- 2026-08-07 “Seventy years ago, on 8 August 1956, 262 workers of 12 nationalities, many of which from Italy, died in a fire at the Bois du Cazier coal mine in Marcinelle, Belgium. Most had come to Belgium in search of work and a better future. They never returned home.
Everyone who goes to work should return home safely. That is the most fundamental commitment we owe to workers. It has not changed since the Marcinelle accident, and neither has our responsibility to uphold it.
That is why, following calls from the European Parliament and several Member States, we have proposed to establish an annual European Day in Remembrance of the Victims of Accidents at Work. It will be observed annually on 8 August.
This will not be a day devoted only to commemorating those that lost their lives in the Marcinelle disaster and other tragic occupational accidents. It will be a yearly opportunity to renew Europe's commitment to prevention and reaffirm our ambition to eliminate work-related accidents and deaths, in every sector and in every Member State.
Despite progress made to reduce fatalities at work, every year in the European Union, more than 3,000 workers lose their lives in accidents at work, and over 170,000 are estimated to die from work-related illness. Safe and healthy working conditions are a primary concern. They are enshrined in the Treaty of the EU as well as in the European Pillar of Social Rights, and are central to what a fair, competitive and social Europe must deliver.
The EU strategic framework (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021DC0323&qid=1626089672913#PP1Contents) identifies key challenges and strategic objectives for health and safety at work and presents actions and instruments to address these in the coming years. It focuses on anticipating and managing change in the new world of work ensuring safe and healthy workplaces during the digital, green and demographic transitions. The strategic framework also promotes a ‘vision zero' approach to eliminate work-related deaths in the EU and prioritizes the update of EU rules on hazardous chemicals to combat cancer, reproductive, and respiratory diseases. Furthermore, attention is given to strengthening preparedness for possible future health threats
I hope Member States, social partners and citizens will join us in shaping this day into what it should be: a lasting act of remembrance, and a renewed promise to every worker in Europe.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-07-22 “Let me begin with a question.
What does ”the European model” mean in a person's everyday life?
Like, for example, for a fresh graduate looking for a first professional opportunity.
Or for a family or single parent struggling to find affordable care.
Or for a worker whose job is being transformed, disrupted or simply disappears.
It means that people are never left to manage on their own in their hour of need.
It means social rights that are guaranteed, that are a lived reality, every single day, for every single citizen, no matter where they are born or live in Europe, no matter who they are.
And this is, above all, a key promise of the European Social Model.
With the European Pillar of Social Rights, adopted in 2017, the EU equipped itself with a powerful compass covering social rights to be respected and pursued throughout all work in the EU, in all policies.
As we adopted this communication today, on what the Pillar delivered so far and on what directions we need to reinforce, I must say that.
the EPSR is really not about the past, not about social traditions. It is also not a vehicle in itself.
It is, actually, the trusted driver of the EU project into a future of immense possibility as well as immense uncertainty.
The EPSR has been gradually translated into concrete European, national or regional policies in the past decade. From fighting disability to work life balance, from minimum wages to a Pact for Skills. Child Guarantee. Three headline targets.
The Pillar guided Europe's policy choices through major crises, such as the Covid pandemic, strengthening our resilience by protecting people.
It must continue to guide us as we shape our political and economic choices, as we manage the many disruptions.
We must never underestimate how fundamental the ESPR is for our young generations and for the future of the EU.
More concretely, today, through the Communication we just adopted in the college of commissioners, we double down on Europe's social promise by focusing efforts at EU level on three key neds.
A decent life must remain within reach for any person – work on affordability and cost of living.
Technology that must, above all, serve and empower all people.
Equal rights and opportunities for all, no matter their origin or status.
Think of a person with a disability who has important skills but cannot make use of them through employment because they lack a certain set of services, support or financial incentives.
Or think of someone that has not worked at all or for a long time, because of lack of access to support, to services or because of inadequate or uncoordinated support.
Think of the tens of the millions of parents in Europe, tens of millions even, the vast majority of them mothers, who, simply because of lack of accessible or affordable childcare, can never really hold on to a career, to a quality job or even aspire to return to employment after kids.
These are realities of untapped potential for our labour markets, for our economies, which is so strained by shortages.
These are difficult livelihoods and people exposed to social exclusion and even poverty, by lack of adequate support towards relevant and quality employment.
To date, almost 50 million working-age people are outside the EU labour market.
We are not talking about those that are looking for a job and cannot find one. It is not about the unemployed, it is not about the active labour forces.
We are talking about the reality of tens of millions not even looking for a job. For causes that are vert divers. And most of these causes can be addressed!
This is why today we are launching the first-stage consultation of European social partners on a possible EU initiative for job activation.
The aim is not to push people into any job
The aim is to open a viable path for most of these people towards a quality job, that responds equally to their abilities and to the demands of the economy.
That can mean different responses, based on a combination of supportive actions: efficient identification and outreach of those that are inactive, the proper guidance, the right training, but also combining these with access to childcare, to elderly long-term care or better coordination between employment, education, health and social services.
I want to thank my colleague, Commissioner Šuica, for our shared commitment to deliver on this activation initiative.
The Directive on adequate minimum wages has already supported significant increases, especially where wages were lowest. This week, we will present an implementation report.
Next year, we will launch a European Care Deal.
Care cannot remain only a family responsibility. It is essential social infrastructure. We want affordable, quality care, fewer staff shortages and better working conditions for care workers.
Now imagine a worker whose tasks or performance are assessed by an algorithm.
AI is already changing jobs, tasks, skills and working conditions at extraordinary speed.
We are now discussing possible EU action, including protection as AI and algorithmic management become more common – Quality Jobs Act.
We are also launching a high-level group on AI and the labour market to guide future European action.
Talent is everywhere in Europe. Opportunity is not. At least, not yet.
A woman should not be paid less because she is a woman.
A young person should not have fewer opportunities because they come from a rural community, a disadvantaged family
A graduate should never be less valued and respected socially because they chose a vocational school.
We will help companies, especially SMEs, implement the Pay Transparency Directive.
We will also present a Right to Stay Strategy so people can access jobs, education and essential services wherever they live.
And we will adopt a new strategy to make vocational education and training more attractive.
This commitment is already beginning inside the Commission. For the first time, VET graduates will be able to apply for the Commission's Blue Book traineeship programme. A vocational route should not mean fewer doors, but different doors leading to equally valuable opportunities. I thank Commissioner Serafin for coordinating this initiative.
In 2027, we celebrate the first decade of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
We can know that this compass remains strong and relevant when people earn a decent salary for their work, when they can access affordable care, when they and their children have access to good education and healthcare, when they get their skills easily recognised for the job they want, when they are protected against discrimination, when strong social dialogue builds trust in society.
The best way we can celebrate the EPSR is to recommit to implement it, principle by principle, point by point, through each policy, be it European, national or regional, in each domain.
The Pillar must shape European choices from the start: how we build an economy that works for people but also a society that is secure, resilient and that not only holds together but rises together.
We treat a lot Europe's strength in terms of how agile it can be in responding to multiple challenges and even crises.
But, in the end, it will all come down to how well we are able to empower and protect our people as we, together, navigate all of these transformations.
Let me end with the most fundamental promise we make to every worker:
That they should be able to return home safely from their workplace. That their work never costs their health.
This year marks 70 years since the Marcinelle mining disaster.
On 8 August 1956, 262 workers of 12 different nationalities lost their lives. Most were Italians who had travelled to Belgium in search of work and a better future.
Their sacrifice reminds us why workplace protection, dignity, and solidarity matter.
Today, following an initiative from Parliament and the Member States, we decided to propose August 8th as the European Day in Remembrance of the Victims of Accidents at Work and for the Protection and Dignity of Workers.
Yet tragedies still happen. Last week, six workers lost their lives in a construction-site accident here in Brussels. Our thoughts remain with their families and all those affected.
Working conditions, health and safety have improved significantly in Europe since Marcinelle.
Our responsibility remains intact, though.
Zero tolerance, zero deaths from work-related causes – this is a non-negotiable aim in Europe.”
EU competences on social policies
- 2026-06-29 “Also, through the high level conferences that you've organised under the Cypriot presidency. This was a commitment that was visible for member states. It was very valuable for the Commission as we were preparing the anti-poverty strategy that we launched on the 6th of May. So really thank you for preparing the ground for that, for helping us work with the member states on this topic. Just to point out, it's a it's a big package there that we where we look at different dimensions of poverty, the life cycle from early childhood to, to seniority in soon, let's say, but probably in July. We are aiming for that. Hopefully we can make this deadline. We will see. We want to deliver the first tool of the anti-poverty strategy to launch what we call a first stage consultation of European social partners on a European tour. We shall see how it shall be, whether it's legal, whether it's it's non-legal, but we aim to be to make it ambitious, a tool that will help us activate people that are very far away from the labor market. What does that mean? People that do not have a job, that are not looking for a job, but that could work. People that need specialized, integrated, personalized support so that they could come to the labor market. And here we have in mind many categories. Of course, it's a lot about looking at ways to support women parents that are household supporters that have children.”
Child poverty policy
- 2026-06-29 “Also, as I've mentioned a bit before, I will mention that we have proposed a council recommendation on fighting housing exclusion as part of the anti-poverty strategy of the social package. It's tackling also homelessness, which is one of the, if not the extremist, uh, type of, uh, of, uh, of of challenge, I would say in terms of, of housing, uh, for the first time. And this is important, we are seeing housing as a central element in the European Semester, uh, which is our main, uh, coordination tool between European and national level. And this is indeed also an important shift that really, uh, signals that we are treating housing as a structural issue and not just as a welfare afterthought or just as a, as a side topic. Uh, that being said, uh, word on students and on word and youth and how we support them, uh, work on student and youth housing under the European Affordable Housing plan is, is progressing. We are also preparing a tool, a pan European investment platform. And this will be, uh, scaling up financing, uh, so that we can, uh, invest more and better in, in housing and renovation that addresses the specific categories as well. Thank you.”
EU housing policy
- 2026-06-29 “So we have to, to be able to, to act effectively. Of course, the human and economic costs are both serious. We need to take both into consideration. That is why I also listened to to member states in our lunch debate on this topic. And we are we are ready to support Member States to to act better in that direction, to deliver guidance through EU OSHA, to facilitate their common work and have common standards where we support workers in the face of this climate related risks. In the end, again, I think that Cyprus has has made history for social Europe in very complicated times. From the very Far East, I would say border of our European Union. You have contributed to make our social Europe stronger. Now you pass the baton to the Western very to Ireland, who is on the western frontier of our union. And I'm absolutely certain that they will continue with the same, with the same ambition, but that that that goes to show that our union is, is is strong from east to west, from north to south, and that we are able to, to deliver for our people, even at times of extreme pressure, of uncertainty and of a lot of transformation that we see in societies and economies, geopolitical and so on. So I will be forever grateful for the work that Cyprus has done. Congratulations and thank you again.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-06-29 “And because they cannot find, for example, enough resources in childcare, they have to give up their job, their work, or to make compromises in that field. Or it's about people with certain disabilities who if the right adaptations in the workplace were to exist, or if the employers would know how to recruit their talent, could have access to a job and could also help the economy. Or it's about persons from migrant migrant backgrounds who, with the right skills, language support you know personalized system of support could access a quality job. So we think that the best way out of poverty is, of course, to quality employment. This is the dignified way forward. And soon we will launch consultations on such a potential tool at European level, because we think that poverty is a vulnerability for our internal security and cohesion, and it is important that we try to work together as a union on such on such topics, so important for the future of the European project and for our social cohesion. Then second I want to of course, also mention and thank the Cypriot presidency on what we think is a historic success in terms of our single market and of the situation of our mobile workers in the European Union. The fact that after more than a decade of of attempts and failures and at work at the 83 regulation, which is really a regulation that is complex in its nature.”
EU policy on disability inclusion & accessibility
- 2026-06-29 “Thank you so much. Thank you, Minister, for this useful reflection. Note for for the topic. Indeed, housing is no longer just as one might have looked at it, a problem of the of the poorest. It is a problem. It is a challenge for teachers, nurses, for young professionals, for people who work, for people who contribute, who simply cannot find a place they can afford, in a destination where there is a professional opportunity for them. And this is, I would say, rather new. And, uh, it really changes what we need to do also at European level. That said, and also, as you note, reflects, the most disadvantaged are still the ones that are carrying the heaviest of burdens. Looking at, uh, rising rents and shrinking social housing options and for, for too many, the real risk of, of losing a roof altogether is there. So we cannot lose sight of that. And I want to emphasize just one of the elements on, on which the Commission is currently working. The also, under the leadership of my colleague, Commissioner Jorgensen, the Affordable Housing Act. To mention just two concrete directions of this work. First, to look at how to give local and national authorities the legal clarity that they need to to regulate on short term rentals. But of course, without without violating our single market rules and upholding EU legislation on this topic. And second, what it aims to do is to push for for more affordable and social housing are to be built exactly where we see that the pressure is the highest.”
EU housing policy
- 2026-06-29 “The Cypriot presidency, managed by being an honest broker by by a lot of hard work to deliver a compromise, a result on that to, to have a deal on the table on, on the revision of this, of this regulation is really is really important in the sense that there are principles that now can be put into practice. It's about workers and their benefits. It's about paying a contribution in a member state while you work and being able to get the, the Social Security coverage from that member state. But it is also about a next step. And with the Cypriot presidency, of course, we spoke with all member states that, yes, we close the 883 regulation modernization process. And this is done, but we need a next step to make sure that we come with a an additional set of measures, such as strengthening data exchanges between member states. Because this is essential that we make sure that we have better controls, stronger trust between national authorities, that we are sure that, for example, when one worker or one person that that is entitled to unemployment benefit from a member state is activated, is able to we can see whether they are looking actively for a job, whether they did get a job and what is their situation if they are in another member state.”
EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers
- 2026-06-29 “Excellent pronunciation. Thank you so much. Dear ministers Yes. This last Ebsco during the Cypriot presidency was as ambitious, as dense as the entire presidency. We had discussions, debates with ministers from the European Union on at least five important topics. More. But let me just highlight some of them briefly, because the ministers already filled you in of course, on mobile workers in Europe. And how we modernize the way that they are covered with Social Security. The famous 83 regulation. We debated on the first EU anti-poverty strategy. We discussed especially in this context of extreme heat in Europe. What we should do to protect our workers from climate related risks. We discussed housing, of course from different perspectives, a topic that is so important for, for European citizens of all ages and territories and backgrounds. We also discussed the importance of the European Semester, the tool through which we coordinate our European and national policies on fiscal economics and social, and the tool that will be very connected with the content of the future. Budget 2028 2034, and what Member States will also aim to finance with this future budget after negotiations will be finalized. Just a few notes on On My side. First, on our ambition to fight poverty, to eradicate poverty in steps, of course, in Europe. I will personally thank Deputy Minister Lina for your strong commitment to this topic, both at the informal meeting that we had in Nicosia.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- 2026-06-29 “Thank you so much. Thank you to the presidency for the work that you have done preparing these important conclusions. And thank you to all Member States that had such a constructive approach on this topic. Of course, I want to also thank the previous Danish presidency for having prepared the ground. Last year, Of course, we all acknowledge that that housing is member states competence, that the EU's role is mainly to to support to facilitate national efforts. But we do see that almost all, if not all member states, uh, face challenges related to affordable housing driven by by different factors from population growth to urbanization to specific economic concentration, uh, to a growing number of smaller households, different, different reasons. So in this, in this context, uh, I can only, uh, appreciate the fact that we have, uh, conclusions, uh, that, uh, welcome specifically the European affordable housing plan that my colleague Commissioner Jorgensen, uh, presented recently, uh, before, before concluding, I want to say a bit more on, on the social package that I presented in May. And one component, which was a recommendation on fighting housing exclusion. It is part of the anti-poverty strategy. Three things that are important and relevant. One, that we propose a clear guidance to help member states deliver integrated, person centered housing, first housing, housing led approaches, uh, recognizing that housing exclusion requires coordinated efforts across different policy sectors. Second, that we propose to strengthen governance coordination, to strengthen the data collection so that we can deliver policies that are more effective and much more based on the evidence that we have. And third thing, uh, the fact that we have this housing exclusion recommendation really reaffirms our commitment to fighting poverty, to strengthening social inclusion and making sure that we help people have adequate housing, and we leave no one outside of this essential, essential, right? Because housing, in the end is a right that all citizens should benefit from. Thank you.”
EU housing policy
- 2026-06-29 “Thank you. Dear Minister, on behalf of the Commission, I would like to thank Member States Ministers for the thoughts for the contributions reactions. Uh, I will say this again, that the Commission is currently finalising the work on the Affordable Housing Act, which will address many of the issues that were covered in today's debate. Of course, I take with me the two main directions on simplifying permitting and accelerating procedures in in supply, offering the supply of housing stock, but also boosting the capacity to invest with different tools that should be made available so that we can cover the demand. Uh, all the examples that were brought forward in today's debate will be a very valuable contribution to our work in the Commission as we finalize this proposal. We look forward to continuing our discussion on housing. Also in the context of the negotiations on the proposal that is part of the social package, the council recommendation on fighting housing exclusion, which is also an important response that is awaited by by our society. That being told, thank you so much and thank you to you for the topic.”
EU housing policy
- 2026-06-29 “Of course, another, another part of the discussion was what we will present in the fair Labour mobility package in September with the strengthening of the role of European Labour Authority, with the adoption of a regulation on a digital Social Security pass. So there are a lot of responses that we need to continue to give to our people, to our companies, to our member states. After the success of the 83 R adoption, Then the third topic that I think is also is also extremely relevant. And the final one that I want to mention on climate related risks and their impact on workers health and safety. And the Cypriot presidency has done an important work in this area, including in closing the sixth revision last week of the carcinogens, mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances Directive. Today's debate focused on climate related risks. Of course, it was very important also looking at the what we are doing in the commission to prepare a quality jobs Act that we want to present in December. What is clear is that 1 in 3 workers in the EU faces climate related risks at work. But with the extreme weather events that we see now from heat heat waves to floods to extreme cold weather, we see that this number is, is even increasing.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-06-29 “To mention, I think, something that could be interesting for the journalists as she asked me beyond what we already have at EU level and what I've mentioned today in the debate there are a few key points that need reflection, whether we need to do more together at your level. And I would just mention four of them and what we would need more of, and we don't have enough of now indicators and methodologies to assess workers exposure to heat or acclimatization of workers to heat at work, or hydration strategies or, well, humanly speaking, access to water for for workers during times of high heat exposure or how to organize work with measures such as rest breaks. So these are some concrete examples that were discussed today that we need to reflect upon. Do we need to do more together exchange good practices? And this is, I think, important for, for, for you to to know. Thank you.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-06-29 “Thank you. So. We had a debate today on what, what we should do at EU level if and what we should do at EU level more than we already have in terms of legislation, rules, regulation, guidance, so that we better protect our workers in the face of, you know new climate related extreme extreme weather phenomenon. This was an interesting debate. Member states were responding with, with different visions on, on what should be done at EU level. What is appreciated is the capacity that we have to exchange good practices to exchange our national plans on how we do risk assessment on how EU legislation on on occupational health and safety, existing legislation. And we have a strong legal framework to to protect workers is implemented. So this was one direction. Another was to use and strengthen and maybe do more guidance. We have EU, OSHA, which has already delivered. And I've mentioned in my debate with ministers a number of, of, of guiding documents or guiding work, practical tools, for example, for construction for agriculture, for fishing or heated work guidance with clear advice on prevention. So here, of course, I gave already what we do whether we need more binding legislation or not is not a question that I could answer. In reality, of course, member states in a greater majority than would rather incline that we do more. More. Non-binding, that is clear. And I heard the ones that have spoken today. But that that is just the beginning of a of the conversation.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-06-29 “And this exchange, automatic exchange of data is very important, was demanded by a lot of member states, and we want to deliver on that through a next initiative that we call 832.0. Also, we looked and we debated today on the need to have clearer rules for cross-border telework, which is a type of work that is more and more found in in our labour force. This has become a normal part of working life for many people of all generations. Mostly younger, of course, but our rules in terms of of coordination, of Social security need to reflect the reality of this cross-border tele work. Where do they work? Where do they pay their benefits? Where are they covered? But we have to support this type of work as well. Also, we discussed about clear rules for highly mobile workers, especially those with fragmented careers or multiple jobs across different member states. How do we make sure that they are fully their social rights are fully respected and that they can, in the end Make the vest that take value. Of all the times that I've worked and contributed in different member states. Also another topic. It's important that we are able to tackle abuses that might be linked to bogus self-employment or to posting of third country nationals. So all these are topics that could not be, of course, covered in the 803 modernization that we just finalized, but we want to work on it in the next in, in a, in an initiative that we will present next year.”
EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers
- 2026-06-29 “We also, as you said, have to see the second phase consultation of a European social partners for the Equality Jobs Act. We have taken a bit of time to look carefully at the different chapters. It's about AI in the workplace. It's about long subcontract chains. These are complex topics that we've discussed also inside the college, and it is also about what we should do more in terms of health and safety in the workplace. But very soon, very soon, I cannot say now a number of, of days or, or a specific date. We will launch the second phase consultation and we will look at at also topics related to health and safety in, in the workplace. But it was very important to hear member states in the sense of what would be best used by them from European level, what would help them practically and how they think our action could be implemented. Many of them, of course, mentioned that there is a common challenge, but of course they have different climate zones, different specificities and different approaches. And there is there is a lot to balance as we look towards what we should do better at European for the European level looking forward. So this is the the situation right now. But I think the debate today was extremely good input for our Quality Jobs Act reflections, I would say. And elaboration of the content.”
EU policy on employment subcontracting
- 2026-06-23 “Yes. Thank you. First, to answer to MEP Petrov, I would not say that the European semester doesn't have a strong social dimension. We really need to look at what we have on the table beyond the employment guidelines. The social convergence framework really, provides a very clear image on the situation of nine member states and how six of them need to continue their efforts and go into the second phase analysis. And here, I would also want to emphasize that we have also 20, 20 member states that have poverty related country specific recommendations. And that really goes to show that while we are not going into details and we, of course, cover child poverty and poverty multidimensionally, but that really goes to show that this is a common, European challenge. Looking at Bulgaria, for example, which is, is part of the social convergence framework second phase analysis. High poverty, child poverty remain as challenges that need to be addressed. And so this is something that is clearly there in the semester. Then, of course, is also the human capital, the new dimension on skills, which is also social, and it's important that we mention that, as well. The link with the European semester with the MFF is quite important. I always emphasize that the clearer we see our social challenges in the semester, the clearer it will be also for member states, the need to address international, partnership and regional, partnership plans, to address these challenges with reforms and investments, investments that would be supported by EU resources as well. And that's why, you know, we proposed a 14% minimum social spending target and the whole debate around European social fund plus, which is so important to address part of these challenges, not only, but other funds as well can support. So I would say that this is important. I would also mention that or recall at least, to the fact that when we see the connection between social investment and economic governance, one of the innovations that was introduced by the modernization of the fiscal framework in '24 was to allow member states to be granted extensions of their fiscal adjustment period for concrete commitments, including in social reforms and in social investments. And there are member states that have committed to do such reforms and investments, eight of them. So that also shows, you know, the type of flexibility and innovation where we see, you know, that the fiscal, the fiscal adjustment can be done hand in hand with a careful, calibrated approach of social reforms and social investments, as well. Then looking at the escape escape clauses debate, and there is a big debate about escape clause for for different number of needs and crisis that affect different member states or the whole of Europe. I think it's important to acknowledge that the energy, escape clause, offers really, an opportunity to member states to protect households, vulnerable households, vulnerable consumers, people that are exposed to energy poverty. So there already, we have an answer to fighting energy poverty, and I think this is something that's that needs to be fully acknowledged. Beyond that, I would say that our social convergence framework and the country specific recommendations really offer an EU wide, but also a country related, analysis so that we can really do the job of the semester, connecting European priorities with national priorities, European challenges with country specific challenges. To a certain degree, most of EU countries face poverty challenges. We've launched in our EU antipoverty strategy. We've launched a new concept, multidimensionality. From income to health care, to transport, to energy, to social background, their poverty can be to geography, to territoriality, poverty can be extremely triggered by extremely specific elements. So that's why think it's important to acknowledge that the tool of the semester, while, of course, many times being too wide or too specific, but as offer, space for this complexity, with the social convergence framework really putting the laser focus on those very concrete challenges that are relevant also at EU level. Thank you.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- 2026-06-23 “Thank you, dear chairs. Good morning, honorable members. The spring package comes, as the world is navigating very complex economic and geopolitical environment, as was also mentioned here by my colleague, commissioner Dombrovsky. Is facing pressure from from the outside, and our answer must be to strengthen our resilience from within. My colleague, has given you an overview of the latest, spring forecasts of the consequences of the energy crisis on our economies, on the jobs, on our societies, on the fiscal response inside the semester. I will focus on occupational, elements and on the social, outlook as always. Last time we met, in March, I mentioned that the EU labor market has remained resilient with a record of nearly 221,000,000 people employed. That would mean an additional of 1,250,000 more jobs than in the previous year. I also pointed out that we continue to have structural weaknesses that that need a a close monitoring. Looking at stagnating labor productivity, looking at large share of low wage jobs, 20% in sectors with, limited productivity growth, looking at the fact that 1 out of 12, workers, experience, in work poverty, looking at sizable labor and skill shortages, which, and this is important, have a tendency to increase, and looking at the basis, underperforming basic skills. And the current crisis only exacerbate exacerbates these trends. Due to the conflict in The Middle East, up to 1,300,000 jobs in Europe are at risk, and this is especially in energy intensive sectors. The increased energy costs has a particularly negative impact on lower income households. At the same time, 77% of the companies says say that skill shortages are 1 of the main barriers for for investments. All the above are also reflected in the findings of our social convergence framework. Compared to compared to last year, an additional 3 more member states are facing risks of social imbalances. Competitive competitiveness that leaves social imbalances behind is not so sustainable competitiveness. And in this context, we have 3 more, priorities in our employment guidelines, and they are also reflected in the recommendations to member states. 1st, on human capital, on skills, which are not an add on. They are essential for our competitiveness. 2nd, on labor shortages that are connected to poor working conditions because we cannot attract talents or reduce shortages or improve improve people's earnings without making sure we have good working conditions. 3rd, tackling the cost of living crisis. On this, I will recall that on the May 6, we have presented the antipoverty strategy, the social package with a number of important measures. These 3 priorities all reinforce each other. Better skills lead to higher quality jobs. Quality jobs are the dignified way out of poverty for people. And allow me to underline the human capital perspective because this is the main novelty, in this semester cycle. In the autumn package, we put forward for the 1st time an e wide recommendation on human capital, and we focused on 6 areas. We focused on basic skills. We focused on STEM, on vocational education and training, on teachers' situations, on the skills portability, and on skills, intelligence. And then we applied this this lens to each of our member states. We had identified where each member state should focus their effort and translated that analysis into recommendations that are adapted to specific challenges of member states. And for instance, we have 15 member states that have received recommendations on on STEM skills and 10 member states that have received recommendations on vocational education and training. Of course, we are not issuing an 1 size fits all advice. We are identifying where each member state can really make the biggest difference. The message, we need to strengthen our policies. We need to strengthen our coordination between European and and national policies, and we must work together to reach our ambitions. This is what this semester is about. Thank you, and looking forward to your questions.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- 2026-06-23 “Thank you. Perfect transition. I give the floor to the executive vice president. Yes. Many thanks. 1st, to answer to, miss Abadia on on Spain. We looked, of course, we look at, the evolution of of, wages in Europe, and we see that across Europe, we have continued to see a robust, nominal and real wage growth growth. Indeed, there are some countries, and here I could mention, Germany or France, whose growth still doesn't put them above the pre pandemic situation. Now with Spain specifically, there are 2 things to to mention. 1, that there is real wage growth in, in, in Spain, but that indeed it is beyond below the the EU average. And and these 2 dimensions, we look at them, equally with equal importance. The nominal wage increase, is around 4% for for Spain. Now on how did we address the Spain challenge Spain's challenges in the social convergence framework assessment because it was in the 1st round of of analysis. It is important that we see the challenges, but also the the responses. And while, with the RRF, and it's important to mention that with the recovery and resilience, facility reforms, investments, a number of challenges are being addressed, and we consider that they are being addressed effectively. We see we'll still see that there there's a number of key social challenges that would remain, such as child poverty. And especially with the regional disparity dimension, such an insufficient and, adequate tran adequacy of social transfers, the skills mismatches that we see in in most member states, early school leaving, lack of affordable and and self and social housing. But we look at this in a package. So we assess, what the RF is is offering in terms of response, and we consider that, that Spain is is is on the right track, though more challenges to be addressed, remain. In terms of, to answer MEPFITA on on overall, on on the situation of our work on the semester, it's a very, it's a it's a it's a work that is characterized by by dialogue between the commission and and the member states, governments, different levels. Of course, there are some member states that really involve also national parliaments. We involve also our representations. I think it is quite important that this semester is and especially looking at the connection with the future plans is not a technocratic exercise and that it does have a lot of political, exposure. That is absolutely important, especially when we look at discussions about, not just investments, but also and also reforms. And this is a lesson we also need to to, learn from the implementation of the of the current, RRF method with with its own, with its own, I would say, challenges, but also, merits. So my opinion is that, indeed, it is important that we have this kind of, full a whole of member state connection and and dialogue on on the content of the semester. Then on the firefighters, I would say that our directive, looks at the firefighter at the firefighters' conditions from the perspective of is the national, legislation, dealing with those firefighters as as workers or or is it not? Because the working time directive applies to workers, only. So if a firefighter that is a volunteer qualifies as a worker, then the directive would apply. If not, it would not apply. And with this, we look at the need that member states decide how to organize fire services, how to organize the roles of volunteers versus professionals. Our directive offers a number of broad derogations and flexibility, including in emergencies, and we think that it it should be used with this this flexibility space that it offers. Then to address the, yes, it is important that we look with the social convergence framework at social imbalances, also at housing in in to mention just a new topic in the semester. On skills, to answer to to MEP Bischoff, we just presented last week, an interesting report done by Eures on the skills shortages in Europe, and it's interesting to see not just the sectors where we have surpluses and deficits. Of course, we have surpluses in clerical and administrative jobs. Of course, we have deficits in very technical, highly technical positions, more STEM related. There is a geography of shortages. A number of member states, I think there were 5. Won't mention them now, but 5 that concentrated the most of the shortages and the number that cons that offer, surpluses. So we need to address, this reality and this geography, 1st of all, with a coordinated effort. That's why we have the human capital recommendation. We have to have a coordinated EU member state effort towards our skilling efforts, targeted reskilling that really connects the training with the job. What is important in terms of of of, beyond the union of skills work of further initiatives is that we will launch in September the skills portability, initiative. And while, of course, it won't answer any all of the challenges, it is important for you to know that we will have a legislative package that will look at, you know, faster, easier recognition of, of qualifications, those that are regulated, those that are unregulated, looking at digital tools on how to make this recognition faster, how to connect better member states, vocabulary on skills recognition. So this entire package is part of the, actually, fair labor mobility package and will also answer the need to address, skills recognition and better skills deployment across different geographies and sectors in Europe. Thank you.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- 2026-06-23 “Yes. Many thanks. First, about the opening the working time directive and the firefighter situation. I mean, overall, the Working Time Directive is a crucial piece of legislation, a key communal pillar for our social Europe. Opening this directive is really not an easy thing or a trifle. It has so many important elements, and we're not going at it very easily. That's why I said that, of course, it is important that we are able to protect all of our Europeans, including firefighters that qualify as workers as well.
