Sittings · Document
Follow up to the European Parliament non-legislative resolution on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2025
Rapporteur: Maravillas ABADÍA JOVER (EPP / ES)
References: 2024/2084(INI) / A10-0023/2025 / P10_TA(2025)0032
Date of adoption of the resolution: 12 March 2025
Competent Parliamentary Committee: Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)
Brief analysis/ assessment of the resolution and requests made in it: The resolution presents the employment and social priorities of the European Parliament for the 2025 European Semester cycle in light of the current socio-economic challenges. The resolution stresses the importance of using the Social Scoreboard and the Social Convergence Framework to identify risks to, and to track progress in, reducing inequalities, strengthening social protection and promoting decent working conditions. The resolution underlines demographic challenges resulting in labour shortages, reiterating the importance of reinforcing the link between the education and training systems and the labour market needs. It emphasises the need to improve the situation of certain groups such as persons with disabilities, children, women, young people, older workers, Roma and persons with chronic diseases. The point is made on addressing housing affordability and fighting homelessness, as well as addressing coverage gaps in healthcare. In particular, the Parliament highlights the need to strengthen the social dimension of the European Semester, putting emphasis on poverty, social exclusion and equal rights for all, while emphasising the need for timely and harmonised data on social policies. The resolution notes that territorial and social cohesion are essential components of the competitiveness agenda. Furthermore, it calls for a number of legislative initiatives including on the right to disconnect, the creation of a European card for large families and a European action plan for single parents.
Response to the requests in the resolution and overview of the action taken, or intended to be taken, by the Commission:
Paragraphs 1, 4, 38, 39, 40, 50
The Joint Employment Report (JER) 2026 will continue to monitor the implementation of the Employment Guidelines as per Treaty mandate. Since the 2021 European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) Action Plan, the JER also includes “boxes” that provide more focus on Pillar principles that are particularly topical given the socio-economic context. The JER also provides, since its 2024 edition, the first-stage country analysis of risks to social convergence under the Social Convergence Framework (SCF), in line with the requirement in Regulation (EU) 2024/1263, which requires the annual surveillance by the Commission of the employment guidelines to include the progress in implementing the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and its headline targets, via the social scoreboard and a framework to identify risks to social convergence. In addition, monitoring progress towards the 2030 EU headline and national targets is covered in the JER since 2023. As regards the coverage of the Pillar Principles, the 2021 revision of the Social Scoreboard (as now used in the JER) was a substantial step forward to widen the monitoring of further dimensions.
As regards the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the JER has incorporated their analysis as many of them are used as headline indicators of the Social Scoreboard, which is at the core of the analysis of the JER. A devoted annual technical analysis is provided by Eurostat in its SDG Monitoring Report.
As regards the progress towards eliminating discrimination in line with related strategies, the JER provides analysis regarding gender employment, wage and pension gaps, as well as labour market gaps between persons with and without disabilities.
Pursuant to Article 148 TFEU, Member States are to regard their economic policies and promote employment as a matter of common concern (in line with Article 121(2) TFEU) and shall coordinate their action within the Council. To this end, on the basis of a Commission proposal, the Council adopts Employment Guidelines each year. Accordingly, the Guidelines provide the basis for the annual country-specific recommendations (CSRs) issued by the Council to the Member States in the employment and social domains, for which progress in implementation is assessed via the annual multilateral surveillance process in the Employment and Social Protection Committees. The Commission contributes to this process by providing its views on the state of implementation of the CSRs.
The Commission’s obligation to monitor the implementation of the national medium-term fiscal structural plans (required by Regulation (EU) 2024/1263) regarding social resilience, including the EPSR, will be fulfilled through the Semester country reports.
Paragraph 7
As announced in the Political Guidelines and the Commission Work Programme 2025, the Commission will present a Quality Jobs Roadmap by the end of 2025. The Roadmap will support Member States and industry in providing decent working conditions, high standards for health and safety, access to social protection and to training and ensuring fair job transitions, and collective bargaining. The Quality Jobs Roadmap will be prepared with the close involvement of social partners.
The Commission is looking at algorithmic management (AM) and artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace and will consider appropriate measures in consultation with the social partners.
