The long-awaited social fairness package published by the European Commission today falls short of what was promised in several key respects, the Party of European Socialists warns.

 

The PES welcomes the fact that social concerns are back on the agenda -- and especially the proposal on the European Labour Authority, although this requires further scrutiny.

But it is highly regrettable that concrete legislative proposals on access to social protection and a social security number are not part of the package.

 

PES president Sergei Stanishev said:

 

"This is not the 'social triple-A' promised by President Juncker, nor what was guaranteed by the European pillar of social rights that all EU governments proclaimed last year.

"It is crucial that principles proclaimed in the pillar of social rights are turned into reality, as we set out in our Social Action Plan."

 

 

• All 28 EU member states are represented by their progressive parties at the PES, which brings together 34 socialist, social democratic, labour and democratic parties as full members. Together with 13 associate parties and 12 observer parties from outside the EU, we fight for a better and more progressive Europe.
• The current president of the PES is Sergei Stanishev.
• The Socialists & Democrats Group is the parliamentary group of the PES.