That's why we look at the flexibilities. I was speaking with my colleagues. We have this continuous exercise engaging with member states on what these flexibilities mean in the context of the legislation of each member state. Do they apply? How much can they apply? The case law, also, how it is interpreted? Is it fully used to the fullest of the possibility so that we can really help these people before going to a legislative modification solution?
And I think it's quite important that we first explore, and that's why we talk with member states, the full dimension of flexibilities and case law that we have under the directive as it is before moving towards a more radical proposal, which, again, I say, is not something that we consider very lightly. We take all elements into consideration.
Then on Portugal, we have, of course, I was looking here at Portugal's fish, looking at the challenges, especially on housing, which is very well highlighted. We have the country-specific CSRs, country-specific recommendations tackling a number of these challenges: housing, low affordability of housing, the situation of long-term care, working conditions.
So all the tools that are part of the semester, country reports, CSRs, where the case may be, the social convergence framework analysis, they are all part of the efforts of the Commission to really put or focus the attention on social challenges and indicate where action is needed at national level in those social challenges.
Then on Greece, you know, we have the Minimum Wage Directive, which is the most important tool through which we ask our member states where collective bargaining coverage is low to expand it. We've just met the Greek authorities because they signed a national tripartite social agreement. We've spoken about the involvement of trade unions.
It is important that we have our social partners really strengthened. We do that also with the help of the ESF in many member states. We support the strengthening of the capacity of our social partners. So we have a number of EU tools that member states can use and do use, and we want them to use even more to expand not only the strength of the social dialogue but also collective bargaining across.
And, of course, the example of Greece is of a country that needs to do much more on this path. Much more needs to be done. That's clear. They start from a very low position, but I think they are moving in a direction that indicates commitment to strengthening social dialogue. Thank you.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- 2026-06-15 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 15.6.2026 Written question In line with the principle of shared management, it is the primary responsibility of Member States to ensure compliance with the applicable laws when it comes to their national programmes under the European Social Fund+ (ESF+) [1] . To this end, Member States authorities carry out management verifications and audits to ensure that the expenditure is legal and regular. The Commission also ensures that Member States have management and control systems that comply with the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) [2] and that these systems function effectively and efficiently during the implementation of the programmes. The ESF+ strand is implemented jointly by the Commission and Member States. However, the ESF+ legislative framework leaves the responsibility for setting out the eligibility rules for support under the ESF+ to the national and regional authorities of the Member States. They have to do so within the limits set out in the regulations applicable to the ESF+ and in respect of other relevant EU legislation and Treaty principles. Therefore, it would be up to Member States, if they choose to do so, to define the conditions under which eligible women can access safe and affordable abortion care in their territory, and how such funding would be delivered, in full compliance with the relevant EU legislation and Treaty principles. When implementing the ESF +, Member States need to respect applicable law. This includes the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD). [1] Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 Of The European Parliament And Of The Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013, L 231/21, ELI: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021R1057&from=EN. [2] Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy, OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, pp. 159-706, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1060/oj.”
EU policy on disability inclusion & accessibility · Abortion policy
- 2026-06-10 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 10.6.2026 Written question The Commission is aware of the proposal to adjust compensation contributions for employers of persons with disabilities. The Commission emphasises that social inclusion and the integration of vulnerable groups into the labour market, notably through social enterprises, are core objectives of the European Social Fund Plus [1] and they are supported as such by the Programme Slovakia. The national project ‘Poskytovanie finančných príspevkov integračným podnikom’ [2] is set to last until the end of 2029. The Commission is not commenting on ongoing legislative negotiations at national level. As underlined by the mid-term review of the Social Economy Action Plan, adopted on 30 March 2026 [3] , the Commission continues to encourage the Member States to develop their social economy ecosystems to fully benefit from its potential to address societal challenges and deliver a positive social impact. [1] https://european-social-fund-plus.ec.europa.eu/en. [2] https://www.upsvr.gov.sk/europsky-socialny-fond/narodne-projekty-v-programovom-obdobi-2021-2027/narodny-projekt-poskytovanie-financnych-prispevkov-integracnym-podnikom.html?page_id=1343060. [3] https://social-economy-gateway.ec.europa.eu/eu-initiatives/seap-mid-term-review_en.”
EU expenditure on social policy · EU policy on disability inclusion & accessibility · EU competences on social policies
- 2026-05-18 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 18.5.2026 Written question The Commission has taken careful note of European Court of Auditors’ opinions on the proposed Erasmus+ [1] and AgoraEU [2] programmes for 2028-2034, which constitute a valuable input to the ongoing negotiations of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The next MFF is built on a streamlined budget architecture with fewer and more coherent programmes. The consolidation of existing programmes is designed to strengthen synergies, simplify access for beneficiaries and reduce administrative burden. Built-in budgetary flexibility is a deliberate feature, enabling adaptation to evolving needs over the 7-year period. The strategic steering mechanism presented in the Interinstitutional Agreement [3] accompanying the MFF Regulation [4] provides for regular guidance from the European Parliament and the Council on strategic investment priorities, thereby reinforcing transparency and democratic oversight. The use of simplified forms of financing as the default grant modality is central to the overall MFF simplification agenda and is subject to the safeguards of the Financial Regulation [5] , including the ex-ante method of calculation, definition of outputs or results triggering payment and ex post checks and controls of their achievement. The proposed Performance Framework Regulation [6] establishes consistent output and result indicators across all programmes, and programme evaluations assessing effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value. Rules on the end of the eligibility period and ceilings for administrative expenditure are addressed in Financial Regulation. The Commission will continue to engage constructively with the co-legislators to ensure the timely start of the implementation as from 1 January 2028. [1] COM(2025) 549 final. [2] COM(2025) 550 final. [3] COM(2025) 572 final. [4] COM(2025) 571 final. [5] Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union. [6] COM(2025) 545 final.”
Conditions to access EU budget · Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- 2026-05-05 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 5.5.2026 Written question Recital (22) of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 [1] on adequate minimum wages states that well-functioning collective bargaining on wage-setting is an important means to ensure the adequacy of minimum wages. Directive (EU) 2022/2041 contains specific obligations for Member States concerning the promotion of collective bargaining (and not merely non-binding recommendations). In particular, Article 4(2) obliges Member States where the collective bargaining coverage rate is below 80% to establish action plans to promote collective bargaining and to notify them to the Commission [2] . The Commission is currently drafting its first report to the European Parliament and the Council on minimum wage protection under Article 10(3) of the directive, which will contain inter alia its analysis of these action plans. The Commission is aware of the adoption by Greece of Law 5278/2026, which has as its main objective to strengthen collective labour agreements, and will examine its compatibility with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 in the context of the compliance assessment of the transposition that is currently being carried out. Article 1(3) and 1(4)(b) of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 indicate that this directive is without prejudice to the competence of Member States in setting the level of minimum wages [3] and that it shall not be construed as imposing an obligation on any Member State to declare collective agreements universally applicable. Moreover, the directive does not regulate the representativeness criteria that Member States may choose to establish for the negotiation of collective agreements. Finally, the Commission is not aware of any lack of compliance of Law 5278/2026 with Directive (EU) 2019/1192 [4] . [1] OJ L 275, 25.10.2022, pp. 33-47 — http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2041/oj. [2] This is also the case of Greece, which notified its action plan to the Commission in December 2025. [3] Please also note that, according to Eurostat, there are only eight Member States (Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Romania and Slovakia) where the minimum wage is currently below EUR 1 000 — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Minimum_wage_statistics. [4] OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, pp. 105-121 — http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1152/oj.”
Minimum wages harmonisation at EU level · EU regulation on worker representation in company decisions · EU competences on social policies
- 2026-05-04 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 4.5.2026 Written question As the Honourable Member refers in her question, a potential discrimination of fixed-term teachers contrary to Directive 1999/70 EC [1] , is already being examined in the framework of an infringement procedure INFR(2024)4013 [2] . Currently, the Commission is assessing the reply provided by the Greek authorities to the reasoned opinion sent in May 2025. The steps that the Commission decides to take in the infringement procedure will be made publicly available. The Greek authorities with the support of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), have initiated efforts to address Greece’s demographic challenges. This includes the establishment of a National Observatory of Demographic Policy to support the implementation of the National Action Plan for Demography and to strengthen the capacity of public administration to design targeted interventions at national and regional level. Furthermore, in Greece ESF+ supports women’s participation in the labour market by financing measures addressing employment insecurity and enhancing maternity protection, including through developing early childhood education and care and long-term care services. Additionally, targeted programmes support the development of women’s skills and career opportunities, which helps mitigate disincentives to family formation. [1] Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP ((European Trade Union Confederation, Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe and European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services) , http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1999/70/oj. [2] In the following webpage: https://ec.europa.eu/implementing-eu-law/search-infringement-decisions/?lang_code=en&langCode=EN&version=v1&typeOfSearch=byDecision&page=1&size=10&order=desc&sortColumns=decisionDate&refId=INFR(2024)4013.”
EU policy on permanent and fixed-term employment · Gender roles, equality and inclusion · EU competences on demographic policy
- 2026-05-04 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 4.5.2026 Written question Matters relating to the recognition of and compensation for occupational diseases fall under the competence of the Member States. Nevertheless, with the Commission Recommendation concerning the European schedule of occupational diseases [1] the Commission recommends to the Member States, inter alia , to introduce the European schedule as soon as possible into their national laws, regulations or administrative provisions concerning scientifically recognised occupational diseases liable for compensation and subject to preventive measures. Entry No 408 in the European schedule [2] refers to COVID-19 caused by work in disease prevention, in health and social care and in domiciliary assistance, or, in a pandemic context, in sectors where there is an outbreak in activities in which a risk of infection has been proven. The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is the EU’s primary instrument for investments in people. The ESF+ can play a significant role in helping those with Long COVID by supporting vocational rehabilitation, employment reintegration and social inclusion. It can support rehabilitation programmes to help individuals regain capacity for work or workplace adaptations e.g. teleworking and digital skills trainings. Member States are obliged to programme at least 25% of their ESF+ resources to social inclusion. This can include measures to support individuals struggling with chronic illnesses e.g. mental health services. Member States are responsible for programming and implementation of the ESF+. The Commission can encourage Member States to programme in certain policy priorities if deemed necessary based on national or regional circumstances. [1] Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/2609 of 18 December 2025 concerning the European schedule of occupational diseases, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202502609 [2] Added in 2023 by Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/2337 of 28 November 2022 concerning the European schedule of occupational diseases, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022H2337&qid=1775544661464”
EU competences on social policies · EU competences on health · EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-05-04 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 4.5.2026 Written question 1. In the framework of INFR(2014)4334, the Commission is pursuing the absence of measures to prevent and penalise the abusive use of some types of fixed-term contracts in Spain’s public administration, in breach of Directive 1999/70/EC [1] . The precise steps to be taken to resolve the breaches of EU law are to be decided by the Member State. 2. In October 2024, the Commission sent to Spain an additional letter of formal notice and is currently assessing the reply and subsequent information provided by Spain. If the Commission considers that the identified grievances are not solved, it could adopt a reasoned opinion and, if Spain continues to not address those issues, the Commission may decide to refer it to the Court of Justice of the European Union. 3. The principles and method used by the Commission to calculate the financial sanctions proposed to the Court can be consulted in its communication ‘Financial sanctions in infringement proceedings’ [2] and subsequent revisions [3] . Nevertheless, it is for the Court, in the exercise of its discretion, to determine the amounts that it considers appropriate to the circumstances and proportionate both to the breach that has been established and to the capacity to pay of the Member State concerned. The penalty to be paid by the Member State is applicable from the date when the Court delivers its judgment. [1] Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP, http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1999/70/oj. [2] Communication from the Commission Financial sanctions in infringement proceedings 2023/C 2/01, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=oj:JOC_2023_002_R_0001. [3] See Communication from the Commission — Modification of the calculation method for financial sanctions proposed by the Commission in infringement proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union , http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/1481/oj, and Communication from the Commission — Annual update of data used for calculation of financial sanctions proposed by the Commission to the Court of Justice of the European Union in infringement proceedings, http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/1653/oj.”
Rule of law in Spain · EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
- 2026-05-04 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 4.5.2026 Written question The Commission has indeed received feedback from certain stakeholders indicating that a generic name ‘Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine’ would better reflect the scope of the national medical specialties currently listed in the table under the generic name ‘Physiotherapy’ in point 5.1.3 of Annex V to Directive 2005/36/EC [1] . Currently, the Commission has the competence to update through delegated acts, upon notification from a Member State, the national titles listed in the table that give right to automatic recognition between Member States whose qualifications feature in the table. Any change to the generic name of the table would require legislative amendment to the directive as it falls outside the delegated powers conferred on the Commission. The Commission is currently looking into the possibility of a systemic solution to this issue as part of its evaluation of Directive 2005/36/EC. Annex V to the directive is used in the context of recognition procedures by competent authorities. Its contents and structure clearly indicate that professional qualifications of specialist doctors are recognised under the ‘automatic’ regime based on national evidence of formal qualifications expressly listed in point 5.1.3 of Annex V. Member States notify the evidence of national qualifications to the Commission and on that basis the Commission regularly updates the annex through delegated acts. Consequently, the names of national specialties in the annex reflect the current names used by Member States (e.g., Mediċina ta' Rijabilitazzjoni for Malta) [2] . This system ensures legal certainty for the automatic recognition of professional qualifications in medical specialties. [1] Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02005L0036-20251029. [2] Also, e.g., Medicina fisica e riabilitativa for Italy, Physikalische und Rehabilitative Medizin for Germany, or Médecine physique et de réadaptation for France.”
