Factors For the Building of The European Pillar of Social Rights as an Instrument for Social Cohesion in The European Union

Abstract

The social dimension of the European Union and its further development is a part of the debate on the future development of the Union as a whole. It was included as a priority in the Declaration adopted by the EU leaders at the Rome Summit on 25 March 2017 and in the European Commission's Reflection Paper on the Social Dimension of Europe following the presentation of the White Paper on the Future of Europe. On 17 November 2017, the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission jointly proclaimed the creation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Building a fairer Europe is a priority of the current composition of the European Commission (2014-2019) and will most likely remain among the priorities of the next.

The paper aims to analyse the factors underlying the creation of the EU Social Pillar. For this purpose, the authors have analysed the current social situation in the EU member states with regard to certain social indicators (unemployment, risk of poverty and social exclusion, and income inequality), the differences in their performance and the main factors underlying them. The hypothesis of the authors is that the significant differences in the social status of the EU citizens, both between the member states and within the individual countries, is the major factor why the EU’s social policy needs to be deepened both at national and at Union level, and that the creation of the European social pillar is a step in the right direction.