Paragraph 8
The Commission published the first evaluation of the European Labour Authority (ELA) in May 2025. Since ELA is managing the EURES European Coordination Office, the effectiveness of EURES is also part of the overall assessment. The ELA evaluation, alongside the findings from the EURES most recent two biennial reports on EURES (2020-22, 2022-24), offer the Commission a robust evidence base for the future revision of the Authority’s mandate as part of the Fair Labour Mobility Package (2026). This comprehensive approach ensures that any changes made consider the role of the EURES platform in facilitating employment mobility across Europe, and its overall effectiveness and impact.
Paragraph 10
The EU is committed to creating a true Union of Equality, promoting and upholding the rights of persons with disabilities in the EU and beyond. The Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the main policy framework for EU level disability policies for the period 2021-2030, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Commission plans to prepare a progress report to take stock of the implementation of the Strategy so far and, if necessary, update its objectives and actions. The EU held a dialogue with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 11-12 March 2025, to review the implementation of the UN CRPD. The constructive dialogue is a clear milestone, which will help shape the work on disability under this Commission’s mandate. The Commission will reflect on the best way to address the Concluding Observations of the UNCRPD Committee and start working with the Member States and other relevant stakeholders to take on board their concerns. Through the European Semester process, Member States are also encouraged to address barriers to participation in the labour market as well as poverty and social exclusion affecting persons with disabilities. These are the tools to make progress in achieving the objectives of the Strategy in implementing the UNCRPD, but also contributing to the 2030 EU headline targets on employment, skills and poverty reduction.
Paragraphs 13, 14, 15, 16
Affordable housing is a priority for the Commission, as also shown by the designation of the first Commissioner responsible for Housing. In view of the upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan, an on-going mapping will be complemented by a large consultation of stakeholders to allow identifying bottlenecks that hold back housing construction and provision of affordable housing. In the context of the European Semester, housing policies, including the supply of housing and housing affordability, are already covered in the analysis (including in the Joint Employment Report) and in certain country-specific recommendations and will receive continued attention going forward. The Commission has proposed relevant country-specific recommendations in its 2025 Spring Package. The Commission also supports investment in housing, including investments for accessibility and adaptability of housing for older persons and for persons with disabilities, though several funding instruments, notably the RRF and the ERDF. In addition, to allow Member States and regions to double the planned cohesion policy investments in affordable housing, on 1 April 2025, the Commission put forward a legislative proposal to modernise cohesion policy, which, inter alia, provides for increased pre-financing and co-financing rates (30% and up to 100%, respectively) for investments promoting access to affordable housing that are introduced in the context of the mid-term review of the 2021-2027 programmes. With the InvestEU Sustainable Infrastructure and Social Investment and Skills windows, the budgetary guarantee is particularly effective in leveraging the EU budget to mobilise other funding, thanks to the intermediation of its implementing partners like the EIB group, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and various national promotional banks. To address homelessness, the ‘European Platform on Combatting Homelessness’ was launched in June 2021. The Platform supports Member States to design and implement national strategies based on a person-centred, housing-led and integrated approach. It does so through mutual learning activities, the improvement of statistical evidence and the promotion of funding possibilities, in particular concerning available EU instruments, through a dedicated working group co-chaired by the Commission and the CEB. Since the launch of the Platform, 14 Member States have adopted or renewed national homelessness strategies. The Commission will continue to support the work of the Platform and will further strengthen its impact by enhancing mainstreaming and by ensuring it feeds into the forthcoming EU Anti-poverty Strategy and the European Affordable Housing Plan. As regards State aid rules, the Commission plans to launch a Call for Evidence and a public consultation in due course to allow all relevant stakeholders to express their views on the plans of the Commission in this area, in particular as regards the review of the State aid rules for Services of General Economic Interest.
Paragraphs 17, 23, 41
Under the chapter dedicated to Social fairness in the modern economy of the Political Guidelines for the European Commission 2024−2029, President von der Leyen announced the adoption of a first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy as part of the Commission’s work to help people get access to the essential protections and services they need, along with addressing the root causes of poverty. As part of this, the Commission will strengthen the European Child Guarantee to prevent and fight social exclusion through education, healthcare and other essential public services, recognising the particular needs of vulnerable and at-risk children. The Commission also supports Member States via the EU Network for Children’s Rights, as related to the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee, to actively share good practices and evidence generated on models for integrated child protection services and to benefit from the wide variety of tools available at Union level.
