1 EuVisions Special Briefing #1/2017 (30 January 2017) The European Parliament’s Contribution to the European Pillar of Social Rights Francesco Corti (University of Milan) Michelangelo Vercesi (University of Milan) Patrik Vesan (University of Aosta Valley) On 19 January 2017, a majority in the European Parliament (EP) voted in support of a broad report on the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), one of the top priority initiatives of the European Commission (EC). The EC had presented a preliminary outline of the Pillar on 8 March 2016. Along with this document, the Commission launched an open consultation, which ended in December 2016. It is expected that the Commission will come forward with a concrete EPSR proposal in the spring of 2017. The Pillar is built around three main headings: 1) equal opportunities and access to the labour market; 2) fair working conditions; 3) adequate and sustainable social protection. The preliminary draft has taken the form of an inventory of social rights, divided into 20 issues. According to the Commission, the Pillar should address gaps in existing legislation and identify common principles directed, over time, toward an upward convergence of social standards within the euro area. Given its ambitious goals, it is no surprise that this initiative has attracted attention from institutional actors and the civil society. Among the former, the European Parliament has played a special role in the debate, especially due to the actions of the Socialists & Democrats parliamentary group. The debate in the European Parliament While launching the consultation on the EPSR on 8 March 2016, the EC expressed its wish to bring the European Parliament into the discussion. The EP immediately welcomed the initiative. The committee in charge of writing the report on the Pillar was the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL), which appointed Ms. Maria Joao Rodrigues as rapporteur. Ms. Rodrigues, the vice-president of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, immediately highlighted the importance of this report, in the context of the ongoing EU crisis and in light of the presentation of the White Paper of the European Commission on the future of the EU in March 2017. The rapporteur pushed for a tight schedule. The draft report was presented on 9 September 2016. The deadline for tabling amendments was scheduled on October 10, the vote in EMPL Committee on December 8 and that in Plenary on January 19. According to Ms. Rodrigues, only by respecting this schedule could the EP become a central actor in the European debate on the Pillar. The content of the EP’s report is very rich. Among its policy propositions, it is worth noting the call for a proposal for a framework directive on decent working conditions in all forms of employment, extending existing minimum standards to the various non-standard forms of work. Such a framework directive should inter alia clarify the employment status and rights of online platform workers, ensure that open-market internships are paid, and ban zero-hour contracts. Moreover, the report recommends improving the portability of social rights acquired in different activities, by enabling all people in all employment forms to accumulate entitlements which should be easy to check via a personal activity account (following the example of the recently introduced “compte personnel d’activité” in France). The EP also highlighted the importance of an adequate income for maintaining human dignity as well as the role of social investment approach. In particular, it suggests adopting concrete steps towards a Child Guarantee in all Member States ensuring that every child now living at risk of poverty has access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and proper nutrition. Special attention is also paid to the need for legislation on career’s leave