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Fernandes, S.  “2025: Reviving Jacques Delors’ Social Ambition”, Newsletter, Jacques Delors Institute, January 2025

As we step into 2025, we embark on a year rich in symbolism and challenges for the European Union. This year marks the centenary of Jacques Delors’ birth, whose legacy remains a valuable source of inspiration during a time of profound transitions and increasing uncertainties.

Forty years ago, Jacques Delors assumed office as President of the European Commission. One of his earliest major initiatives was the Val Duchesse summit, held on 31 January 1985, which brought together social partners to lay the foundations for structured social dialogue at the European level. This 40th anniversary of Val Duchesse should be an opportunity to renew a social ambition for the EU, in the spirit of Jacques Delors. The new European Social Dialogue Pact, expected later this month, must embody this ambition and reinvigorate European social dialogue to address today’s economic and social challenges.

The urgency to strengthen social justice and cohesion within the EU has never been more pressing. As political crises across Europe make already strong social tensions palpable, green, digital, and demographic transitions are profoundly transforming our societies, creating unprecedented opportunities but also the risk of increasing inequalities. These transformations disrupt existing jobs, create new ones, and extend increasingly fragmented professional careers. This brings about new risks and needs, such as lifelong learning. As early as the 1990s, Jacques Delors advocated for “a genuine right to lifelong learning” for all. As the Commission plans to propose a “Skills Union,” it is imperative that the EU and its Member States mobilise the necessary resources to bring this Delorian ambition to life.

In the coming months, the Commission will present a new action plan for implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. This plan will include initiatives such as a European anti-poverty strategy, a plan for affordable housing, measures for quality jobs, a roadmap for women’s rights, and the strengthening of cohesion policy to ensure a true “right to stay,” as outlined by Enrico Letta in his report on the future of the Single Market. These proposals align with Delors’ vision of a social Europe. However, to fully revive this ambition, simply implementing these projects will not be enough; social concerns must be integrated into all European policies, whether trade, industrial, or agricultural.

The negotiations on the EU’s 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework, beginning this year, will be decisive in translating this ambition into tangible means. An ambitious social policy is not only a moral imperative but also a lever to strengthen citizens’ attachment to the European project, in a context marked by the rise of populism. According to a 2024 Eurobarometer survey, nine out of ten Europeans consider a social Europe important to them personally. EU citizens expect the Union to concretely improve their living and working conditions; the EU must rise to these expectations.

Last December, we published two documents shedding light on Jacques Delors’ vision as well as on the current state and future prospects for a social Europe. In a speech at the Jacques Delors Agora, Pascal Lamy highlighted that at the core of Delors’ intellectual legacy lies the key notion of progress, which he associates with the continuous enhancement of human dignity, based on three inseparable dimensions: economic prosperity, social progress, and environmental sustainability. Simultaneously, Philippe Pochet, in his latest policy paper, proposes a socio-ecological agenda for a renewed social policy. To delve deeper into policies and funding for a prosperous Europe, you can watch the replay of the Institute’s Annual Conference held last December on this topic.

As the Commission prepares to present its Clean Industrial Deal, I invite you to listen to the latest episode of the Re-thinking Europe podcast from Europe Jacques Delors, analysing the needs and expectations of European industry in the face of the green transition and exploring the role of trade policy in ensuring the EU’s industrial competitiveness. The future of the European Green Deal will also be at the heart of the Institute’s next conference, organised in partnership with La Macif on January 27.

This year also inevitably begins with the inauguration of President Donald Trump. His return raises major economic and political challenges for the EU. A unilateral and aggressive U.S. trade policy could divide Member States and weaken European interests. The Jacques Delors Centre in Berlin has published an analysis by Arthur Leichthammer and Elvire Fabry on the tools available to the EU to respond to this threat, while calling for structural diversification of European trade relationships. Furthermore, the risk of U.S. disengagement from NATO underscores the need for greater European defence autonomy. Bertrand de Cordoue offers, in an infographic, an overview of the European defence industry. Finally, Lukas Macek, Sébastien Maillard, and Pierre Mirel propose in their latest publication a 2030 agenda for enlargement, based on the idea of a gradual integration for candidate countries.

The best tribute we can pay to Jacques Delors in this centenary year of his birth is to continue advancing his vision and thought, particularly for a fairer and more united Europe. Let us hope this vision becomes a reality for future generations.

Best wishes to all for 2025!

Sofia Fernandes

Deputy director of the  Jacques Delors Institute