Paragraph 18
Developing independent living and reinforcing community-based services is one of the priorities of the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030. Member States can draw support from EU funds in complement to their national resources for the gradual development of individualised services, the closure of long-stay residential institutions and making general services (e.g. education, health, housing) available and accessible to persons with disabilities. The Commission moreover published in 2024 Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community of persons with disabilities in the context of EU funding to illustrate how to apply in practice the approaches promoted in the regulations governing EU funds, including through concrete examples of types of investments that can be supported in an integrated manner to achieve independent living and inclusion in the community. The approaches reflected in the guidance are relevant and complement the objective of deinstitutionalisation reflected in other EU policy frameworks, such as the European Care Strategy. Through the European Semester process, Member States are encouraged to continue to develop the necessary community and family based services to support independent life and inclusion in the community for older persons and persons with disabilities, children in alternative care and other groups facing institutionalisation.
The European Care Strategy and the Council Recommendation on access to high-quality long-term care provide a framework for reforms and investments to improve care services, address workforce challenges, and support informal carers. In particular, the Recommendation’s call to continuously align the offer of long-term care services to long-term care needs, including by developing and/or improving home care, community, and family-based care, has been matched by numerous policy reforms at Member States’ level, as illustrated by the recent national implementation plans. The Commission supports the implementation of the Recommendation through mutual learning and with EU funds, notably the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Reforms and investments under the recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) aim at strengthening long-term care systems and promoting a change in the model of support and long-term care to move away from institutional care, increasing human resources and infrastructure capacity for the provision of long-term care services, training, reskilling and upskilling of long-term care professionals. The total expenditure on long-term care-related measures amounts to approximately EUR 8 billion. The ESF+ supports activities that promote active and healthy ageing, enhance family and community-based care services and improve the accessibility, effectiveness and resilience of healthcare systems. Focusing on long-term care, 22 Member States have programmed ESF+ resources to support health and long-term care sectors and services – reaching a total of EUR 6.7 billion during the 2021 - 27 programming period.
Paragraphs 19, 20
Addressing the impact of social media and excessive screentime on wellbeing is a priority for the Commission. To address this, the Commission will carry out an EU-wide inquiry on the broader impacts of social media and wellbeing. Before proposing any major action at the EU level, it will be important to obtain the outcomes of the EU-wide inquiry and to have an evidence-based discussion. Protecting the mental health of children and young people is a key element in the Commission’s 2024 Recommendation on integrated child protection systems and the EU’s comprehensive approach to mental health adopted in 2023. The initiative has 20 flagship initiatives and identified almost EUR 1.3 billion in funding opportunities from various EU funding programmes. The comprehensive approach was developed with Member States and stakeholders, strongly involving areas such as education, justice, digitalisation, employment, research, urban development, environment and climate. All flagships are being implemented or completed.
In relation to children and young people, the flagships include:
UNICEF with EUR 2 million is developing a prevention toolkit on mental and physical health of children and adolescents, including a focus on the impact of social media on their mental and physical health.
‘Healthy Screens, Healthy Youth’ flagship to improve child protection in the digital world.
A capacity-building project with EUR 11 million with the World Health Organization (WHO) provides tailor-made support to Member States to improve their mental health systems.
EU-PROMENS is a EUR 9 million multidisciplinary exchange and training programme for health and other professionals.
An EU support package to address stigma developed with Member States and stakeholders, for the World Mental Health Day 2024.
The EU Best Practices Portal on Public Health including a repository on best and promising practices on mental health with 29 new initiatives, which are publicly available for inspiration and transfer.
