Building a fairer and more inclusive Union The Social Market Economy is the hallmark of our European project. It is what makes Europe stand out from other economies in the world. We promote private initiative and individual creativity; we enable individuals to excel and create opportunities for businesses and for workers, and we work to keep our economy growing. The best social policy is a strong growth policy. At the same time, we also act to protect people in moments of distress. And as global challenges such as the pandemic, climate change, and the digital transition have put our Social Market Economy to the test in the last years, the Commission has doubled-down in its work to protect and empower people and communities. 31.5 millionemployees and self-employed people supported by SURE in 20202.5 millionbusinesses supported by SURE the same year€98.4 billionof financial assistance was disbursed to 19 Member States under SURE We acted to protect people during the COVID-19 pandemic. With SURE we supported millions of employees and self-employed people to keep their income, and we enabled millions of businesses to retain the workers and the talent they would need to restart their recovery. We also gave Member States flexibility under Cohesion Policy and budgetary rules to invest in protecting lives and livelihoods.Similarly, we have put in place mechanisms to make sure that the clean transition leaves no one behind. We strive to make the transition socially fair. The Commission’s Just Transition Fund, with €19.7 billion, is investing to support affected workers reskill and find new jobs in the green economy, and it is helping regions that were previously depending on high-polluting industries to diversify economic activities towards cleaner sectors. During this mandate, we also put in motion an Action Plan to operationalise the European Pillar of Social Rights. We set out specific EU-level goals to be reached by 2030 on employment, training, and poverty reduction and we called on Member States to define similar targets at national level.We are conscious of the demographic change that is operating in Europe, with a clear impact on our social structure, but we are confident that we can reap benefits from it. We have come up with initiatives such as the European Child Guarantee, which gives children a good starting point in life while also helping parents not having to choose between working and having a family. And we also reinforced the successful European Youth Guarantee, which supports young people under 30 in getting a job.Furthermore, we are making sure that workers can stay competitive while enjoying their rights. We are supporting workers to develop new skills for the modern job market, because our workers’ skills underpin our competitiveness. We have proposed to give workers and the self-employed the tools to uphold their rights in the face of platform work, we have strived towards basic, common rules on adequate minimum wages to make sure work pays, and we have reinforced health and security in the workplace. In our Union, people are meant to enjoy the broadest range of fundamental rights anywhere, and we have worked to ensure that everyone in fact enjoys those rights. This Commission finally brought to life rules to ensure women get their fair opportunity to demonstrate their talent in corporate boards, and thanks to new pay transparency rules we are closer to the basic principle that equal work deserves equal pay. We have also worked to ensure that women can live free from violence thanks to rules on the future criminalisation of physical, psychological, economic, and sexual violence against women.But equality does not stop at women. This mandate we have laid the ground to build a Union of Equality. We adopted strategies with concrete actions to address gender equality, racism, antisemitism, Roma, LGBTIQ people, and persons with disabilities. These strategies, which are the first in their kind in the EU, also aim at mainstreaming equality and putting it at the centre of all EU policy areas. Building a fairer and more inclusive UnionA visual story Key policies and achievements:Protecting lives and livelihoods during the pandemicAchieving the clean transition together and leaving no one behindReaping the benefits and facing the challenges of the demographic change in EuropeHelping the next generation of Europeans thriveAn ambitious action plan to make the European Pillar of Social Rights a realitySecuring fair work conditions for people in platform workEnsuring adequate minimum wages across the EUImproving health and safety at workSupporting workers to develop the skills they need for quality jobsEmpowering women to have their rightful place in societyEmpowering people to be who they are Protecting lives and livelihoods during the pandemic In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with people confined at home, one of the main challenges was to protect the employment of European citizens. In April 2020, the Commission proposed SURE, an instrument to finance short-time employment schemes across the EU, making sure that people could keep their jobs and their income despite the confinement, and that businesses could keep the workers and skills that they would rely on when activities resume. The European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE)SURE helped support about 31.5 million employees and self-employed people and over 2.5 million businesses in 2020. This represents almost one third of total employment and over one quarter of businesses in the beneficiary Member States. SURE continued to protect employment in 2021, while the pandemic continued to hit our societies, supporting about 9 million people and over 900 000 businesses. In total, €98.4 billion of financial assistance was disbursed to 19 Member States under SURE. To finance this, and for the first time ever, the EU issued social bonds. The Commission has thus become the world’s biggest social bond issuer. Thanks to the EU’s high credit rating, SURE also helped Member States save an estimated €9 billion in interest payments. The protection of employment facilitated the rapid economic rebound of 2021.Coronavirus Response Investment InitiativeThis Commission also put forward the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus. These instruments helped Member States buy medical equipment, pay health workers, and support workers and SMEs by making expenditures related to COVID eligible