EU competences on health
- 2026-04-28 “E-000304/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 1. The Commission measures the impact of a European Social Fund (ESF) programme by using indicators (output/result) on the programme level and not at project level. The national authorities have used CO06 ‘young people under 25 years of age’ as the output and CVR2 ‘participants who gained a qualification upon leaving (COVID 19)’ as the result indicator for this project. 2. The ESF support for a given programme such as Rhineland-Palatinate is defined in the programme document. Each programme document entails a chapter on how to exclude double funding and/or overlaps with other funds at European and national levels. The Commission has currently no indication or prove of misuse of ESF funds in Rhineland-Palatinate. As the Honourable Member will be aware, any case of suspected misuse should be immediately brought to the attention of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) or the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). 3. The Commission is actively supporting and encouraging the evaluation of active market policies, when supported by EU financing also in the coordination of national employment policies. Although the ESF funding is very limited in Germany compared to the national means, the ESF generates a European added value through co-financing innovative projects which might be used as a best practice at national level, not replacing but instead complementing national structures.”
Youth employment & training · Funding for vocational training
- 2026-04-27 “E-000967/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The process of setting occupational exposure limits (OEL) is set out in Directive 2004/37/EC 1 . Directive 2019/983 2 sets an occupational exposure limit for formaldehyde of 0.3 ppm (parts per million). This was based on a comprehensive evidence-based process which also took into account the views of national authorities and representatives of the employers and workers. The selection of the substances for which to possibly set new or review existing OELs includes a broad consultative approach within the tripartite Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work (ACSH), which includes national authorities and social partners. The ACSH regularly provides the Commission with advice for the priority chemicals for which they recommend an OEL, informing the policy-making process. This advice is provided based on the availability of new science and data as brought to the attention of the ACSH working party on ‘Chemicals at the Workplace’ (WPC). The WPC is discussing a possible updated list of chemicals for which they would advise the Commission on setting new or revising existing OEL values. Such an update is expected by mid-2026. The process of setting OELs is evidence-based. It relies on a broad consultation of stakeholders and on the scientific assessment of evidence by independent experts in the risk assessment committee of the European Chemicals Agency. Moreover, the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) 3 restricts formaldehyde emissions into indoor air to protect consumers 4 . 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2004/37/oj/eng. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1576669202273&uri=CELEX%3A32019L0983. 3 OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AL%3A2006%3A396%3ATOC. 4 Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1464 of 14 July 2023 amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32023R1464.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-04-24 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 24.4.2026 Written question Technological developments have brought several changes to the world of work, including advantages such as increasing innovation, flexibility, autonomy and the ability to work remotely. Flexible working arrangements, such as telework, hold great potential both for workers and employers in terms of work-life balance and productivity. However, the risks related to telework, such as increased connectedness, risks to physical and psychosocial health and organisational challenges should not be disregarded. A 2022 European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) publication on the environmental effects of telework [1] concluded that telework can be a greener option if supported by specific measures. It noted that the associated potential emission savings depend on many factors, such as the frequency of telework, the distance of commute on non-telework days and the mode of transport, the energy consumption of the worker’s home and the employer’s office, etc. Following a 2021 European Parliament resolution on the right to disconnect [2] , the Commission gathered evidence [3] and conducted, in accordance with Article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, a two-stage consultation of European social partners [4] to gather their views on the possible content of EU action in the areas of workers’ right to disconnect and telework. The Commission continues to gather evidence and evaluate the implications of the possible policy options in the area of telework [5] . The outcome of the consultation, together with other evidence collected, will feed into the Commission’s reflections on the most appropriate way forward. [1] Eurofound, Is telework really a ‘green’ choice? , 2022, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/commentary-and-analysis/all-content/telework-really-green-choice. [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0021_EN.html. [3] https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/study-social-economic-and-legal-context-and-trends-telework-and-right-disconnect-context_en. [4] https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-starts-second-stage-talks-social-partners-right-disconnect-and-fair-telework-2025-07-25_en. [5] Besides EU rules, several social partners’ agreements concluded at EU level and other social dialogue outcomes incorporate cross-sector or sector-specific rules on telework, including central government administrations (a full list of social dialogue outcomes is available at https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/eu-employment-policies/social-dialogue/social-dialogue-texts-database_en).”
Energy efficiency · Regulation of teleworking labour conditions
- 2026-04-23 “P-000302/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Information on the number of European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) beneficiaries who reintegrated in the labour market, broken down by year, sector, enterprise and Member State is provided in the annex to this reply. Of the 129 726 workers who participated in EGF co-financed measures (i.e. EGF beneficiaries), 68 494 (53%) attended training.”
European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
- 2026-04-20 “E-000704/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission promotes Europe’s linguistic diversity and multilingualism in general, rather than prioritising individual languages. The Erasmus+ programme 1 (2021–2027) supports a wide range of cooperation partnerships and mobility actions which involve Greek organisations and produce multilingual outputs, such as learning materials, digital tools and training resources, including in Greek. For instance, 77 projects focusing on language learning included organisations from Greece. Projects are designed bottom-up by educational institutions, civil society and cultural actors, so they reflect the needs of language communities. In cultural and media sectors, programmes such as Creative Europe 2 promote linguistic diversity by strengthening the presence of European languages in the media, digital sphere and creative industries. The Commission supports the circulation and visibility of works in European languages including through translation, subtitling, dubbing and encouraging media stakeholders to adopt multilingual approaches. The proposed AgoraEU programme 3 , when adopted, will continue promoting linguistic diversity, as set out in the 2025 Culture Compass. The Commission, at the request of the Member States, has created The Alliance for Language Technologies 4 to preserve EU linguistic diversity and promote excellence in AI-based language technologies. The Commission is not considering establishing a new dedicated European body for the protection of linguistic diversity. It already cooperates extensively in this area with the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, since both organisations pursue similar objectives in promoting multilingualism and linguistic diversity. 1 https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/about-erasmus. 2 https://culture.ec.europa.eu/creative-europe. 3 https://commission.europa.eu/publications/agoraeu_en. 4 https://www.alt-edic.eu/.”
EU and national cultural identities
- 2026-04-13 “E-000801/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is aware of concerns related to the conditions of accommodation of posted workers as noted in the Implementation report of Directive (EU) 2018/957 1 and has suggested follow-up actions. The cooperation established between German and Dutch authorities, also involving the European Labour Authority, shows how successful inspections can be organised in that area 2 .The Commission recognises that national legislation and increased attention to law enforcement on the ground constitute key elements to address these problems 3 . The European Affordable Housing Plan 4 puts forward actions aiming at facilitating affordable housing to most vulnerable groups. It does not particularly envisage situations like the one described by the Honourable Members in which case employers’ obligations stem from the applicable labour laws. EU law on free movement of workers ensures that mobile workers have the same rights as national workers in housing 5 . The Commission has supported the Euregional Information and Expertise Centre 6 since 2019 with grants from the EU’s Internal Security Fund – Police and, by doing so, contributes to the close cooperation of Dutch, Belgian and German authorities. Beyond that, the Commission also supports the trade-union driven fair labour mobility EU project 7 ; labour conditions of people working in the domain of meat processing is one of the areas of particular attention for the project team 8 . 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52024DC0320. 2 https://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/dokumentenarchiv/Dokument/MMV18-1171.pdf. 3 Erol, Şerife/Thorsten Schulten (2025) Neue Arbeitswelt in der Fleischindustrie, https://www.wsi.de/de/faust-detail.htm?produkt=HBS-009091. 4 https://housing.ec.europa.eu/european-affordable-housing-plan_en. 5 Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/492/oj/eng. 6 https://euriec.eu/en. 7 https://www.fair-labour-mobility.eu/. 8 https://www.faire-mobilitaet.de/fachinformationen/brancheninformationen/fleischindustrie/.”
EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers · EU housing policy
- 2026-04-13 “P-000979/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission agrees on the strategic importance of labour mobility and posting of workers in the Single Market. Labour mobility is regularly monitored by the annual report on Intra-EU labour mobility 1 as well as Eurobarometer surveys 2 and the reporting on social security coordination 3 . The difficulties created by cumbersome procedures for the posting of workers have been identified among the ten most harmful barriers in the Single Market Strategy 4 (Terrible Ten). As announced in the 2026 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report 5 , the Commission services, together with the European Labour Authority, are working to develop a key performance indicator for the 2027 edition of this report related to the posting of workers. As announced in the Commission work programme for 2026 6 , the Fair Labour Mobility Package is intended to contain a proposal for a European Social Security Pass, a proposal to strengthen the European Labour Authority, which would also address better enforcement of posting rules, and a Skills Portability Initiative. The initiatives would be prepared by making use of the above-mentioned reports, extensive consultations and impact assessments, thus constituting an evidence-based set of actions facilitating free movement of workers, labour mobility and posting of workers. 1 https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2767/0650998, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2767/2077850. 2 For example, Special Eurobarometer 528: European citizens’ attitudes towards labour mobility, https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2671. 3 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/moving-working-europe/facts-andfigures-intra-eu-labour-mobility-and-eu-social-security-coordination_en. 4 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1274. 5 https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/publications/2026-annual-single-market-and-competitivenessreport_en. 6 https://commission.europa.eu/publications/2026-commission-work-programme-and-annexes_en.”
EU competences on social policies · EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers
- 2026-04-13 “E-000508/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission attaches high importance to fostering youth entrepreneurship across the EU, including in the digital field. In the 2014-2020 programming period, which is currently closing, the Youth Employment Initiative mobilised over EUR 500 million to finance training, work experience and entrepreneurship support programmes for unemployed young people in Greece. Similar measures are currently funded by the European Social Fund Plus allocation (at least approximately EUR 700 million) in the 2021-2027 programming period. Furthermore, the Digital Europe Programme 1 provides funding for equipping the workforce with the advance digital skills. The education and training offer in digital areas like AI, data, computer science, quantum, cybersecurity, robotics is available throughout all Members States, with Greece well represented 2 . Under Horizon Europe, promising companies, such as Brite Hellas in Greece, are supported. In addition, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) through its Knowledge and Innovation Communities offers a wide range of entrepreneurship activities 3 . Moreover, the EIT implements the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme, which aims to reduce Europe’s regional innovation disparities. Under the latter, an EIT Community Hub operates today in Athens. Finally, the Commission collaborates with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for instance with the ‘Missing Entrepreneurs’ publication series 4 and the Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy (recently terminated) 5 , to help Member States to fully develop their youth entrepreneurship potential and hopefully reduce existing disparities within the EU. 1 Digital Europe Programme includes funding for advance digital skills topics of EUR 400.5 million in the period 2021-2027, https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/digital-europeprogramme_en. 2 Greece’s participation in the Digital Europe Programme Advanced digital skills signed grants: Greek entities are present in 26 ongoing projects out of total 59, and Greece EU funding amounts to EUR 19.46 million. 3 For information on the amount of funds committed in EIT grants towards Greek entities and key results achieved in Greece, see https://www.eit.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2025-07/Greece%202024%20Country%20Factsheet.pdf. 4 https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-missing-entrepreneurs-2023_230efc78-en.html. 5 https://yepa-hub.org/.”
Research priorities within the EU
- 2026-04-10 “E-000571/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is strengthening the evidence base on the impact of AI on labour markets and workplaces. It has launched several initiatives, including two Social Situation Monitor research notes 1 providing new evidence on AI and employment in the EU, and the AIMWORK survey (2024–2025) 2 , which delivers representative data across all Member States on the use of AI, digital monitoring and algorithmic management. In addition, the Commission has collected the views of European citizens on the use of AI and the future of work through a Eurobarometer survey published in 2025. Finally, as announced in the Apply AI Strategy 3 , the Commission will continue to monitor the impact of AI via the AI Observatory, which will provide indicators to assess its impact across sectors. This work will inform the activities of the European Skills Intelligence Observatory, announced in the Union of Skills 4 , with which appropriate synergies will be ensured The Commission is committed to ensuring that evidence on the impact of AI and digital technologies on labour markets informs effective policy action. In December 2025, the Commission presented the Quality Jobs Roadmap 5 , setting out concrete actions to promote high-quality and future-proof jobs in the EU. In parallel, it launched a two-stage consultation with social partners on the Quality Jobs Act, announced in the President of the Commission’s 2025 State of the Union address. The first stage ended on 29 January 2026. Both the roadmap and the ongoing consultation with social partners address the use of AI and algorithmic management in the workplace. 1 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/analysis-evaluation-impact-assessmentand-databases/employment-and-social-analysis/social-situation-monitor_en. 2 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC143072. 3 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/apply-ai. 4 https://commission.europa.eu/topics/competitiveness/union-skills_en. 5 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2917.”
EU policy on permanent and fixed-term employment · Artificial Intelligence
- 2026-04-10 “E-000588/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Since 2021, the mobilisation of the European globalisation adjustment fund (EGF) is based solely on significant economic impact on the local or regional economy, specifically a minimum threshold of 200 job displacements in a set period, not the cause of redundancies. On 26 February 2026, co-legislators reached a political agreement to expand the EGF 1 , introducing anticipatory support for workers at risk of job displacement. Companies in restructuring can now access EGF co-financing for upskilling and reskilling, vocational counselling and guidance, for at-risk workers. The EGF operates with a maximum annual budget of EUR 30 million (2018 prices) with no applications rejected due to budget limitations. In 2025, 60% of the available funds were utilised. While the expanded scope – including anticipatory support – may drive higher demand, sufficient capacity remains before reaching the annual ceiling. The automotive package includes several measures to provide the automotive industry with the necessary incentives to increase investments and scale-up production of clean vehicles in the EU. The Battery Booster initiative 2 allocates EUR 1.8 billion to accelerate the development of a fully EU-based battery value chain, essential for relocating production to the EU. In the proposed revision of the CO2 emission standards 3 , the production of small electric vehicles in the EU is rewarded with supercredits. The clean corporate vehicles proposal 4 reserves public funding for the corporate uptake of low-emission and zero-emission vehicles to vehicles made in the EU. The EU content requirements in the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act 5 aim at boosting manufacturing of vehicles, batteries and automotive components in the EU. 1 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-welcomes-political-agreement-broadereuropean-globalisation-adjustment-fund-supporting-2026-02-26_en Inclusion. 2 https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-funding-climate-action/innovation-fund/battery-booster-facility_en. 3 COM(2025) 995 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52025PC0995. 4 COM(2025) 994 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2025%3A994%3AFIN. 5 COM(2026) 100 final, https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/publications/industrial-accelerator-act_en.”
