Making Social Europe a Reality for European Citizens

Other document

On 26 April 2017, the European Commission published its proposal for a “European pillar of social rights” and presented a reflection paper on the social dimension of Europe. It is now time to move on from good intentions to concrete actions.

| 30/05/2017

| Sofia Fernandes | Frank Vandenbroucke |

| Labour and social affairs

On 26 April 2017, the European Commission published its proposal for a “European pillar of social rights” and presented a reflection paper on the social dimension of Europe. In the “Rome Declaration”, EU leaders have pledged to work towards a social Europe; the debate, which should involve the social partners, should focus on identifying the priority actions that will make social Europe visible for European citizens. Sofia Fernandes, senior research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute, and Frank Vandenbroucke, adviser at the Jacques Delors Institute, propose three such actions:

fair mobility, which means that freedom of movement is facilitated whilst ensuring fairness;
promoting convergence in social standards and performances;
and making investment in human capital one of social Europe’s leitmotifs.