The European Commission requests views on the new European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan

The European Commission has launched a public consultation and call for evidence to gather stakeholder views on the implementation and impact of the 2021 Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights, as well as on the objectives and content of the new Action Plan, which will be published by the end of 2025. This consultation provides an opportunity to exchange views on the contribution of current measures to improving the situation of Roma people and to present proposals for the future plan.

The European Pillar of Social Rights (the “Pillar”), the first set of social rights proclaimed by the EU institutions since the Charter of Fundamental Rights, was considered the EU’s model for a fairer and more inclusive social Europe that protects its citizens and contributes to improving living and working conditions. This is a comprehensive initiative that includes 20 social policy principles and a Social Scoreboard of 14 indicators, which aims to support the proper functioning and equity of labor markets and welfare systems, focusing on better integration and addressing social concerns. The first Social Pillar Action Plan, adopted in 2021, helped translate the Pillar’s principles into concrete actions by proposing 75 actions that the Commission committed to taking during the last mandate to implement the Pillar and establishing three headline EU targets for 2030 on employment, skills, and poverty reduction.

Four years after the launch of the 2021 Action Plan, the socioeconomic, employment, demographic, and geopolitical context has changed significantly. In this context, President von der Leyen announced in her Political Guidelines for 2024-2029 the adoption of a new Pillar Action Plan, to be presented by the end of 2025, to provide renewed impetus in areas where progress is needed and to frame the EU’s efforts to realize the Pillar principles across the Union.

In this rapidly evolving context, and building on the achievements of the 2021 Action Plan, the new Plan will aim to reflect the most relevant challenges and opportunities presented in this rapidly evolving context, as well as key policy priorities on competitiveness, the digital and green transition, and preparedness, which have a clear citizen dimension.

In this context, the European Commission is seeking stakeholder feedback to refine this initiative through two modalities:

A call for evidence, aimed at understanding the problem to be addressed and the objectives to be achieved, and explaining why EU action is needed.
A public consultation, based on a specific questionnaire.

How to participate?

You can contribute by accessing the public consultation questionnaire and the call for evidence form (you need an EU login). The questionnaires are available in some or all official EU languages. You can submit your responses in any official EU language.

For transparency reasons, organizations and companies participating in the public consultations are asked to register in the EU Transparency Register.

Consultation period

The consultation will be open until September 10, 2025 (midnight, Brussels time).