Wednesday’s State of the EU address from President von der Leyen once again set out her vision for a Europe that is stronger, more competitive and more resilient in a changing world.
For Social Platform, a strong and resilient Europe is also a more social Europe.
A summit for the Social Pillar
We welcome the announcement of a summit on the European Pillar of Social Rights in 2027, marking ten years since its proclamation. This is an important opportunity to reaffirm the Pillar as the social compass for EU policymaking.
We hope the summit will not merely “uphold the enduring principles” of the European Pillar of Social Rights, but lead to a renewed and ambitious Action Plan, with clear commitments, timelines and resources. It should also build on the three Porto headline targets and introduce a fourth headline target on quality jobs, reflecting the need to make decent work and good working conditions a central part of Europe’s social model. This is the moment for political commitment to build social Europe, as the 2026 Communication on the European Pillar of Social Rights failed to set clear actions for how to reach the targets.
Care Deal, affordable housing and quality jobs
We welcome references to the upcoming European Care Deal. Quality, accessible and affordable care is essential for people throughout their lives and for a society that works for everyone.
We also welcome the focus on affordable housing. As the President rightly pointed out, housing is a right, not a privilege, and housing exclusion is a major driver of poverty and social exclusion across Europe. EU action should support investment in social and affordable housing and help prevent and tackle homelessness.
The Quality Jobs Act will be delivered before the end of 2026, which, in our view should ensure that the digital and green transitions create quality jobs, protect workers’ rights and strengthen social dialogue.
Missed opportunity to be ambitious about addressing poverty
Although the right to stay was mentioned with the aim to tackle regional inequalities, it is regrettable that the President did not refer in her speech to the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy launched earlier this year. The Strategy is an important step, but its adoption was only the beginning.
There is still ample work to be done to address poverty and social exclusion. Challenges in Europe persist with regard to income inequalities, access to essential services, housing exclusion, and the social exclusion of groups in vulnerable situation. Ensuring that holistic strategies are in place to prevent and tackle poverty and social exclusion throughout the life cycle is necessary in every Member State, coupled with ambitious actions.
The EU and Member States need to support the strategy with adequate resources from public budgets, including the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
A stronger EU budget must invest in people
We welcome the President’s recognition that the next EU budget will require new own resources. A stronger EU budget is essential if Europe is to meet the scale of the challenges it faces.
But new resources must be matched by strong social investment. As negotiations on the 2028-2034 long-term EU budget continue, we call for its social dimension to be strengthened, with sufficient funding for the European Social Fund.
People must be at the centre of the transitions
President von der Leyen recognised that the benefits and risks of AI are unevenly distributed across skills, generations and regions, and stressed the need for AI to improve the quality of jobs and give workers a fair chance. This is welcome.
But the same principle must apply across the wider digital and climate transitions. People are experiencing changes to their jobs, incomes, homes, communities and access to services. They need protection, participation and investment so that these transitions improve their lives rather than deepen existing inequalities. Regrettably, fair and just transition policies have disappeared from the President’s agenda this year.
We are furthermore concerned that the strong focus on deregulation, simplification and businesses does not necessarily put people’s rights and wellbeing at the heart of Europe’s economic agenda. Reducing regulatory burdens for companies must not come at the expense of social standards, workers’ rights, equality, or environmental protection.
At one of the darkest moments of her speech, the President mentioned that we are living in times when social rights as well as our fundamental values are being challenged. Against the backdrop of the warnings about geopolitical tensions, looming economic and trade strains, and the digital and climate transitions which are already reshaping lives, it is key that people’s rights and livelihoods are central to the EU’s response to the challenges ahead. In our view, the EU must strictly honour these words of President von der Leyen: “in Europe, people will always come first”.
