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Where we come from

Where we come from

Mission

Enhance social protection for all through the implementation of the EPSR. This is a crucial mission, considering that over the past years social protection systems have been put under pressure – among labour market changes and crises – and problems and gaps of various nature emerged, mainly in their adequacy and coverage.

In this scenario, the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) proposes an integrated and coherent approach to social protection rights linked to the substantial fulfilment of equal opportunities, quality jobs and fair working conditions. In particular, the Council Recommendation on Access to social protection for workers and the self-employed (the Recommendation) aims at supporting all self-employed and non-standard workers who, who are not sufficiently protected due to their type of contract or labour market status. However, achieving equal, effective and adequate access to social protection can only be addressed also in the framework of the European Economic Governance (EEG). The EPSR highlights the challenge of rebalancing the social and the economic priorities in the EEG framework.

In this context, the HLG Report on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State in the EU is of particular importance. It provides a set of evidence-based Recommendations concerning a series of comprehensive public policy interventions that allow both the fair social and the fiscal sustainability of enhanced welfare systems.

Actions

  • Enhance EU level social protection policies
  • Investigate national realities
  • Measure and evaluate EU level policies on the national level in a TU view
  • Conveying TU inputs to the rights- and needs-based modernisation of pension, health and long-term care systems
  • Providing high level inputs to the economic and fiscal governance demands for reforms enhancing “dignity of ageing” in social protection
  • Promoting of the HLG Report on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State in the EU, monitoring and assessing its implementation

Sociall 1

The SociAll project was first launched in 2019 to unveil and contrast incoherencies and imbalances between a restrictive approach adopted towards pension policy and the needs of effectiveness and adequacy of pensions of an increasingly ageing population. The projects aimed at empowering Trade Unions to actively participate – both at the national and EU level – in the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Access to social protection for workers and the self-employed in the field of pensions, establishing pension systems that are highly inclusive, fair, solidarity-based, adequate, effective and sustainable.

ETUC Resolution

  • ETUC position – The ETUC response to the High-Level Group report on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State 2023 (EN – FR) 
  • ETUC Resolution adopted: European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the Future of Social Protection 2022 (EN)
  • ETUC position on the Assessment of the Action Plan implementing the EPSR + Roadmap to the EU Social Summit in Porto 2021 (EN)
  • ETUC Priorities for the Action Plan implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights 2021 (EN)
  • ETUC position: An EU Economic and Social Governance for a prompt, strong and sustained recovery 2020 (EN)
  • ETUC on European Economic Governance (EN)
  • A Trade Union input for an Action Plan to Implement the European Pillar of Social Rights 2019 (EN)
  • Resolution on ETUC Action on Access to Social Protection 2019 (EN– FR)
  • Position on Proposal for a Council Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the Self-employed 2018 (EN – FR)
  • Position on second-stage consultation on possible action addressing the challenges to access to social protection 2017 (EN – FR)
  • Position on first-stage consultation on possible action addressing the challenges to access to social protection 2017 (EN – FR)
  • Resolution on ETUC Action programme for Welfare and Social Protection 2016 (EN – DE)