under Cohesion Policy and making that eligibility retroactive. They also enabled 100% of co-financing and financial reallocations between Cohesion Funds and between categories of regions, providing Member States with an upfront injection of almost €8 billion from Cohesion Funds. Achieving the clean transition together and leaving no one behind Nobody should be left behind in the clean transition. To support regions that are most affected by the socio-economic impact caused by the clean transition, the Commission came forward with the Just Transition Fund with a total allocation of €19.7 billion. The Just Transition Fund directs investments into these regions to diversify economic activities towards cleaner industries and reskill workers for new sources of employment. For example Ida Viru, in Estonia, used to rely heavily on oil shale. Thanks to €354 million from the Just Transition Fund, some 11,000 workers and jobseekers are receiving reskilling and upskilling opportunities that will provide them with mobility solutions to new businesses with greener jobs. Norrboten county, in northern Sweden, is a centre of the Swedish steel industry. The Just Transition Fund is backing the H2-Labs project, which will receive €7 million (EU and national funding). The project wants to develop a test bed in Norrboten to explore the production of climate-neutral hydrogen. In enough quantities, climate-neutral hydrogen could replace the use of fossil fuels in steel production, thereby increasing the industry’s competitiveness and minimising social costs. Similarly, the Commission established the Social Climate Fund, which will provide Member States with dedicated funding, including via our carbon pricing mechanism, to support vulnerable groups such as households in energy or transport poverty. Member States may use the Social Climate Fund to invest in energy efficiency, renovation of buildings, clean heating, and they can also spend part of the resources on temporary direct income support. Reaping the benefits and facing the challenges of the demographic change in Europe Europe is undergoing a major demographic transformation. People across Europe live longer, healthier lives thanks to our social and economic progress over the past decades, including improved living standards, access to education and training, and advances in healthcare and medicine. This demographic change is having a profound impact on everyday life. That is why in October 2023, the Commission put forward the Demography Toolbox, to support Member States in addressing demographic challenges and their impact on Europe's competitive edge. This toolbox identifies the reforms and investments needed to manage this demographic change and maintain the EU's competitive edge. The proposed tools can be effectively combined with national and regional policies for maximum benefit. The measures presented in the Demography Toolbox are structured around four pillarssupport parents by better reconciling family aspirations and paid work, notably by ensuring access to quality childcare and good work-life balancesupport and empower younger generations to thrive, develop their skills, facilitate their access to the labour market and to affordable housingempower older generations and sustaining their welfare, through reforms combined with appropriate labour market and workplace policieswhere necessary, addressing labour shortages through managed legal migration, in full complementarity to harnessing talents from within the EU Furthermore, the Commission has called on Member States to put in place and implement integrated policies addressing demographic change and to mainstream demography concerns across all policies. Helping the next generation of Europeans thrive In 2021, the Commission put forward a Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee, which has been adopted by Member States. The Child Guarantee ensures that every child in Europe at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights, at the same time empowering parents who cannot afford childcare and early education, to go back to the job market. The Child Guarantee's key servicesThe Child Guarantee ensures a set of key services for their well-being and their development, including free and effective access to early childhood education and care, education, at least one healthy meal each school day, healthcare, healthy nutrition, and adequate housing.Following the Recommendation, all Member States appointed a national Child Guarantee coordinator and submitted their action plans on how to implement the European Child Guarantee.The European Child Guarantee directly contributes to the goal of European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan that by 2030 the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion should be reduced by at least 15 million, including at least five million children.The Youth GuaranteeThe Youth Guarantee ensures that young people are offered a job, continued education, a traineeship, or an apprenticeship, within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. Thanks to its reinforced version, the Youth Guarantee now covers a broader range of people, all young people 15 to 29, and it puts special emphasis on those “hardest-to-reach”. The reinforced Youth Guarantee provides tailored, individualised approaches: it aims at giving young people guidance, and helping them to find training courses if upskilling is necessary.Since its inception, the European Youth Guarantee has helped more than 24 million young people.The Youth Employment SupportThis Commission has also supported young people to access opportunities and develop their full potential, to shape the future of the EU and thrive in the clean and digital transitions.In July 2020, the Commission launched the Youth Employment Support, a set of actions aiming to provide a bridge to jobs for the next generation. At the heart of this initiative stands the reinforced Youth Guarantee. An ambitious action plan to make the European Pillar of Social Rights a reality In March 2021 we put forward an ambitious action plan to bring the principles of European Pillar of Social Rights to life through tangible actions. To measure progress, EU-level targets are now firmly in place to reach 78% of employment for people aged 20 to 64, ensure participation of 60% of adults in yearly training, and reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million. All this should be accomplished