Blog Articles

As representative civil society organisations and social service providers we know of the stories, lived experiences and needs of people on the ground. We are there to step in and fill gaps left by the state by providing essential and social services to people, and we give voices and power back to people who are traditionally underrepresented in decision-making. Involving us in discussions about future welfare state and social protection reforms is more important than ever in light of the many challenges Europe is facing at the moment: poverty, inequalities, the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the green and digital twin transition, demographic change, and of course the devastating and ongoing war in Ukraine to name just a few.

EU zooms in on the welfare state

At the end of 2021, the European Commission launched a new High-Level Group on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State in the EU. The High-Level Group is tasked with studying welfare states, their financing and interconnections with the changing world of work. At the end of 2022 it will publish a report with their recommendations on welfare state reforms, which will influence future initiatives of the European Commission in the field of social and employment policy. More information on the High-Level Group can be found here.

This is why on 17 March, Social Platform – together with Social Services Europe – brought together civil society organisations and social service providers to discuss and bring forward our key recommendations vis-a-vis welfare state and social protection reforms.

Making the welfare state fit for purpose

Three key solutions were put forward by the participants of the workshop to reform the welfare state. Firstly, there was agreement that because of our first-hand knowledge of the situation on the ground, civil society organisations, social service providers and the people they benefit need to be involved in all stages of policy-making and discussions on reforming welfare states and social protection systems. Secondly, more needs to be done to guarantee a decent life for all. In practice, this means that people in employment need to earn a decent wage and have fair working conditions; people outside the labour market need to be able to rely on accessible and empowering minimum income schemes that allow them to live a life free of poverty and exclusion. Finally, affordable, accessible social services need to be available for all people. There also is a strong need to improve the recognition of those working in services and the resilience of social service providers.

The full recommendations to policy-makers will be published soon, which we will share here!