EU policy on forced redundancies · European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
- 2026-04-10 “E-000325/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The EU legislation on occupational safety and health (OSH), aims at preventing all workrelated accidents and diseases. EU OSH Directives lay down minimum requirements and Member States may adopt more stringent measures. Among others, the EU OSH Framework Directive 89/391/EEC 1 sets out the general obligations for employers, who are required to assess all risks at work and to take appropriate preventive and protective measures. While enforcement of national provisions transposing EU Directives in the field of OSH, including labour inspections and control mechanisms, is primarily the responsibility of Member States, the Commission promotes better and equivalent enforcement with an aim of achieving zero deaths at work, through actions taken by the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee. The Commission (Eurostat) collects statistics on accidents at work 2 and occupational diseases 3 reported by Member States’ statistical authorities. Data quality, including underreporting, is regularly reviewed by relevant Commission expert groups. This includes refining methodologies, analysing coverage and comparability, and encouraging more consistent reporting practices across Member States. Vision Zero, referred to in the EU Strategic Framework for Health and Safety at Work 2021 – 2027 4 , is the overall aim to achieve zero work-related deaths, calling on all relevant actors to take appropriate measures. However, this approach – while beneficial – is legally not binding. 1 OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01989L039120081211. 2 Data collection implemented by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work. 3 European occupational diseases statistics - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/experimental-statistics/europeanoccupational-diseases-statistics. 4 https://osha.europa.eu/en/safety-and-health-legislation/eu-strategic-framework-health-and-safety-work-20212027.”
EU competences on social policies · EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-04-07 “E-000753/2026 Answer given by Ms Minzatu on behalf of the European Commission Directive 2005/36/EC 1 facilitates free movement of professionals in the internal market by setting the rules for recognition of qualifications for access to a regulated profession in another Member State than the one where the qualifications were obtained. Certain professions, including midwives, benefit from automatic recognition based on minimum training requirements set out under Directive 2005/36/EC. Directive 2005/36/EC does not aim to fully harmonise training requirements for any profession. In line with Articles 165 and 166 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Member States are responsible for the organisation of their education and training systems while full harmonisation is excluded regarding any EU supporting measures. Moreover, in line with Article 168(7) TFEU, Member States are responsible for the definition of their health policy and for the delivery of health services and medical care. To ensure that the EU level rules remain fit for purpose, the Commission may adopt delegated acts to update the minimum training requirements in the light of the generally acknowledged scientific and technical progress. In view of that objective and based on the results of a study 2 published in July 2025 and preceded by a thorough mapping of education and training requirements across the EU and broad stakeholder consultations, the Commission is looking into adopting a delegated act updating the minimum requirements for the profession of midwife in 2026, in compliance with its empowerment under the Directive. The Member States and the European Parliament will be duly involved in this process in compliance with Article 57c of the Directive. Any draft act will also be subject to public feedback on Have Your Say website 3 . 1 Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications, OJ L 255, 30.9.2005, p. 22–142 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2005/36/oj/eng. 2 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9585c119-5e0a-11f0-a9d0-01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say_en.”
Sexuality and reproduction · Gender roles, equality and inclusion
- 2026-03-27 “E-000428/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Alert Mechanism set out in Directive 2005/36/EC 1 concerns professionals who are prohibited or restricted from pursuing professional activities in a Member State. The Directive lists the professions covered by alerts, including doctors and requires Member States to send alerts through the Internal Market Information (IMI) system. Therefore, it serves as a single mandatory EU-level mutual warning system, ensuring that all competent authorities registered in IMI can instantly receive alerts. In line with the division of competencies in this area between the EU and the Member States, it is for the host Member States to decide how to follow up on alerts within their legal and operational frameworks. The Implementation Report adopted on 20 February 2026 2 concludes that the EU legal framework facilitates cross-border mobility, while safeguarding general interest objectives such as service quality and public safety. The Report also indicates that the recognition processes could be further improved, particularly through digitalisation and it informs the upcoming skills portability initiative 3 . The Commission is regularly monitoring the Alert Mechanism. New guidelines and training on its features and use was provided to over 500 competent authorities in December 2025. Additional IT developments of the Alert Mechanism are planned to be deployed through March and April 2026. The Commission has also organised discussions with Member States’ experts to facilitate exchange of best practices. Without prejudice to the competences of the Member States in the areas of healthcare and education 4 , the Commission will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the system and consider further improvements. 1 Professional Qualifications Directive, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02005L0036-20251029. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2026%3A86%3AFIN&qid=1771867093407. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15894-Skills-portability-action-2facilitating-modernising-and-expanding-recognition-processes-for-regulated-professions_en. 4 The definition of health policy, the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care as well as the organisation of education systems, are the responsibilities of Member States.”
EU competences on health (internal-competence axis, sharpened)
- 2026-03-26 “E-000307/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 1. The methodology and criteria used for the selection of operations - according to Article 110 2(a) of the Common Provisions Regulation 1 - was examined and approved by the monitoring committee - where the Commission was represented. The project’s content was to reach out to unemployed/inactive young people under the age of 25 who are not in education or training and to help them gain access to adequate activation, qualification and employment opportunities. Particular attention was paid to young people who have not yet received any support services provided under the German Social Code book (SGB) II and III. 2. The Commission measures the impact of a given European Social Fund (ESF) programme by using indicators (output/result) on the programme level and not at project level. In general, successful participation in such measures occurs when participants remain in the projects until the end of the planned measure or start some work or training. 3. The ESF in Germany is implemented under shared management rules. The tasks to be carried out by the programme authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate are based on Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and 1304/2013 as well as on other implementing regulations. The Member States bear the responsibility for selecting the projects (in line with the approved methodology and criteria used for the selection of operations). This includes the implementation entrusted to agencies and bodies at state and local level. The ‘Youth scout’ funding approach was discontinued on 30 June 2022, to avoid duplication of funding, as a comparable measure was introduced in section 16h of the Social Code Book II (SGBII) and gradually expanded nationwide. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1303/oj/eng.”
Funding for vocational training · Youth employment & training · EU expenditure on social policy
- 2026-03-23 “E-000391/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission explores various policy initiatives to attract and retain doctors, including from outside the EU, to mitigate the shortages on the labour market. Medical professional qualifications are subject to the most advantageous recognition regime envisaged by Directive 2005/36/EC 1 (‘Professional Qualifications Directive’), i.e., the automatic system. This includes doctors with basic training, general practitioners and specialist doctors. The application process for doctors is usually easier and takes less time than a typical process for other professions covered by the so-called general system. Nevertheless, the Commission is exploring potential measures to accelerate recognition procedures for doctors. Under Action 2 of the Skills Portability Initiative 2 , a forthcoming policy initiative within the Fair Labour Mobility package 3 , the Commission is considering measures – including through digitalisation – to modernise procedures for recognition of qualifications to access regulated professions, including medical professions. In addition, within Action 3 of the Skills Portability Initiative 4 , one of the options being assessed is a legislative proposal for common rules to simplify procedures for the recognition of qualifications and skills of third-country nationals. The upcoming EU Talent Pool 5 will also facilitate recruitment of jobseekers outside the EU, including doctors. The recruitment and professional integration of doctors and ensuring access to postgraduate training and specialisation pathways remain responsibility of Member States 6 . The objective of the Commission initiatives is to remove administrative barriers for the fair mobility of doctors while safeguarding public health objectives. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02005L0036-20251029. 2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15894-Skills-portability-action-2facilitating-modernising-and-expanding-recognition-processes-for-regulated-professions_en complemented by https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15892-Skills-portability-action-1facilitating-worker-mobility-across-the-EU-through-skills-transparency-and-digitalisation_en, particularly as regards utilising digital credentials. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15553-Fair-labour-mobilitypackage_en. 4 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15893-Skills-portability-action-3simplifying-the-recognition-of-qualifications-and-skills-of-third-country-nationals_en. 5 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-promoting-our-european-way-of-life/file-eu-talent-pool. 6 The Member States competences include the definition of health policy, the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care as well as the organisation of education systems.”
EU competences on health
- 2026-03-23 “E-000412/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission considers that exposure to extreme temperatures at work is an important risk factor for workers’ occupational safety and health (OSH). The EU OSH Framework Directive 89/391/EEC 1 sets out the general obligations for employers, who are required to assess all risks at work, including those arising from exposure to high temperatures when workers are or can be exposed to such risks, and to take appropriate preventive and protective measures which shall take into account vulnerable workers. A number of other EU OSH Directives include more detailed provisions with regard to temperature at work, such as the Workplace 2 , Construction Sites 3 , the Fishing Vessels 4 and the two Extractive Industries Directives 56 . For example, the Construction Directive specifies in its Annex IV that ’During working hours, the temperature must be appropriate for human beings, having regard to the working methods used and the physical demands placed on the workers’, and that ‘The temperature in rest areas, rooms for duty staff, sanitary facilities, canteens and first-aid rooms must be appropriate to the particular purpose of such areas’. Similar provisions exist in the other mentioned Directives. In addition, the Commission currently assesses whether the EU OSH legal framework remains fit for purpose, and plans to adopt in 2026 a new European framework to strengthen resilience to, and management of, climate change related risks 7 . Furthermore, EU-OSHA published the guide ‘Heat at Work – Guidance for Workplaces’ 8 as well as the Online Interactive Risk Assessment Tool (OiRA) ‘Heat and cold’ 9 . In addition, the European Climate and Health Observatory provides information on the impacts of heat on the health, wellbeing and productivity of workers. 1 OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1, Council Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A31989L0391. 2 OJ L 393, 30.12.1989, pp. 1–12, Council Directive 89/654/EEC concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1989/654/oj/eng. 3 OJ L 245, 26.8.1992, p. 6, Council Directive 92/57/EEC on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile construction sites - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/57/oj/eng. 4 OJ L 307, 13.12.1993, p. 1, Council Directive 93/103/EC concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for work on board fishing vessels - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1993/103/oj/eng. 5 OJ L 404, 31.12.1992, p. 10, Council Directive 92/104/EEC on the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in surface and underground mineral-extracting industries - https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/104/oj/eng. 6 OJ L 348, 28.11.1992, p. 9, Council Directive 92/91/EEC concerning the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in the mineral- extracting industries through drilling - https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/91/oj/eng. 7 https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/adaptation-and-resilience-climate-change/european-climate-resilienceand-risk-management-integrated-framework_en. 8 https://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/heat-work-guidance-workplaces. 9 https://osha.europa.eu/en/highlights/beat-heat-work-summer-oira.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions · EU competences on social policies
- 2026-03-20 “E-000268/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission In December 2025, the Commission and the UK successfully concluded negotiations for the UK to associate to Erasmus+ as of 1 January 2027, based on the 2025 EU-UK Common Understanding 1 . Both parties are now formalising the conclusion of the negotiations, in accordance with their respective legal procedures and frameworks. UK universities must meet all the quality criteria set out in the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education 2 (ECHE) to join the programme. The Commission is politically committed and legally bound to ensuring that organisations and individuals that do not respect EU values – such as the rule of law, respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities – do not receive EU financial support. The Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) 3 provides a mechanism whereby entities in breach of EU values 4 can be excluded from EU funding. Regular checks, monitoring and auditing of EU-funded projects are performed systematically across grant agreements in all programme actions and management modes. Should the Commission or the implementing bodies become aware of evidence of such activities, they may take appropriate action, including termination of ongoing projects, withdrawal of ECHE accreditation and initiation of EDES procedure to exclude entities concerned from future EU financing 5 . The Commission monitors the implementation of Erasmus+ to ensure compliance with the applicable rules and procedures as well as sound financial management by supervising the activities of national agencies and of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency in the allocation of Erasmus+ funds. The Commission also carries out supervisory visits, desk checks and specific audits where necessary. 1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_1267. 2 https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/erasmus-charter-for-higher-education. 3 Article 137 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast), OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj. 4 Article 138(1)(c)(vi) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. 5 As the Commission noted in its reply to written question E-004933/2025, the analysis of Gaziantep Islam Science and Technology University activities and investigation are ongoing.”
EU policy on Islam · Governance of academic priorities within the EU
- 2026-03-20 “E-004221/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The recently presented Pact for the Mediterranean 1 sets out a new ambitious strategy to strengthen EU relations with its southern Mediterranean partners. Investing in people, in growth and mobility, will reinforce the cultural, academic, social, and economic relationships between the two sides of the Mediterranean that will make Europe and the region stronger and more resilient. The Pact also focuses on security and preparedness and promotes a comprehensive approach to migration management. There is no expansion of the Erasmus+ programme. The possibility for short term student exchanges from any region in the world towards the EU, including from the Southern Mediterranean, already exists under the international dimension of Erasmus+. This is financed through funding stemming from the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI – Global Europe), which currently enables the mobility of around 6 000 students per year. Erasmus+ promotes exchange and mobility of knowledge, skills, and talent across borders, contributing to brain circulation, not migration, whereby students study for a limited amount of time (from two months to one academic year) at an institution in the EU as part of their studies in their home country. Students return to their home country to finalise their studies, bringing back new skills and perspectives. Several international studies point towards the positive impact of international student mobility in terms of enhancing teaching and research quality, fostering intercultural learning, driving innovation, and strengthening universities’ global engagement. At the same time, international students contribute also significantly to local economies. 1 JOIN(2025) 26 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025JC0026.”
EU and national cultural identities
- 2026-03-18 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 18.3.2026 Written question 1. The Commission did not have elements pointing to breaches of EU occupational safety and health (OSH) directives in the coal-fired plants like the Taranto steelworks when it launched an infringement procedure linked to the Taranto steelworks plant with regard to Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions [1] . 2. As regards workers’ protection, Member States must transpose EU OSH d irectives into their national legislation. The primary responsibility for properly enforcing national legislation transposing EU directives lies with relevant national authorities [2] . 3. The imperative to further decrease OSH related fatalities, accidents and ill health remains a key objective under the current EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027 [3] , that builds on previous strategies that have seen substantial improvements in occupational safety and health. The Commission ensures that Member States apply rulings from the Court of Justice of the EU through a structured enforcement process primarily governed by Article 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. An infringement procedure is ongoing since 2013 on Italy’s failure to fully and correctly transpose and implement Directive 2010/75/EU as interpreted by the Court of Justice in Case C-626/22 [4] , and on its failure to ensure that the Taranto plant operates in compliance with that directive. In this context, the Commission sent an additional letter of formal notice to Italy on 7 May 2025 [5] to which Italy has replied on 4 July and 4 September 2025. The Commission is currently assessing these replies. [1] Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial and livestock rearing emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, p. 17-119, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1785 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 April 2024 OJ L, 2024/1785, 15.7.2024. [2] Relevant inspectorates or equivalent bodies. [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021DC0323&qid=1626089672913#PP1Contents . [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62022CJ0626. [5] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_25_982#_blank .”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-03-18 “Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 18.3.2026 Written question 1. The Commission is aware of Rheinmetall’s plan. 2. The Commission does not monitor corporate strategies of individual companies and has no legal powers to intervene in discussions between management and worker's representatives on restructuring plans. However, the EU legal framework provides for minimum requirements on social dialogue within undertakings, including about obligations to inform and consult workers at national or transnational level in the process of restructuring. Directive 98/59/EC ] requires employers that contemplate collective redundancies to consult staff representatives in good time with a view to an agreement and to notify the competent public authority to seek solutions to the problems raised by redundancies. 3. As regards monitoring tools, under the Clean Industrial Deal [1] , the Commission will launch in March 2026 a European Fair Transition Observatory (EFTO), a two-year pilot project to support policy monitoring and strengthen the evidence base on the impact of industrial transformation and the transition to climate neutrality. It focuses on employment trends and transition management, quality of jobs and broader social and distributional impact of industrial change. Specifically, as set out in the Automotive Action Plan, EFTO also aims to pinpoint expected future ‘hot spots’ of employment dislocations and inform forward-looking interventions to address them. One of the thematic reports produced as part of the project will be dedicated to this topic. EFTO can help [2] provide evidence on actions and best practices needed to ensure that transitions are aligned with EU industrial policies and clean transition objectives. EFTO aims to have a detailed sectoral dimension, covering also the automotive sector. [1] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/competitiveness/clean-industrial-deal_en. [2] Through policy mapping, best practice identification and quantitative data collection.”