by 2030 and Member States have presented their own national targets. By 2030: 78% of peopleaged 20 to 64 will be employed60% of adultswill be participating in yearly trainingat least 15 millionfewer people will be at risk of poverty Moreover, at the end of January 2024, President von der Leyen and the Belgian Presidency of the Council hosted the Val Duchesse Social Partners Summit. There, EU institutions and social partners committed to strengthen social dialogue at EU level, and to join forces in addressing the key challenges our economies and labour markets are facing, such as labour and skills shortages. Securing fair work conditions for people in platform work Over 500 digital platforms are active in the EU offering work to over 28 million people and creating opportunities for businesses, workers, self-employed and consumers. But new ways of work also come with challenges, for instance in terms of access to labour rights and social protection, and the use of algorithms at work. Different rules across the EU also hinder platforms to expand their business across borders.Co-legislators are close to signing new common rules to improve the working conditions in platform work. The rules will require Member States to introduce a legal presumption of an employment relationship, making it easier to determine the employment status of persons working on platforms, and meaning that they can enjoy the labour rights and social benefits they deserve. Our proposal also provides additional protection on the use of algorithms in management and supports the sustainable growth of digital labour platforms. Ensuring adequate minimum wages across the EU In October 2020 we proposed rules on adequate minimum wages to ensure that work pays. Since November 2022 we have new rules that create a framework to improve the adequacy of minimum wages in countries with statutory minimum wages, establishing clear criteria for wage setting and updates. The rules also promote more collective bargaining and better enforcement and monitoring. Adequate minimum wages have a positive social and economic impact. They ensure fair competition for employers that pay decent wages and can also contribute to reducing the gender pay gap. Improving health and safety at work The Commission set out an EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027, which sets out key actions to improve workers' health and safety over the coming years. This includes managing the changes brought by the clean, digital and demographic transitions, improving prevention of workplace accidents and illnesses, and increasing preparedness for any potential future crises. Moreover, the framework promotes a “vision zero” approach to eliminate work-related deaths in the EU. We presented several proposals to limit the risks that workers face from the exposure to dangerous substances. Since March 2022, we have new rules limiting the exposure from carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances at work that now have to be transpose by Member States.In the same context, rules on the presence of asbestos at work entered into force in December 2023. Asbestos is a highly dangerous, cancer-causing substance that is still present in many of our buildings and is responsible for many avoidable deaths. The updated rules significantly reduce the limit value for exposure to asbestos at work to ten times lower than the previous exposure limit. This is part of the Commission's comprehensive approach to better protect people and the environment from asbestos and ensure an asbestos-free future. In addition, in February 2024, co-legislators adopted new rules to improve workers' protection from the health risks linked to the exposure to dangerous chemicals: lead and diisocyanates. In the case of lead, significantly reduced exposure limits will help prevent health issues of workers, for example affecting reproductive functions and foetal development. For diisocyanates, new exposure limits will prevent cases of occupational asthma and other respiratory diseases. Moreover, the Commission is also addressing mental health for everyone. We have set a starting point of a new comprehensive approach to mental health, which puts special emphasis on prevention, particularly for the most vulnerable, such as children, young people, and the elderly. Further principles of EU action will focus on affordable access to mental healthcare, and on reintegration to society after recovery. The plan includes 20 flagship initiatives and €1.23 billion in funding opportunities, involving areas such as education, awareness raising, justice, digitalisation, employment, research, urban development, environment, and climate. Supporting workers to develop the skills they need for quality jobs 65% of SMEs in Europe say they cannot find the talent that they need. To address this, in 2020, we presented the European Skills Agenda, with flagship actions focusing on skills for quality jobs. These include the Pact for Skills, in which the Commission brings together national authorities, social partners, businesses, education providers, and more, to coordinate training and investing in skills for workers. The more than 20 Large-Scale and Regional Skills Partnerships concluded in this framework so far have provided training to over 3.5 million workers.Furthermore, €65 billion in EU funding has been made available for Member States to invest in skills, notably through the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the European Social Fund Plus.To stress the importance of the matter, we made 2023 the European Year of Skills, putting the limelight on the development of the skills we need to keep our competitive edge. Empowering women to have their rightful place in society Women still do not have the same opportunities as men, and power and influence are still distributed unfairly. Women in the EU continue to earn on average 12.7% less per hour than men and remain underrepresented in leadership positions. This is as obvious as it is frustrating, and the Commission put in motion ground-breaking and pioneering work to change this blatant injustice. In November 2022 marked a historic moment when, a decade after the Commission’s proposal relating to women on boards, we adopted landmark rules to enhance gender balance on corporate boards, mandating that at least 40% of non-executive director positions in listed companies be occupied by the under-represented sex by 2026.There is not a single