The 2026 European Semester cycle is expected to be an important one not just for policy guidance but also for shaping the priorities for the investment of EU resources under the next long-term EU budget, expected to start in 2028.
The European Commission’s 2026 Autumn Package is once more grounded in the Competitiveness Compass (see our reaction & guide to the Compass). This risks taking the European social model for granted, rather than identifying it as a priority area.
In response to the Autumn Package, Social Platform, together with some of our members, highlighted specific concerns and made recommendations to the Social Protection Committee (SPC) and the Employment Committee (EMCO). Read them below.
Addressing human capital and skills shortages is in the focus this year
The European Commission put forward for the first time a draft Council Recommendation on Human Capital – to be agreed by ministers alongside the Autumn Package. The proposal aims to address skills shortages in strategic sectors and strengthen basic skills, vocational education and training for higher competitiveness.
Social Platform raised that whilst the need to improve the skills and training of workers, particularly facing the green and digital transitions are justified, there are concerns with the narrative, which unfortunately implies that people are mere economic factors. As the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) specifies, the ambition to “enable [people] to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market”. In this sense, we were missing equal dedication to EU policies that support and empower people throughout the lifecycle to meaningfully contribute to society and the economy.
Progress on the headline targets
The employment rate continues to rise across the EU. The headline target to reach employment of at least 78% of the population aged 20 to 64 by 2030 is where the EU is delivering best results (75.8% in 2024). However, the Joint Employment Report points out too that precarious employment situations and in-work poverty need to be addressed. Social Platform is looking forward to the Quality Jobs Act (and has issued this position on quality jobs; and this reaction to the Quality Jobs Roadmap, published by the Commission on 4 December 2025).
There has been progress towards the target on skills (39.5% in 2022), although the EU is unlikely to meet the target of at least 60% of all adults participating in training every year by 2030. Furthermore, as the Joint Employment Report identifies, educational inequalities are on the rise. Social Platform raised the need to invest in education systems throughout the lifecycle.
The headline target on poverty continues to show the worst results. A reduction of at least 15 million in the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion seems far away when the only development since 2019 has been a reduction of around 2.9 million. 1 in 5 people living in poverty, and 1 in 4 children in one of the richest parts of the world, is unacceptable. It cannot be expected that growth, labour market and skills policies will trickle down and change this result fundamentally. Social Platform emphasised that investment in people leads to a more resilient society and thriving economy.
Social Platform members are particularly concerned that a number of issues in the Autumn Package are addressed purely from the competitiveness perspective or entering the labour market and not from the perspective of inclusivity. Gender equality, non-discrimination, inclusion of ethnic minorities, the rights of people with disabilities and the ageing population, early childhood education and care, and migration policies, to name a few.
Links to the MFF
The links to the next Multiannual Financial Framework are becoming clearer. The National and Regional Partnership Plans under the next EU budget will clearly need to be in line with the country-specific recommendations Member States receive, in/as of the 2026 European Semester cycle.
Social Platform emphasised in this regard the need to ensure that it is not solely the Competitiveness Compass driving the content of the 2026 CSRs. Indeed, the European Pillar of Social Rights, as Europe’s ’Social Compass’ needs to be much more prominent in the design of both the CSRs and the NRPPs. To ensure that, the social scoreboard and the social dimension of country reports need to be weighed heavily in the CSRs; and the earmarking for social inclusion and poverty reduction reintroduced into the financial regulation. See here Social Platform’s concrete proposals for the next MFF.
Furthermore, the earliest possible publication of the EPSR Action Plan, the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and the Quality Jobs Act will help to strengthen these ties between policy guidance and funding.
The semester process and the role of civil society
The Social Convergence Framework is now fully part of the European Semester process, which has been a welcome progress. The Joint Employment Report gives a thorough overview of Member States’ progress on the Social Scoreboard indicators and identifies Member States in need of a second stage analysis.
The engagement of civil society still has room for improvement at the national level within the Semester process. Social Platform expressed its continued support for these efforts, and reminded of the recent publication of the EU Civil Society Strategy offering further guidance on the engagement of civil society in decision-making procedures.
