor. A framework to monitor social convergence should play an important role in the context of economic and social governance. We share the objective to strengthen the social dimension of the European Semester and to foster upward social and economic convergence. With the Economic Governance Review, the Commission has proposed to facilitate reforms and investments that enhance inclusive growth, support fiscal sustainability and address common EU priorities, including the European Pillar of Social Rights. We share your view on the importance of essential services, also in the light of economic, social and territorial disparities. We will soon present a Council recommendation to develop social economy framework conditions. The consultation of the social partners on the revision of the directive on the European works councils is ongoing. This year we will also update the Quality Framework for Traineeships, put forward an initiative on the digitalisation of social security systems and a proposal for a European disability card. Together we have achieved a lot, but a lot of work is still ahead of us. We need to continue joining forces and uphold our determination in building a strong social Europe. That, as the Porto Forum underlines, has also a geopolitical dimension.