The Employment Ministers discussed and reviewed progress towards the Porto Summit social targets – where all EU leaders and partners agreed that it was time to deliver on a strong social Europe - and confirmed their strong commitment to making Europe fair, inclusive and full of opportunities.

The European Pillar of Social Rights sets out 20 key principles and rights essential for fair and well-functioning labour markets and social protection systems and the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan declines those principles into concrete actions, proposing headline targets for the EU to reach by 2030:

1. At least 78 percent of people aged 20 to 64 should be in employment.
2. At least 60 percent of all adults should participate in training every year.
3. The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion should be reduced by at least 15 million, including at least 5 million children, compared to 2019.

The European Parliament emphasises that progress towards a sustainable, fair and inclusive social Europe requires a strong shared commitment, both to the advancement of the UN 2030 Agenda and to the implementation and materialisation of the principles and rights contained in the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Following an intensive consultation at various levels since autumn 2021 with key social actors (national parliaments, social partners, non-governmental organisations, local authorities, or academia), bilateral meetings with the Commission, and multilateral meetings within the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee, all Member States have now submitted proposals for their national targets to contribute or even exceed those EU targets:

The Commission welcomed the proposals and will closely monitor their implementation, calling on the European institutions, national parliaments, social partners and civil society to organise regular joint political debates to take stock of progress towards a strong Social Europe by 2030.