Eurochild’s key messages on the European Pillar of Social Rights

In early 2016, the European Commission released a preliminary outline of a European Pillar of Social Rights to identify and promote common principles in the euro area in the field of employment and social policies. 

This initiative should guide policies and lead reforms at national level in a time where 27 million children in the EU are at risk of poverty, over one million are in institutionalised care and one quarter of the 363,890 refugee children arrived in Europe in 2015 are unaccompanied. 

The proposals include a wide range of issues organised in three main themes: 

1. Equal opportunities and access to the labour market

2. Fair working conditions

3. Adequate and sustainable social protection 

As we reflect on the multiple barriers which growing numbers of children and young people are facing in accessing their rights, Eurochild welcomes this initiative as an opportunity to strengthen social protection systems and services in order to progress implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Eurochild has produced a paper with key messages on how this new framework can and ought to implement the Recommendations on Investing in Children, a policy guidance document produced by the European Commission in 2013.