argument why for the same type of work a woman should be paid less than a man. Our new rules on pay transparency are ground-breaking. They will help to close the gender pay gap. There will be effective enforcement of the equal pay principle between women and men, and they will improve access to justice for victims of pay discrimination.There can be no true equality without freedom from violence. In May 2024, co-legislators fully adopted new rules that criminalise physical violence, as well as psychological, economic, and sexual violence against women across the EU, both offline and online. The new Directive also criminalises female genital mutilation and forced marriage.Another milestone took place on 1 October 2023, when the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention entered into force for the EU. The EU is now bound by ambitious and comprehensive standards to prevent and combat violence against women, including tools in the areas of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement, and with regards to its institutions and public administration. The Commission has been designated as the Union’s coordinating body with competencies to monitor and ensure implementation and fulfil the reporting obligations under the Convention.Moreover, this Commission has been committed to leading by example in terms of equality. This is the first Commission to reach gender parity among its members, and the President committed to reaching gender balance at all management levels by the end of this mandate. At the beginning of the mandate, the share of women was 36.6% at senior management level, 41.5% at middle management level and 40.5% in management functions overall. The progress has been remarkable and as of January 2024, the share of women is 47.0% at senior management level, 48.4% at middle management level and 48.1% in management functions overall.More about gender equality Empowering people to be who they are The Commission has laid the grounds to build a Union of Equality in which everyone is free of discrimination and can be who they are. We have put in place the first-ever anti-racism action plan in 2020 and the first ever EU strategy against antisemitism and on fostering Jewish life in 2021. The Commission has stepped up equality actions across all policies includingsecuritydigitaleducationculture and sportWe are also providing funding to protect places of worship and in the next months we will designate envoys against antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred, and anti-racism. These will build on the success of the Commission coordinators in the same areas.To reinforce this framework, in December 2021, the Commission proposed to extend the current list of ‘EU crimes’ set out in the Treaties to hate speech and hate crime. Anti-semitism strategyWe also set up working groups with Member States to follow implementation and share good practices. Under the anti-semitism strategy, Member States committed to adopt their own national strategies. And we stepped up engagement with civil society to find solutions together, for example through the annual EU Anti-racism Summit.LGBTIQ strategyThe Commission adopted first ever LGBTIQ strategy to safeguard lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people’s rights. In 2022, we also adopted a proposal aimed at harmonising at EU level the rules relating to parenthood. We believe it is fundamental to ensure that parenthood established in a Member State is recognised in all other Member States. If someone is a parent in one country, they are a parent in every country.A framework to support the RomaIn October 2020, we also adopted a framework to support Roma in the EU, providing guidance for Member States to speed up progress towards Roma equality, inclusion and participation in society. The measures proposed to Member States include support systems for Roma victims of discrimination, awareness raising campaigns in schools, and improving access to quality medical check-ups, and family planning for Roma women.Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilitiesIn March 2021, we adopted the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030. We want to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in Europe and around the world. For example, we have introduced the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities, which are in the final stage of adoption by the co-legislators. Achievements in other areas Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic together and building a Health UnionSolidarity with UkraineThe European Green DealRealising Europe's Digital DecadeInvesting in Europe's prosperityA stronger Europe in the worldManaging migration responsiblyStrengthening democracy and upholding the rule of lawManaging crises head-onA more secure EuropeA new way forward on EU-UK relations Documents 9 JULY 2024Building a fairer and more inclusive Union Related links An economy that works for peoplePriorities 2019-2024
The measures presented in the Demography Toolbox are structured around four pillarssupport parents by better reconciling family aspirations and paid work, notably by ensuring access to quality childcare and good work-life balancesupport and empower younger generations to thrive, develop their skills, facilitate their access to the labour market and to affordable housingempower older generations and sustaining their welfare, through reforms combined with appropriate labour market and workplace policieswhere necessary, addressing labour shortages through managed legal migration, in full complementarity to harnessing talents from within the EU
We presented several proposals to limit the risks that workers face from the exposure to dangerous substances. Since March 2022, we have new rules limiting the exposure from carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances at work that now have to be transpose by Member States.In the same context, rules on the presence of asbestos at work entered into force in December 2023. Asbestos is a highly dangerous, cancer-causing substance that is still present in many of our buildings and is responsible for many avoidable deaths. The updated rules significantly reduce the limit value for exposure to asbestos at work to ten times lower than the previous exposure limit. This is part of the Commission's comprehensive approach to better protect people and the environment from asbestos and ensure an asbestos-free future.
