What changed

4. Recalls Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s commitment made in 2019 to ensuring that every child in Europe at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights, such as healthcare and education, which was followed by the adoption of Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee; stresses that the objectives of the European Child Guarantee cannot be achieved without an ambitious dedicated budget at both EU and national level; reiterates, in this context, its call for a substantial dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee; underlines the urgent need for this dedicated budget to be allocated in the next multiannual financial framework in order to respond to the growing challenge of child poverty and social exclusion;

5.6. Reiterates its call for an increase in the funding of the European Child Guarantee, with a dedicated budget of at least EURsubstantial 20dedicated billion,budget, and for Member States to earmark at least 5 % of their allocated ESF+ funds to fighting child poverty and promoting children’s well-being, with at least 10 % earmarked for Member States with child poverty levels exceeding the EU average;

8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, within the framework of the European Semester, to promote high-quality and fairly remunerated traineeships and to prevent their misuse as a substitute for regular employment; calls for the forthcoming directive on improving trainees’ working conditions to be ambitious and comprehensive, ensuring the full protection of trainees’ rights, including the possibility of terminating the traineeship without prejudice in the event of a breach of fundamental rights, and calls for the swift conclusion of negotiations;

9. Calls for an EU directive on a framework for minimum income schemes, with the purpose of safeguarding the right to a decent life and ensuring that every person in need in the EU is covered by a minimum income scheme; recalls that such a directive, in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, would address gaps in the EU social acquis by contributing to the goals of reducing poverty while fostering the active integration of people who are absent from the labour market;

17.18. Emphasises that the Commission’s affordable housing plan should be integrated better into the European Semester, with a stronger focus in country-specific recommendations on affordable, decent and sustainable housing, in particular for low and middle income groups, as well as for persons with disabilities and older persons; calls for strengthened monitoring of Member States’ progress in ensuring access to adequate, safe and non-segregated housing for Roma communities experiencing extreme poverty; reminds the signatories to the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness about the goal to eradicate homelessness by 2030; calls on Member States to combine measures that increase supply, lower building costs and address labour shortages in the construction and housing sector with demand-side support that enables people, in particular households in vulnerable situations, to access affordable, decent and sustainable housing; stresses that national medium-term fiscal-structural plans and investment strategies should support social and affordable housing, the prevention and reduction of homelessness and building retrofits to reduce energy poverty and improve housing conditions, in particular for vulnerable households; recalls that the Social Climate Fund will provide funding to Member States from 2026 to support vulnerable households and micro-enterprises, and stresses the importance of monitoring its use during this cycle of the European Semester; calls for measures to combat speculation and regulate short-term rentals in areas under housing stress;micro-enterprises;