EU policy on screening foreign investment in strategic sectors and critical infrastructure · Ownership of strategic assets · EU industrial funding
- 2026-03-17 “P-000710/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission As of end February 2026, 22 out of the 27 Member States have notified the complete transposition of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union 1 . Three Member States have notified partial transposition and two have not yet notified any transposition measures. The Commission is closely monitoring the state of play of the transposition process in the few Member States that have not yet notified full transposition of this Directive and will take appropriate action if necessary. In parallel, the Commission is currently carrying out the compliance assessment of the transposition measures that have been notified by Member States, in line with what is foreseen in this respect in the Better Regulation Guidelines and Toolbox 2 . In the context of this assessment, the Commission will also check the compliance with Article 6 of the Directive of any national provision that establishes a variation of the statutory minimum wage for prison inmates, provided that they fall within the personal scope of the Directive. This will be the case where they have an employment relationship as defined by law, collective agreements or practice in force in each Member State, with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2041/oj/eng. 2 See, in particular, Tool #39 of the Better Regulation Toolbox: https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-makingprocess/better-regulation/better-regulation-guidelines-and-toolbox/better-regulation-toolbox_en.”
EU competences on social policies · Minimum wages harmonisation at EU level
- 2026-03-17 “E-000305/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission 1. The success of European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) measures is assessed by output and result indicators stipulated in the ESF+ programme. To measure the impact a postimplementation assessment is conducted by the Member State/Bundesland authority in line with the shared management principle. The Managing Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate also publishes annual Implementation and Evaluation Reports 1 . 2. The Monitoring Committee for a given programme under the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) 2 approves the methodology and criteria used for the selection of operations, including any changes thereto according to Article 40 2(a) of the CPR. The Member States bear the responsibility for selecting the projects (in line with the approved methodology and selection criteria) for controlling and auditing them. 3. The ESF+ support for a given programme is defined in the programme document negotiated between the Member State/Bundesland and the Commission - and approved by the latter. There, the concrete and verifiable European added value is described at programme and not at project level. During its preparation, the funding needs are identified in a socioeconomic analysis provided by the Member State/Bundesland. 1 https://esf.rlp.de/esf-programm/monitoring-evaluation. 2 Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1060.”
Youth employment & training · Funding for vocational training
- 2026-03-13 “E-000107/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022 1 sets out the measures for the protection of the EU budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary. The measures are proportionate and temporary, pending Hungary’s remedy of identified rule of law deficiencies, in particular the risks of conflicts of interests in the boards of so-called ‘public interest trusts’ 2 . The cooperation with legal person, entity or body established in Russia was restricted following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and it is prohibited to provide direct or indirect support, including financing and financial assistance or any other benefit, to the categories of entities listed in Article 5(l) paragraph 1 (a) and (b) of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 3 . Researcher mobility for persons established in Russia under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of Horizon Europe 4 has been suspended, as has academic staff mobility under Erasmus+. The only remaining form of participation of students from Russia falls under the exception set out in Article 5(l) paragraph 2(e) concerning mobility exchanges for individuals and people-to-people contacts. This very limited participation is kept under continuous review; it is the subject of a dedicated assessment to grant the exception and may be further restricted should the sanctions framework evolve. Partners from Southern Mediterranean countries continue to benefit from the already existing opportunities under the relevant actions of the Erasmus+ programme, funded through additional budget from the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument -Global Europe 5 . The Commission is committed to ensure that no one receives EU funding if involved in any activities incompatible with EU values. 1 OJ L, 2022/2506, 15.12.2022 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2022/2506). 2 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/ip_24_6465/IP_24_6465_EN.pdf. 3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02014R0833-20251219. 4 https://rea.ec.europa.eu/funding-and-grants/horizon-europe-marie-sklodowska-curie-actions_en. 5 https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/new-%E2%80%98ndici-global-europe%E2%80%99-2021-2027_en.”
EU-Ukraine relations · Rule of law in Hungary
- 2026-03-09 “E-004798/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Erasmus+ programme is committed to promoting equal opportunities and access, inclusiveness, and fairness across its actions while also adhering strictly to regulations that ensure fair and transparent management. When the Commission becomes aware of any suspected cases of fraud, corruption or other illegal activities affecting the EU budget, it informs the European Anti-Fraud Office and, where applicable, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. In this specific case, the Commission is actively verifying the matter with the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation. The Commission has requested comprehensive explanations from the Foundation regarding their management practices, award procedures and oversight activities. This approach aims to ensure compliance with EU obligations and the protection of the reputation of EU-funded initiatives across Member States. Should there be any indications of potential fraud, corruption or other illegal activities affecting the EU budget, the Commission will refer the matter to the competent investigative bodies.”
Accounting and auditing of EU budget · Conditions to access EU budget
- 2026-03-09 “E-000403/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The minimum requirements set by the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions 1 , Work-life Balance 2 , and the Working Time 3 Directives give specific form to fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundaments Rights 4 . The Framework Directive 89/391/EEC 5 and the related EU Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Directives set minimum requirements for the health and safety protection of workers. They require, in particular, that the employer evaluates all occupational risks and puts in place preventive and protective measures. The primary responsibility for properly enforcing national legislation transposing EU Directives lies with national authorities 6 . Pursuant to Article 4 of the Framework Directive, Member States must ensure, in particular, adequate controls and supervision of the application of the national transposing provisions. In this regard, Member States are competent to decide on the organisation of enforcement authorities/labour inspectorates and on the nature, frequency, procedure and other characteristics of such controls. Directive 2012/18 7 , covers establishments where dangerous substances may be present in quantities exceeding certain thresholds. Pursuant to its Article 5, Member States have to ensure that operators of such establishments take all necessary measures to prevent major accidents and to limit their consequences for human health and the environment. Operators must prove, at any time, that they have taken these measures, in particular for the purpose of inspections, which Member States are required to perform pursuant to its Article 20. However, pursuant to information available to the Commission, such requirements do not apply to the concerned factory. 1 Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union, OJ L 186, p. 105 (https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1152/oj/eng). 2 Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, OJ L 188, 12.7.2019, p. 79 (https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1158/oj/eng). 3 Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, p. 9 (https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2003/88/oj/eng). 4 They aim, respectively, to improve working conditions by promoting more transparent and predictable work for workers in all sectors of activity, address women’s underrepresentation in the labour market by designing worklife balance arrangements, such as leaves and flexible working arrangements, and to regulate working time and rest time in all sectors of activity. 5 Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work, OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A31989L0391). 6 Relevant labour inspectorates or equivalent bodies. 7 Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of majoraccident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC, OJ L 197, 24.7.2012, p. 1 (Seveso-III-Directive, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2012/18/oj/eng).”
EU competences on social policies · EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2026-03-06 “E-000161/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission In the context of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness 1 , the Commission already supports the development of integrated policy responses to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, including adequate and timely provision of emergency accommodation. Through strengthening evidence on homelessness, mutual learning activities for policy makers and practitioners and promoting funding possibilities, the Platform facilitates implementation of effective approaches in outreach, emergency accommodation and provision of services, in line with the objectives of the Lisbon Declaration. Under the European Social Fund + (ESF+), eligible measures to support homeless people in regions like Sicily combine food and basic material assistance, shelter services, and integrated social inclusion pathways. A concrete example includes the call for proposals ‘Integra’ 2 , cofinanced by the national ESF+ programme ’Social inclusion 2021-2027’, while several projects addressing homelessness in Sicily were also supported under the operational programme ‘Metropolitan cities 2014-2020 3 ’ and further opportunities will continue under the national programme ‘Metropolitan cities plus 2021-2027 4 ’. Finally, a dedicated work strand of the Platform 5 focuses on strengthening the evidence base and monitoring of homelessness across Member States. Within this work strand the Commission financially supports multiple projects which aim to improve data comparability through common methodologies and analytical tools 6 , including the Monitoring Framework on Homelessness Data and Measurement 7 . 1 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/social-protection-socialinclusion/addressing-poverty-and-supporting-social-inclusion/homelessness_en. 2 https://trasparenza.lavoro.gov.it/archivio105_delibera-anac-n-6012023-procedure_0_94_984_1.html. 3 Relevant ESF projects include, for example, the following ones : ‘Poli diurni e notturni’ in Palermo (https://www.pnmetroplus.it/progetto/?codice=PA3.2.2.a), ‘Accompagnamento all'abitare’ in Messina (https://www.pnmetroplus.it/progetto/?codice=ME3.1.1.a), and ‘Habito – React’ in Catania (https://ponmetro.comune.catania.it/habito-react/). 4 https://www.pnmetroplus.it/home-2/pon-metro-plus-21-27/pn-metro-21-27-2/. 5 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/social-protection-socialinclusion/addressing-poverty-and-supporting-social-inclusion/homelessness/strengthen-evidencehomelessness_en. 6 https://www.kuleuven.be/lucas/en/eu_homelessness_counts. 7 https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-monitoring-framework-to-measure-homelessness_3e98455ben.html.”
EU housing policy · EU competences on social policies
- 2026-03-02 “P-000399/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission recognises the value of integrating practical work experience into education. Such opportunities can foster personal development and ease young people’s transitions into the modern labour market. At the same time, Directive 94/33/EC 1 on the protection of young people at work sets out the employer’s general obligations to protect and monitor young workers’ health and safety. It lays down minimum standards for working hours, night work, rest periods and breaks for young workers, restricting exposure to overly demanding work. The Commission remains committed to the level of protection ensured by those rules and currently has no plans to amend the Directive and its provision. Importantly, the Commission continues to support the transition from education to employment through dedicated projects targeting young people across the EU, through funding instruments such as the European Social Fund Plus 2 . 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1994/33/oj/eng. 2 https://european-social-fund-plus.ec.europa.eu/en.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions · Youth employment & training
- 2026-02-12 “E-000058/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The upcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy will present a framework to step up the fight against poverty. In the Council Recommendation on establishing the European Child Guarantee (ECG) 1 , the Member States are recommended to step up their investments where necessary. In addition, the Commission will adopt a dedicated initiative to strengthen the ECG, as announced in the 2026 Commission Work Programme 2 . The Commission has also proposed the ECG among four key areas of social measures to be supported by EU funding in the National and Regional Partnership Plans 3 in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. The upcoming EU’s Anti-Poverty Strategy will have both a strong supportive and preventive approach, also in light of increasing cost-of-living pressures. As regards poverty prevention, the ECG plays a crucial role: by guaranteeing access of children in need to key services, it aims to break the transmission of disadvantages across generations. Progress towards the EU’s 2030 child poverty reduction complementary target is monitored through the European Semester, the Social Scoreboard, and the Social Protection Committee’s annual reports 4 . The EU-level monitoring framework for the ECG 5 provides comparable data on children in need’s access to services. The benchmarking framework on childcare and support to children provides additional data of relevance to the fight against child poverty. Monitoring of poverty developments in the EU’s Anti-Poverty Strategy will build on those existing frameworks. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2021.223.01.0014.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2021%3A223%3ATO C. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025DC0870. 3 Annex VI of the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the council establishing the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security for the period 2028-2034 and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 and Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. 4 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/2025-social-protection-committee-annual-reportpublished-2025-11-21_en. 5 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/social-protection-social-inclusion/socialprotection-committee/indicators-sub-group/monitoring-and-benchmarking-frameworks_en?prefLang=fr.”
Support for families · Child poverty policy · EU expenditure on social policy
- 2026-01-28 “E-004510/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Council Directive 89/391/EEC 1 , which applies to all sectors of activity, both public and private, imposes on employers the duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work. In this context, employers are required to identify and assess all risks, physical and psychosocial, to their workers’ health and safety at work, and to take, within the context of their responsibilities, the measures necessary for the safety and health protection of workers. This includes any risks linked to incidents of assault on healthcare workers. Among the preventive and protective measures that must be implemented by employers for the above purpose are the provision to workers of all the necessary information concerning the safety and health risks that they face and the protective and preventive measures and activities implemented to address them, as well as of adequate safety and health training. The Commission will continue its efforts in cooperation with the Member States to ensure the effective application and enforcement of these provisions. While the Commission at this stage does not intend to establish a system to monitor attacks on health workers, it has supported, under an EU4Health-funded action, the European Mental Health or Nurses and Doctors survey (MeND) 2 , which provided data on workplace conditions affecting mental health and well-being of health professionals, including exposure to violence at work. As part of an EUR 11 million contribution agreement with the World Health Organization, this action will also provide further capacity-building support to Member States to improve the mental health of health workers. 1 Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (OJ L 183 29.6.1989, p. 1) - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01989L0391-20081211. 2 https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2025-12709-52483-81031.”
EU competences on health
- 2026-01-22 “E-004359/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission actions are guided by the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) which also promotes fair working conditions, the right to access early childhood education and care (ECEC) and timely access to affordable, preventive and curative healthcare of good quality. Directive 2019/1152 1 sets out minimum requirements promoting transparent and predictable working conditions. Directive 2003/88 2 lays down minimum requirements for the protection of the health and safety of workers by regulating working time. Alongside the Work-life balance Directive 3 , these instruments reflect fair working conditions principles from the EPSR and rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundaments Rights 4 . The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child sets out a framework to protect the rights of all children, supported by the Council Recommendations establishing a European Child Guarantee 5 and on Early Childhood Education and Care: Barcelona targets for 2030 6 and the Commission Recommendation on integrated child protection systems 7 . While their implementation lies within the remits of national competences, the Commission supports it, including through funding 8 and monitoring. The Roadmap on Women’s Rights 9 promotes women’s health, including antenatal care, sexual and reproductive health, respecting Member States’ competence to organise their health systems. In line with the EPSR, the Commission supports the Member States including through the EU4Health programme 10 , and facilitating the exchange of good practices. 1 Directive 2019/1152/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions, OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, p. 105–121. https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1152/oj/eng. 2 Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, p. 9. https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2003/88/oj/eng. 3 Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU. https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1158/oj/eng. 4 e.g. right to working conditions which respect health, safety and dignity, limitation of maximum working hours, rest periods and paid annual leave. 5 Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2021/1004/oj/eng. 6 Council Recommendation 2022/C 484/01 of 8 December 2022 on early childhood education and care: the Barcelona targets for 2030. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32022H1220(01). 7 Commission Recommendation (EU) 2024/1238 of 23 April 2024 on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2024/1238/oj/eng. 8 e.g. European Social Fund Plus. 9 Communication COM/2025/97 final on A Roadmap for Women's Rights. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025DC0097. 10 Regulation 2021/522 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 March 2021 establishing a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health (‘EU4Health Programme’) for the period 2021-2027. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/522/oj/eng.”
