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Social policy made a timid comeback on the
EU agenda in 2016. In a Union in which it is in-
creasingly difficult to detect any signs of change
or reform and even fewer of deepening, the
European Commission has pulled this issue off
the back burner in an attempt to make good on
at least some of the commitments announced
at the beginning of the Juncker mandate.
It is too soon to determine whether this ini-
tiative represents an intention to pursue this is-
sue vigorously or merely the technical fulfilment
of a vaguely articulated promise that must be
addressed before the end of the five-year tenure
of the Juncker Commission, which has now
passed its halfway mark. Social policy is inevita-
bly mentioned in every EU road map given its
key importance to the European way of life:
notwithstanding periodic dips caused by auster-
ity measures such as those enforced in the wake
of the recent economic crisis, EU social expend-
iture normally accounts for 30 % of European
GDP and 50 % of global social expenditure.
Actually, devoting the political capacity and will
required to achieve new social objectives is
however a completely different matter.
The construction of a European pillar of
social rights
Early this year the European Commission com-
pleted a long round of extended discussions
and consultations with member states, social
partners, civil society organisations and citizens
focused on the role and content of the future
European Pillar of Social Rights, for which a for-
mal proposal is expected to be presented in
March. Looking ahead, the Commission and the
Swedish government will also be co-hosting the
Social Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth, a high-
level meeting on the same topic to be held in
Gothenburg, Sweden on 17 November 2017.
More than 16,000 views and comments
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A modest resurgence
of social policy in a Europe
threatened by persistent
poverty and inequality
Juan Moscoso del Prado Hernández