THE EUROPEAN PILLAR OF SOCIAL RIGHTS: PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

This paper looks at the concept of the European pillar of social rights and focuses on its achievements, but also the associated challenges during the mandate of the European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker. The analysis starts with the presentation of the general context leading to the need to develop a social pillar of the European Union (EU). It continues with the description of the 20 principles defining the European pillar of social rights, and finally addresses the main area of action: gender equality and access to the labour market. The main conclusions derived by the authors emphasize that the European pillar of social rights can play an important role in addressing more effectively the complex problems facing the EU, and is a step forward to a better governance of social policies at Community level. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the statistical data provided by the Eurostat, as well as a qualitative analysis relying on EU documents in this field.

Keywords

• european union
• european pillar
• social rights
• social scoreboard
• gender equality
• labour market