THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION REPORT. Europe in a period of transition

SOCIAL EUROPE IN ACTION: A NEW IMPORTANCE IN THE PANDEMIC AFTER A LOST DECADE 79 while at the same time supporting structural, ecological and social goals. Rather than focusing on one-size-fits- all targets of budgetary stability, the allocation criteria for the financial resources enable Member States to measure structural and economic disadvantages using a multi-layered set of indicators via the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The pandemic has also exposed risks and deficits that highlight the need for greater social commitment on the part of the EU. The Commission cleverly seeks to incor- porate this requirement – at least verbally – into crisis support and imminent transition processes.Whether the definition of new, soft targets in the action plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights is sufficient to avert austerity policies in the long term (Rainone and Aloisi, 2021) and to lend more weight to social objectives rather than budgetary requirements, will not least be evident from the future shape of the Stability and Growth Pact, which was put on hold until the end of 2021 as a result of the crisis. Bibliography European Commission: Employment and Social Develo- pments in Europe 2020. Leaving no one behind and striving for more: Fairness and solidarity in the Euro- pean social market economy , September 2020. European Commission: Employment and Social develop- ments in Europe , Quarterly review, March 2021. European Commission: European Economic Forecast. Summer 2021, European Economy, Institutional pa- pers 156, July 2021. European Commission: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union , COM(2020) 682 final, Brussels, 28.10.2020. European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan , 2021. European Council: The Porto declaration , Press Release, 08.05.2021. European Parliament: MEPs approve new Social Fund to support young people and the most deprived , Press release, 08.06.2021. Hacker, B.: A European Social Semester? The European Pillar of Social Rights in practice , etui Working Paper, May 2019. Herzog-Stein, A.; Nüß, P.; Stein, U. and Albu, N.: Arbeits- und Lohnstückkostenentwicklung. Ein gespaltenes Jahrzehnt geht zu Ende – enorme Herausforderungen warten , IMK Report 158, June 2020. Rainoni, S. and Aloisi, A.: Time to deliver? Assessing the Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights, ETUI Policy Brief, 08.06.2021. Schulten, T., Müller, T. and Eldring, L.: Prospects and obs- tacles of a European minimum wage policy, in: van Gyeas, G. and Schulten, T. (eds.): Wage bargaining under the new European Economic Governance. Al- ternative strategies for inclusive growth , etui, Brussels, 2015.