October 7, 2020

Since its inception, the European Semester has attracted interest in its effects on the EU’s social outcomes. Nevertheless, the Semester lacks a framework to monitor socio-economic inequalities within member states.

Together with FEPS, Kalevi Sorsa Foundation (FI), Fondazione Pietro Nenni (IT) and Progresiva (SI), we present the Policy Study “Inequalities in the European Semester” :

“As the European Semester will play a key role in the implementation of the National Recovery Plans, it becomes essential to push forward the revision process of this fundamental coordination tool and transform it into a useful instrument able to grasp the changes affecting vital aspects of our daily life: health, education and work.

The key recommendation of the Policy Study by Lorenza Antonucci and Francesco Corti is to start monitoring inequalities. Currently, there is a focus on absolute poverty and little information about the trends affecting the European middle class. The indices of the Semester must be upgraded; monitoring work precarity, households’ financial insecurities and access to key services like child and elderly care have to be part of the European toolkit for the coordination of the recovery” (FEPS Europe).

More materials

• The online presentation of the Study, featuring special guests and EU Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, is available in Youtube.
• An Opinion article by the authors on the topic is published in EURACTIV.
• This Infographic shows the key recommendations of the Publication.