Blog Articles

A lot has been happening lately with the European Semester, the EU’s main social governance tool that coordinates Member States’ economic and social policies and reforms. Here’s a handy update to recap!

European Commission sets out plans for 2022

At the end of November the European Commission published the highly anticipated 2022 Autumn Package, which sets out priorities and guidelines for the following year. Together with some of our members, last week we were invited to give our view of the social implications of the Autumn Package to the Social Protection Committee (SPC) and the Employment Committee (EMCO). So, what does the Semester have in store for Social Europe?

1. A lot of the social reforms that are put forward in the Autumn Package are framed as a means to achieve the much-needed transitions to green and digital economies, rather than treating improving people’s education, living conditions and wellbeing as legitimate objectives of their own. Instead, we need a triple green, digital and social transition, with each three areas given the same importance. Social rights should never be an add-on or by-product of other policies.
2. The Autumn Package refers to the importance of the social dimension of the EU’s activities. This could be made much stronger by more closely aligning the priorities of the Semester with other social-focused processes. Including the European Pillar of Social Rights and its Action Plan, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
3. The ongoing social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that investment in areas that improve people’s wellbeing is crucial for healthy and resilient societies. This is why we want the EU to do more to promote social investment when it reviews its fiscal rules. Austerity isn’t an option.

Social Platform leads the charge for a ‘social’ European Semester

Our meeting with the SPC and EMCO also gave us the opportunity to present our recently published guidance documents on the Semester: one targeting the EU institutions and one for Member States. We’ll be using these papers in our ongoing work on social governance that put people at the centre of policies, and we encourage civil society organisations at national level use them when in dialogue with their national ministries to try and create positive change towards a better, more structured, and more meaningful involvement of civil society in the decision-making process. Their involvement and expertise helps to make sure that policies reflect the lived realities of people on the ground.