EU policy on permanent and fixed-term employment · EU competences on social policies · Support for families
- 2026-01-15 “E-003903/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The 2023 Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion 1 serves as the guiding compass for national minimum income schemes. The 2025 Joint Report of the Commission and the Social Protection Committee 2 identifies opportunities to improve the Spanish minimum income scheme, particularly by establishing a clear methodology for setting benefit levels, speeding up the benefit approval process and providing further targeted labour market measures for beneficiaries. It also flags Spain as one of the six Member States, which do not have fully non-discriminatory eligibility criteria. The Commission is aware of the recent report from the Spanish Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility 3 , and its concerns about the activation component. During the 2025 European Semester cycle, the Commission analysed the evolution of Spain’s minimum income 4 and child support complement 5 , noting their key role in tackling poverty but also persistent challenges, notably low take-up rates 6 . Moreover, the 2025 Report mentioned above shows that in Spain minimum income recipients are more likely to be placed on standard activation measures, not targeted to their needs as minimum income recipients. To address these challenges, Spain is pursuing targeted support, system reforms and improved regional management. For instance, one of the investments under Spain’s Recovery and Resilience Plan aims to better link social inclusion policies with the minimum income scheme, as included in the seventh instalment 7 . The Commission will monitor the implementation of the 2025 Country Specific Recommendation for Spain 8 , on reducing child poverty and improving the efficiency, coverage, and adequacy of social transfers and assistance. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=oj:JOC_2023_041_R_0001 - (2023/C 41/01). 2 Joint Report of the European Commission and the Social Protection Committee: ‘The 2025 Minimum Income Report. An overview of the implementation of the 2023 Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion across EU Member States’ (adopted by the SPC on 23 September 2025). 3 https://www.airef.es/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMV/Opinion.pdf. 4 Ingreso Mínimo Vital – IMV. 5 Complemento de Ayuda para la Infancia – CAPI. 6 https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/document/download/a712afe4-d94e-4333-8333e8bc1ab63f1e_en?filename=ES_CR_SWD_2025_209_1_EN_autre_document_travail_service_part1_v4.pdf. 7 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-13075-2025-ADD-1/en/pdf. 8 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3983/oj/eng.”
Minimum income harmonisation at EU level · European Semester (social dimension)
- 2026-01-15 “E-004559/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission In 2016, the Commission launched a proposal to revise Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and No 987/2009 on the coordination of social security systems 1 . The legislative process is still ongoing. With regard to the coordination of unemployment benefits for persons who reside in a Member State other than where they work (frontier or other cross-border workers), the Commission proposes to make the Member State of most recent employment competent for the payment of the benefit, provided that the unemployed person worked there for a sufficiently long period of time. The proposed change would make the Member State that collected the social security contributions responsible for the payment of unemployment benefits. Such change would address the concerns raised in the question of the Honourable Members regarding budgetary impact of the current regulation for some Member States. Under the rules in Article 91 of Regulation (EC) 987/2009, currently in place, national authorities are required to compile national statistics on the application of the social security coordination Regulations, including on the coordination of unemployment benefits. These data are collected and organised according to the plan and method defined by the Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems. On the basis of these data, the Commission publishes annual statistical reports on intra-EU labour mobility and EU social security coordination 2 . The Commission has not proposed amendments in relation to this general reporting obligation. 1 COM(2016) 815 final - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52016PC0815. 2 Facts and figures on intra-EU labour mobility and EU social security coordination – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/moving-workingeurope/facts-and-figures-intra-eu-labour-mobility-and-eu-social-security-coordination_en.”
EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers
- 2026-01-13 “E-004325/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission confirms that the project ‘M.Punkt RLP – Mach’ Dein Dorf’ was cofinanced from the European Social Fund (ESF) programme Rhineland-Palatinate between 2009 and 2013. 1. The ESF in Germany is implemented in one national and several regional programmes (e.g. Rhineland-Palatinate) and it is managed under shared management rules. Member States are responsibile for selecting the projects (e.g. assessing the proportionality of a given project, trustworthiness of the beneficiaries) and controlling and auditing them. 2. The ESF support for the project ‘M.Punkt RLP – Mach’ Dein Dorf’ ended in 2013. Since 2014 the project has been receiving national funding from the Ministry of the Interior and Sport of Rhineland-Palatinate. 3. The Commission measures the impact of an ESF programme by using indicators (output/result), without looking specifically at project level. However, to measure the impact of a given ESF project (e.g. labour market integration) an assessment is carried out postimplementation. Such an assessment is within the scope of authority of the Member State based on the shared management principle.”
Cohesion and rural funding
- 2026-01-08 “E-004418/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Union only has a supporting role in the area of education. In accordance with Article 165 of the Treaty on the Function of the European Union, the responsibility for the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems falls under Member States’ competence. As with education, admission to a Member State’s territory as well as decisions on issuing residence permits are national competencies.”
EU policy on integration and ethnic, racial and religious discrimination
- 2026-01-08 “E-004329/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission has not taken so far a decision regarding the further steps on infringement case 2021/2057 addressed to Denmark 1 . To ensure equal treatment, the Commission continues to assess the Danish national measures together with the other ongoing infringement cases concerning the Enforcement Directive on the Posting of Workers 2 (Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). Since sending letters of formal notice to 24 Member States in July 2021 and reasoned opinions to 17 Member States in January 2023, including Denmark, the Commission has closed 18 infringement cases. The Commission has also addressed additional letters of formal notice to other Member States in 2025 (Austria, France and Luxembourg), which include similar grievances to the infringement case concerning Denmark. In order to treat the Member States concerned equally, the Commission will continue with the next steps on all the ongoing infringement cases, including Denmark. The Commission would also like to refer to the previous replies to questions E-001880/2025 3 and P-000460/2024 4 . In these replies, the Commission already provided information on the status of the infringement cases for non-conformity of national measures with the Enforcement Directive on the Posting of Workers. 1 https://ec.europa.eu/implementing-eu-law/search-infringementdecisions/?version=v1&typeOfSearch=byCase&activeCase=true&langCode=EN&memberState=DK&page=1& size=10&order=desc&sortColumns=refId&refId=INFR(2021)2057. 2 Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the internal market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’), OJ L 159, 28.5.2014, p. 11-31 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/67/oj/eng. 3 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/-ASW_EN.html. 4 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-9-2024-000460-ASW_EN.html.”
EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers
- 2026-01-08 “E-003998/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) supports Member States with the implementation of the European Child Guarantee (ECG) 1 . The Commission is sending directly to the Honourable Member an annexed table containing indicative amounts for measures programmed under Secondary Theme 06 related to investments addressing child poverty 2 . The ESF+ is implemented under shared management, and Member States are responsible for the selection of individual operations 3 . It is also the responsibility of national and regional authorities to publish lists of operations supported 4 . As regards monitoring data on requests and payments for the ECG, the Common Monitoring Framework introduced in 2024, as set out in paragraph 12 of the ECG Recommendation, is a crucial tool for tracking progress and ensuring accountability in implementing the Child Guarantee. The data feeds into biennial national and Commission reports. The Framework was last updated in June 2025 by the Social Protection Committee to include new indicators on the gaps identified in the areas of access to education, healthcare and healthy nutrition 5 . 1 Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee, OJ L 223, 22.6.2021, p. 14, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2021/1004/oj. 2 These amounts are indicative as secondary themes reflect estimates planned by the Managing Authorities rather than actual budgeted amounts. 3 Article 73(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy, OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, pp. 159–706, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1060/oj. 4 https://european-social-fund-plus.ec.europa.eu/en/in-your-country. 5 https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-framework-monitoring-implementation-europeanchild-guarantee-has-been-updated-2025-06-02_en.”
Child poverty policy · EU expenditure on social policy
- 2026-01-07 “E-004395/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Pact for the Mediterranean 1 sets out a new ambitious strategy. By investing in people, the initiative will reinforce the cultural, academic, social and economic ties that will make Europe stronger and more resilient. It does not result in expanding Erasmus+. The possibility for short term learning exchanges from any region in the world, including the Southern Mediterranean, towards the EU already exists under the international strand of the programme, financed under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument 2 . Under Erasmus+, students study for a limited period (2 to 12 months) at an institution in the EU as part of their studies in their home country, returning to the home country after the mobility period. Overall, Erasmus+ promotes brain circulation, exchange and knowledge mobility and sharing of skills, not migration. Studies show concrete benefits of such mobilities for the EU, including by promoting the EU values. Moreover, the Commission is politically committed and legally bound to ensuring that organisations and individuals that do not respect EU values, such as the rule of law, respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, do not receive EU financial support. A 2024 recast of the Financial Regulation 3 includes an exclusion ground under the Early Detection and Exclusion System for entities engaged in activities contrary to the EU values, where this negatively affects or risks affecting the performance of legal commitments taken under the EU funded programmes. Should the Commission become aware of evidence of such activities, it may take appropriate action by excluding the entities concerned from EU financing. 1 https://north-africa-middle-east-gulf.ec.europa.eu/joint-communication-pact-mediterranean_en. 2 https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/document/download/1d7e2bec-d688-49a1-bcfba67ba667514d_en?filename=ad-mip-2024-c2024-7509-erasmus-annex_en.pdf. 3 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast).”
EU relations with the Southern Neighbourhood · EU-Algeria relations · EU-Syria relations
- 2026-01-06 “E-004380/2025 Answer given by Ms Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Countries in the Maghreb and the Middle East are not associated to Erasmus+ and do not receive a dedicated budget. Yet, higher education students from those regions continue to benefit from the already existing opportunities under the international dimension of Erasmus+ programme, funded by the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument, which include short term student exchanges from any region in the world towards the EU. The Pact for the Mediterranean 1 promotes a comprehensive, whole-of-route and rights-based approach to migration and mobility, which includes pursuing an effective return and readmission policy. When applying for visas, including for study purposes, third-country nationals go through thorough security checks. As part of the general conditions set out under Article 7 of Directive 2016/801 2 , where third-country nationals are considered to pose a threat to public security, they should not be admitted. The Commission is legally bound to ensuring that organisations and individuals that do not respect EU values, such as the rule of law or respect for human rights do not receive EU financial support. EU financial rules include an exclusion ground under the Early Detection and Exclusion System for entities engaged in activities contrary to EU values relevant in the implementation of EU budget. The suspension of Hungarian institutions from the Erasmus+ programme concerns only a limited number of institutions (governed by the so-called public interest trusts) and is based on the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 3 adopted on the basis of Regulation 2020/2092 4 . The suspension is not aimed at Hungarian students and Hungary continues to receive the full Erasmus+ budget. 1 JOIN/2025/26 final (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025JC0026). 2 OJ L 132, 21.5.2016, pp. 21–57 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/801/oj/eng). 3 OJ L 325, 20.12.2022, pp. 94–109 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2022/2506/oj/eng). 4 OJ L 433I, 22.12.2020, pp. 1–10 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/2092/oj/eng).”
EU-Algeria relations · EU-Syria relations
- 2026-01-06 “E-004442/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work 89/391/EEC 1 covers all occupational risks and lays down the main principles of prevention and protection against them. As part of the ongoing review of the Workplace Directive 2 , the Commission is looking at the need to update occupational safety and health protections of workers to modern workplaces, and to further address psychosocial risks. The Commission's communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health aims to improve mental health, including addressing psychosocial risks at work 3 . Other flagships include an ongoing collaboration with the World Health Organization 4 to provide capacity building support to Member States to improve their mental health systems and a multidisciplinary training and exchange programme on mental health aimed at health and other professionals 5 . The Commission also supports the collection and exchange of best practices in the area of mental health, including on psychosocial risks at work 6 . The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work recently published an overview of work-related psychosocial risks in the health and social care sector 7 which recommended, e.g. that organisations in this sector should include psychosocial risks in their regular risk assessments. During 2026-2028, the Agency will carry out a Healthy Workplace Campaign on mental health and psychosocial risks at work. 1 Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1) - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A31989L0391. 2 Council Directive 89/654/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace (OJ L 393, 30.12.1989, p. 1) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31989L0654. 3 https://health.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-06/com_2023_298_1_act_en.pdf. 4 https://www.who.int/europe/activities/partnering-with-the-european-union-(eu)-to-tackle-mental-healthchallenges#:~:text=WHO%20is%20partnering%20with%20the%20European%20Commission%20to,to%20take %20a%20comprehensive%20approach%20to%20mental%20health. 5 https://eu-promens.eu/eu-promens. 6 https://health.ec.europa.eu/events/best-and-promising-practices-mental-health-2024-03-11_en. 7 https://osha.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/work-related-psychosocial-risks-mental-health-eu-healthsocial-care-sector_884_EN.pdf.”
EU policy on mental health
- 2025-12-22 “E-004316/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission While the Commission supports initiatives enhancing academic mobility, admission requirements, including language certifications, are determined at national level. This is in line with Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 1 , which places responsibility for the organisation of education systems with Member States. As such, universities in Member States have the autonomy to set their own admission criteria, including language proficiency standards, as long as they comply with EU law. In accordance with the above, and in line with the principle of institutional autonomy, universities in Member States may therefore require students to demonstrate their proficiency to enrol in English taught courses 2 . In addition, the recognition of academic qualifications primarily rests with national authorities. The Commission remains committed to strengthening recognition within the EU, while respecting the Member States’ competences, through non-binding instruments. Regarding exemptions for alumni of English-taught courses, while the Commission continues to work towards facilitating student mobility and improving accessibility, it primarily operates by encouraging best practices across the EU or offering other relevant support. For example, students selected to go abroad with the Erasmus+ might undergo a free online language support test, which determines their proficiency in various languages, including English. Additionally, after such assessment students have access to a personalised language learning pathway. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A12016ME%2FTXT. 2 https://education.ec.europa.eu/news/prepare-to-prove-your-english-language-skills-with-some-courses-ofstudy-in-europe.”
Governance of academic priorities within the EU
- 2025-12-22 “E-003791/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is aware of the existence of Spain’s Comptroller General of the State (IGAE) report and of the ongoing investigations carried out by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) mentioned in this parliamentary question. The EPPO is an independent body responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes against the EU’s financial interests, and it operates separately from the Commission. The Commission cannot interfere with or influence the investigations carried out by the EPPO and will await the results of the investigation once these can be disclosed. As the EPPO investigation unfolds, the Commission will carefully consider the findings and may take any potential necessary steps to safeguard the EU’s financial interests. This may include taking measures, if they are necessary and justified, such as interrupting or suspending payments, applying financial corrections, or recovering funds. If confirmed, all irregularities will give rise to a specific follow-up, and remedial actions needed to tackle the infringements identified, including underlying systemic issues, will be agreed with the programme authorities concerned.”