The Commission also supports Member States via joint actions on mental health. These include: (i) a three-year joint action that implemented best practices on mental health reforms (Belgium) and suicide prevention (Austria) finished in September 2024; (ii) a new Joint Action MENTOR started in September 2024 on a ‘mental health across policies’ approach, as well as the role of digital tools; (iii) preparation has begun for a third joint action on the mental health of vulnerable groups, with EUR 6 million in funding from the annual work plan 2024 of the EU4Health programme. While Member States are responsible for ensuring access to healthcare and defining the healthcare coverage, the Commission supports their efforts in improving access to healthcare. According to the commitment of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the Commission is working towards refining measures of access to healthcare. The on-going EU4Health project on affordability of healthcare, led by the WHO Barcelona office, has provided evidence on the impact of catastrophic spending on affordability of healthcare at household level. Another EU4Health action developed a model, which will provide complementary data, showing the impact of in-kind health benefits on poverty reduction. The Commission supports an EU4Health initiative, which will provide guidelines on access to healthcare for persons with disabilities. This project collected quantitative and qualitative indicators on barriers faced by persons with disabilities in accessing health services and developed a survey on access to cancer care. Finally, the European Semester is used to encourage efforts to address country-specific challenges in access to healthcare and Member States can use funds such as the RRF, Cohesion Policy Funds and the Technical Support Instrument to address these challenges.
The European Parliament funded the Joint Research Centre (JRC) pilot project on loneliness, which by now has been completed. Now the Commission is funding a Coordination and Support Action dedicated to loneliness under the current Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. This project Lonely-EU was launched in early 2025, and aims to identify, organise, and integrate publicly accessible datasets on loneliness and will therefore contribute to provide additional evidence on loneliness and effective interventions to tackle it.
Paragraph 24
Together with the Social Protection Committee, the Commission monitors the implementation of the European Child Guarantee (ECG) using the common monitoring framework, which was adopted in November 2023 and subsequently updated with recent data and additional indicators. The Commission is in constant contact with national Child Guarantee Coordinators, inviting them to regular meetings, which are an opportunity for mutual learning and allow for updates on progress with implementation. The biennial progress reports by the Member States, received in 2024 and due in 2026, will serve as a basis for the Commission report to the Council, which will summarise the achieved progress five years after the adoption of the ECG recommendation. The European Semester also monitors progress with ECG implementation.
Paragraph 29
The Commission supports Member States in the implementation of the 2019 Council recommendation on access to social protection, which also covers artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors. The European Commission monitors the situation and legislative and policy developments in the area of access to social protection in the European Semester, including in the Joint employment report (JER) and in country reports, proposing country-specific recommendation where appropriate. In line with the 2019 Council recommendation, a monitoring framework has been developed together with the Member States. It includes indicators that are used in the open method of coordination (OMC), including through the annual Social Protection Performance Monitor. The Commission is following up on the actions set out in its reply to the 2023 European Parliament resolution on a EU framework for the social and professional situation of artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors as well as the recommendations of the OMC Member States’ expert group. Among others, and with the involvement of Member States’ and social partners’ representatives, it analysed legislative gaps, organised mutual learning activities on social protection, gathered further evidence on undeclared work in this sector and further improved the EU-funded online information resource on artists’ working conditions. The Commission will organise a high-level round table with relevant stakeholders to determine the scope for further EU action.
Paragraph 30
Following the European Parliament’s 2021 Resolution on the right to disconnect, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, has been mandated to look into a possible introduction of a right to disconnect. The Commission is currently working on gathering evidence on the impact of an “always-on” work culture and possible implications of EU action in this area, including through the formal consultation of EU social partners, in line with the obligations under Article 154 of the Treaty.
