Social Targets agreed at Porto Social Summit

Article published in Voice of the Workers Weekly

On May 7 and 8, EU leaders, European institutions, social partners and civil society representatives met in Porto, Portugal to reinforce their commitment to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

During the first day of the Social Summit, a joint declaration was signed to transform the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan to set in motion a strong, fair and job-rich recovery and build a more inclusive, more social Europe.

In the joint commitment, signatories agreed on the following three headline targets for employment, skills and social inclusion at EU-level to be achieved by 2030:

1. At least 78% of people aged 20 to 64 should be in employment;
2. At least 60% 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.

The Porto declaration calls for efforts on the recovery of employment and quality job creation, on investments into lifelong learning for people to acquire new or additional skills to succeed in the green and digital transitions, and on reducing poverty and social exclusion.