Rule of law in Spain · Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- 2025-12-19 “E-003949/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is aware of the investigation into cases of doctors who, despite losing a licence in one country, continue to practice their profession in another Member State. While the Commission is committed to addressing the matters within its remit, it notes that the competent authorities of Member States remain responsible for identifying the cases on their territory where doctors are unfit to pursue their profession and to apply relevant measures. Alerts received through the Internal Market Information system (IMI) may constitute an additional source of information. They may complement, but not replace, the checks that healthcare authorities and competent institutions of the competent Member States apply before granting license or hiring a doctor. When preparing new guidelines and facilitating exchanges of good practices in the context of the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors, the Commission aims to address all aspects of handling alerts in IMI and remind about Member States’ obligations. Following a workshop on the legal and practical matters related to the alerts with the Member State experts earlier this year, the Commission prepared a draft Questions and Answers guidance document. It was presented and discussed with the Member States experts, and it will be finalised by the end of 2025, following input from the training sessions conducted in December 2025. In its role as guardian of the Treaties, the Commission monitors the application of the relevant legal provisions by the Member States and support them through compliance promotion activities such as trainings and on-going assistance. When necessary, the Commission may decide to take appropriate action.”
EU competences on health
- 2025-12-17 “E-004446/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Since its adoption in 2021, progress has been achieved in the implementation of the Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee (ECG) 1 . Member States prepared national action plans and submitted their first biennial progress report. Malta and Portugal, for instance, extended free childcare services to all children, and free school meals are introduced in Croatia and Luxembourg. Yet, gaps in access to key services for children in need remain 2 . In addition, the number of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) slightly increased since 2019, close to 20 million in total in 2024, nearly a quarter of children in the EU –despite the EU objective of reducing it by at least five million by 2030. Spain submitted its ECG action plan in 2022 and its implementation report in 2024. Although there is progress e.g. in quality education, gaps persist in access to services such as early childhood education and care, school meals and housing. Addressing those gaps is key, given the number of children AROPE, which slightly increased since 2019 – reaching 2 756 thousand in 2024 – and moved away from the national child poverty reduction target. In order to step up the fight against child poverty and social exclusion, in 2026, the Commission will adopt a comprehensive EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to address structural causes of exclusion and strengthen access to essential services. The strategy will be backed by a strengthened European Child Guarantee. 1 https://eurlex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2021/1004/oj/eng#:~:text=That%20Recommendation%20sets%20out%20an%20integrate d%20approach%20to,to%20quality%20services%2C%20and%20children%E2%80%99s%20right%20to%20par ticipate. 2 See the EU-level monitoring framework for the European Child Guarantee: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/circabc-ewpp/ui/group/bab664d7-1188-47b2-9fa6869902320ba2/library/1263d2f9-f558-4e3f-a384-9e24da0883d1/details.”
Child poverty policy · European Semester (social dimension) · Support for families
- 2025-12-16 “E-003886/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission together with the European Education and Culture Executive Agency have carried out a thorough technical review of the projects engaged with the non-governmental organisation World Youth Alliance under Erasmus+. The procedures are ongoing. Experts in ethical standards provided their assessment regarding any potential breach of the grant agreement provisions. Subsequently, project review reports were communicated to World Youth Alliance for their feedback within 30 days. If it is concluded that a breach of the grant agreement provisions has occurred, appropriate measures will be taken. The corporate grant agreement used by the Commission requires that beneficiaries must respect EU values during the implementation of the project. In the event of serious breach of contractual obligations, including the violation of EU values, the grant may be suspended, terminated or reduced and funds may be recovered. Besides, as elaborated in the Commission’s replies to questions E-006476/2020 and E-001741/2021, the Commission implements the mechanisms provided in the Financial Regulation 1 to exclude persons or entities from participating in award procedures if they are found guilty of grave professional misconduct, including incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence against a group of persons or a member of a group or similar activities that are contrary to the values on which the Union is founded enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. For the award of funds, a rigorous selection process is carried out with the assistance of external experts, including different checks on grant beneficiaries derived from the legal framework documents such as the Financial Regulation, the Erasmus+ Regulation and the respective calls for proposals. 1 http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj.”
EU engagement with civil society · Regulation of NGOs in Europe · Gender roles, equality and inclusion
- 2025-12-16 “E-004049/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission In the 2021-2027 period, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) supports EU countries' actions that, among others, provide food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived and address material deprivation challenges, in line with the principles enshrined in the provisions of Regulation 2021/1057 1 . In Greece, material assistance actions are part of the ESF+ Human Resources and Social Cohesion 2021-2027 (HRSC) Programme, with an allocation of EUR 400 million to be used until 2029 for the provision of food aid and/or material assistance to the most deprived. The measures are implemented by the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family under the direct supervision the Managing Authority for the HRSC Programme and consist of distribution of food of high nutritional value adapted to the beneficiary’s nutritional background as well as material assistance for hygiene, cleaning and living, related to the target group served. The foreseen measures are currently in contracting phase. ESF+ social inclusion measures in Greece are implemented under shared management. It is the responsibility of the Member State to ensure that the operations delivered on the ground are well targeted and best support vulnerable groups. In this respect there are reliable mechanisms and assurance models in place, for the overall management and evaluation of the performance of the measures to support vulnerable persons in Greece in the 2021-2027 programming period. 1 Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013.”
Child poverty policy · EU expenditure on social policy
- 2025-12-15 “E-004284/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Italian authorities have the obligation to apply the rules of Directive 2005/36/EC to the recognition of professional qualifications obtained in other EU and European Economic Area Member States. In accordance with the information provided by the Honourable Member it appears that the Italian authorities comply with this obligation. The competence to establish the rules governing holders of Italian masseur-physiotherapist qualifications working in Italy lies with the Italian authorities. As a result, in case that Italian masseur-physiotherapists trained in Italy are discriminated compared to masseur-physiotherapists qualified in other Member States this issue would not be covered by EU rules which do not prohibit reverse discrimination. The Commission has no competence to intervene in this area.”
EU competences on social policies · EU competences on health
- 2025-12-12 “P-004289/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Pact for the Mediterranean 1 sets out a new ambitious strategy. By investing in people, the initiative will reinforce the cultural, academic, social and economic ties that will make Europe stronger and more resilient. Southern Mediterranean partners will continue to benefit from the already existing opportunities under the international dimension of the Erasmus+ programme, including short term student exchanges, in accordance with provisions of the related regulation. These are not financed out of the core, intra-EU budget but from additional NDICI/Global Europe funding. Therefore, they do not have an impact on the budget available for EU students. Under Erasmus+, students study for a limited period (2 to 12 months) at an institution in the EU as part of their studies in their home country, returning to the home country after the mobility period. Overall, Erasmus+ promotes brain circulation, exchange and mobility of knowledge, skills, and talent across borders, not migration. Several international studies point towards the positive impact of international student mobility in terms of enhancing teaching and research quality, fostering intercultural learning, driving innovation, and strengthening universities’ global engagement. At the same time, international students contribute significantly to local economies. Beyond Erasmus+, migration and mobility if well managed can also be an opportunity, notably to address our labour needs in sectors facing workforce shortages. It is for this reason that legal pathways for mobility, including of students and researchers, will be addressed in line with EU and national competences. 1 https://north-africa-middle-east-gulf.ec.europa.eu/joint-communication-pact-mediterranean_en.”
EU development aid (migration conditionality) · Funding for EU Neighbourhood
- 2025-12-11 “E-004016/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances Directive (CMRD) protects workers from exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) that potentially causes silicosis 1 . The CMRD includes a binding occupational exposure limit (BOEL) for RCS. The Commission also improves prevention of silicosis via awareness raising, good practice exchange and guidance through collaboration with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work 2 . The Commission supports the collection of data on nationally recognised occupational diseases, including silicosis, via the voluntary European occupational diseases statistics pilot 3 . Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/2337 4 , which is regularly updated, encourages countries to improve knowledge and diagnosis of occupational diseases, including silicosis. The Commission is studying the health and economic impact of a possible revision of the BOEL for RCS under the framework of CMRD. The current work is informed by scientific evidence, such as a European Chemical Agency Opinion, and subject to stakeholder input. The EU non-communicable diseases initiative 5 supports health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases, including silicosis. Over EUR 280 million from the EU4Health programme 6 were made available to support countries and stakeholders 7 . Support for research is available through EU funding programmes, including Horizon Europe, though no project on the topic is currently being funded. While social protection remains a national competence, the Commission provides related funding, guidance and exchange of best practices. 1 Directive 2004/37/EC https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02004L003720240408. 2 Examples available at https://oshwiki.osha.europa.eu/en/themes/respirable-crystalline-silica 3 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/experimental-statistics/european-occupational-diseases-statistics (for all Member States except Germany, Greece and Portugal). 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2022/2337/oj/eng. 5 https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/healthier-together-eu-non-communicable-diseasesinitiative_en. 6 https://health.ec.europa.eu/funding/eu4health-programme-2021-2027-vision-healthier-european-union_en. 7 E.g. the Joint Action on REspiratory Diseases aims to improve lung health across Europe https://europeanlung.org/jared/.”
EU rules on hazardous working conditions
- 2025-12-10 “E-004019/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an instrument of the Council of Europe. As such, the Commission does not monitor compliance with CEFR. Additionally, the Council of Europe established in June 2025 the European Centre for the Prevention of Education Fraud in Rome. Among its core tasks are the development and implementation of digital tools and mechanisms to detect and prevent diploma mills, forged credentials, and other forms of academic fraud. Member States are responsible for guaranteeing the quality and fairness of testing and assessment in line with existing guidelines 1 . Reputable certification bodies also usually make publicly available information demonstrating how their alignment with the CEFR was established. Consequently, the Commission is not planning to propose anything in this area. However, the European Digital Credentials for learning 2 (EDCs) are already available. This is a secure, EUwide system to issue, store, and verify digital documents related to learning achievements. EDCs could play a role in verifying the authenticity of language level attestations and ensuring that credentials have not been tampered with. This could also help against the use of false or unreliable language qualifications. 1 https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/responsability-of-memberstates. 2 https://europass.europa.eu/en/european-digital-credentials-learning.”
Governance of academic priorities within the EU
- 2025-12-08 “E-003848/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission The Commission does not monitor corporate strategies of individual companies and has no legal powers to intervene in restructuring discussions between management and workers' representatives. Directive 98/59/EC 1 requires employers to consult staff representatives to reach an agreement and to notify the competent public authority to seek solutions to the problems raised by redundancies. The agreed revision of the European Works Council Directive 2 re-affirms the commitment of the Commission and the co-legislator to act in the interest of democracy at work. As announced in the Clean Industrial Deal, the Commission will engage with social partners to modernise the Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring 3 , focusing on earlier anticipation of change, faster intervention and stronger workers’ rights to information and consultation. The main instruments to support workers affected by restructuring are the ESF+, which helps in an anticipative way, and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) 4 , which offers one-off reactive assistance in case of major restructuring events. Italy can assess whether there are possibilities to introduce an application under the EGF 5 or to fund specific operations under the ERDF 6 or ESF+ co-funded regional programmes 7 . The Commission is committed to strengthening research on the impact of AI on skills and the labour market through Horizon Europe 8 . The European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience set out in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027 will provide further funding opportunities, among others on issues such as the future of work and the impact of 1 Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies, OJ L 225 12.8.1998, p. 16 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1998/59/eng. 2 Directive 2009/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees, OJ L 122, 16.5.2009, pp. 28–44 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/38/oj/eng. 3 Communication from the Commission ‘EU Quality Framework for Anticipation of Change and Restructuring’, COM(2013) 882 final, adopted on 13 December 2013 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52013DC0882. 4 The EGF is directed at supporting active labour market policy measures and personalised services that aim to support workers’ job transitions, helping them to reintegrate into decent and sustainable employment. 5 Regulation (EU) 2021/691 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013, OJ L 153, 3.5.2021, p. 48–70 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/691/oj/eng. 6 European Regional Development Fund. 7 Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021, OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p.159-706 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1060/oj/eng. 8 The Horizon Europe topic ‘Assessing and strengthening the complementarity between new technologies and human skills’ has funded six projects: https://cordis.europa.eu/search?q=contenttype%3D%27project%27%20AND%20programme%2Fcode%3D%27 HORIZON-CL2-2024-TRANSFORMATIONS-0111%27&p=1&num=10&srt=/project/contentUpdateDate:decreasing.”
EU regulation on worker representation in company decisions · European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
- 2025-12-05 “E-003961/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) prohibits any discrimination on grounds of nationality in the areas covered by EU law. The general rule in this respect is that – when they are in a similar situation – nationals of an EU Member State should be treated outside of their Member State of origin in the same way as the nationals of the host Member State. The Greek Law 4957/2022 provides that English-language undergraduate programmes at Greek universities are intended exclusively for foreign students. This law thereby prevents Greek nationals from enrolling in these programmes. Inasmuch as this situation gives rise to reverse discrimination to the detriment of Greek students, it is purely internal to Greece. According to case law, the principle of equal treatment enshrined in EU law cannot be invoked in purely domestic situations. In such a case, it is the responsibility of national courts to determine whether discrimination prohibited by national law has occurred and, where relevant, decide on the measures needed to remedy it 1 . Moreover, and pursuant to Article 6 of the TFEU, the EU has only the ‘competence to carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States’ in the field of education. Furthermore, Article 165(1) of the TFEU obliges the EU to fully respect ‘the responsibility of the Member States for the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems’. 1 Order of 5 April 2004, Mosconi and Ordine degli Ingegneri di Verona e Provincia, C-3/02, EU:C:2004:224, paragraph 53 and the case-law cited; see also, to that effect, judgment of 2 April 2020, PF and Others, C-830/18, EU:C:2020:275, paragraph 35 and the case-law cited.”
Governance of academic priorities within the EU
- 2025-12-05 “E-003941/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission With an allocated amount of EUR 5.5 billion for material support, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is the main instrument to target the most disadvantaged in the EU under the current Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027. As material support measures corresponding to the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) have been integrated into the ESF+ in 2021-2027, Member States were granted more flexibility to adapt their national or regional programmes in response to emerging needs. Member States are required to allocate at least 3% of their ESF+ resources under shared management to support the most deprived, ensuring that material assistance and accompanying measures remain a central component of EU social support. In reality, Member States have exceeded the minimum target and programmed on average 4.1% of their ESF+ resources to this core policy area. The Commission supports Member States in ensuring that these resources are used efficiently and remain adequate and adapted to the current economic conditions. However, under shared management, the Member States are responsible for the implementation of ESF+ programmes, including their potential adjustment to the cost of living if necessary. Under the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034, as part of the National and Regional Partnership Plans, the ESF will continue to contribute to addressing material deprivation, as well as fighting poverty and homelessness, promoting social inclusion and equality. At least 14% of the financial envelope of the National and Regional Partnership Plans must be dedicated to social objectives. Member States are also obliged to programme support to food and/or basic material assistance.”
EU expenditure on social policy · Support for families