Paragraph 34
On 12 February 2025, the European Commission released its work programme for 2025. Alongside the work programme, the Commission published a Communication on Implementation and Simplification. This Communication sets out how the Commission plans, over the next five years, to make implementation of EU rules easier in practice, and to reduce administrative burdens and simplify EU rules. It contains targets and tools to help lighten the regulatory load, boost competitiveness and resilience, and deliver fast and meaningful improvements for people and businesses. In particular, as part of this recommendation, the Commission announced that it will apply systematically reinforced SME and competitiveness checks to all envisaged legislation with foreseeable effects on companies, particularly on small businesses. The competitiveness check considers four key aspects: cost/price competitiveness, international competitiveness, capacity to innovate, and impacts on the competitiveness of SMEs. The first concrete implementation of the new approach to simplification was the publication on 26 February of two omnibus packages to make sustainability reporting more accessible and efficient; simplify due diligence to support responsible business practices; strengthen the carbon border adjustment mechanism for a fairer trade and unlock additional private investment opportunities by facilitating the continued deployment of InvestEU. The Commission will also shortly introduce an omnibus on small midcaps, to ensure proportionate regulation adapted to companies’ size. Beyond simplification, the Commission is also enhancing policy coordination to reinforce competitiveness across the EU. Focusing on EU competitiveness requires a set of commonly agreed funding priorities in the form of EU public goods and multi-country investment projects, to be defined through a strengthened policy steering mechanism. The new Competitiveness Coordination Tool (CCT) will complement the European Semester and both will form an integral part of the steering mechanism, ensuring that strategic competitiveness priorities are reflected in national reforms and investments while strengthening economic policy convergence among Member States.
Paragraph 35
The Commission remains committed to strengthening support for the social economy through the full implementation of the Social Economy Action Plan (2021), which sets out concrete actions to be implemented by 2030. In this context, the Commission is exploring ways to promote investment opportunities for the social economy, using EU funding instruments such as the European Social Fund Plus, InvestEU and Horizon Europe, as well as innovative financing approaches. As part of the mid-term review of the Action Plan, the Commission will assess progress in its implementation and identify areas for possible further action. This process will provide an opportunity to engage with the European Parliament, Member States and social economy stakeholders to reflect on achievements to date and to explore new ways to support the social economy. In addition, the Council Recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions (2023) encourages Member States to develop national strategies, improve legal and policy frameworks and facilitate access to finance for social economy entities. The Commission is actively supporting Member States in implementing these recommendations through technical assistance and mutual learning initiatives.
Paragraph 42
On 5 March 2025, the Commission presented its Automotive Action Plan to boost European automotive industry's global competitiveness. At the heart of this Action Plan is a commitment to ensuring a fair and socially equitable transition in the automotive sector, prioritizing high-quality jobs and supporting workers through the changes ahead. To better support workers affected by the transition, the Commission has proposed a targeted amendment to the Regulation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF), allowing support even before layoffs occur for workers threatened by immediate redundancy. The Action Plan underlines that social partners play a central role in anticipating and managing change and collective bargaining agreements can bring solutions to the employment and social consequences of the challenges that the automotive sector is facing. Moreover, the Commission has proposed a Regulation to include an additional flexibility as regards the calculation of manufacturers’ compliance with CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles for the calendar years 2025 to 2027 (COM(2025) 136 final). The Commission also proposed on 1 April 2025 to amend the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to broaden its scope and make it easier to mobilise support for workers. Under the proposed changes, Member States would gain more flexibility to redirect ESF+ funding towards skills development in strategic sectors, such as defence and clean industries. The new rules will make it easier for Member States to adjust their programmes and shift planned ESF+ resources towards these new priorities. In addition, the proposal also introduces specific financial support for regions bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, including increased pre-financing and the possibility for the EU to fully finance ESF+ projects in these areas, acknowledging the lasting social and economic impact of Russia's war of aggression.
Paragraph 43
The Commission plans to monitor the trends in restructuring and their impact on employment, using different data on announced employment reductions due to restructuring from the Eurofound European Restructuring Monitor and the upcoming EU Fair Transition Observatory. The primary aim of the EU Fair Transition Observatory will be to monitor and facilitate the implementation of fair transition policies across the EU, ensuring that the shift towards a climate-neutral economy is both equitable and inclusive. The Observatory will operate at all governance levels, engaging key stakeholders across various sectors, extending beyond traditionally coal-intensive regions. This initiative highlights the EU's dedication to balancing climate action with social fairness, ensuring that all citizens benefit from the transition.
Paragraph 44
The Commission regularly assesses the appropriateness of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure scoreboard, as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011. The Commission has informed the European Parliament and the Council of the envisaged changes to the indicators and thresholds and explained its reasons for suggesting such changes. There was broad support in both the European Parliament and the Council with the changes envisaged, although there were some calls for further revisions.