Employment, Social Affairs & Health

Millions of Europeans struggle to pay for the essentials of everyday life. They face inequalities, labour shortages and precarious working conditions, while the necessary green and digital transitions reshape their workplaces.

We stand for a progressive future that puts people first. Our answer is clear: we fight for a social Europe that never comes at the expense of people and workers.

We will oppose any proposals, deregulation attempts, and Omnibus provisions that undermine workers’ rights, trade union rights, employment standards, and social protection in Europe.

Women are disproportionately affected by poverty and rising living costs. We fight to close gender gaps in income, pensions and economic security.

This is the vision the PES promotes, with the European Pillar of Social Rights at its core.

• PES Presidency Declaration on Making Life Affordable in Europe
• PES EPSCO Ministerial Declaration on a Strong EU Social Agenda
• PES EPSCO Ministerial Declaration on Combating Child Poverty in Europe
• PES Congress Resolution on “Social Europe, Strong Europe”

We believe the EU should ensure high social standards, good working conditions and fair wages.

We fight to close the gender pay and pension gaps, strengthen work-life balance, and ensure equal opportunities for women in all sectors and at all levels of decision-making. Achieving these objectives requires working hand in hand with social partners, particularly trade unions. We support strengthening trade unions, information, consultation and participation of workers, and the promotion of collective bargaining. In light of too many abusive, long, and complex subcontracting chains, we fight to end abusive subcontracting and to promote labour mediation practices. This is the vision we promote, including through an ambitious Quality Jobs Act.

• PES EPSCO Ministerial Declaration on Fairness for Workers in Subcontracting Chains
• PES EPSCO Ministerial Declaration on Strong Trade Unions, Collective Bargaining, Social Dialogue and Workers’ Representation
• PES Congress Resolution on “Jobs that Pay, Protect, and Empower”

The digital economy is profoundly changing today’s world of work, our social and economic structures and the way we interact.

As socialists, we have a responsibility to ensure the digital revolution benefits all parts of society, protects all workers equally, and creates the same opportunities for everyone. We are fighting to make sure technological progress goes hand in hand with social progress.

Workplaces across the EU are undergoing significant changes due to artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic management (AM) systems. While they can improve productivity and efficiency in the workplace, they can also put jobs at risk and create new pressures and uncertainties for workers. Our answer is clear: technology and digitalisation must work for people, not against them. We are pushing for strong rights and protections that match the growing impact of digitalisation in the workplace, with clear AI and AM regulation ensuring the human-in-control principle, and to enforce the right to telework and the right to disconnect.

We believe the EU and its Member States must guarantee the right to universal access to timely and appropriate health coverage, regardless of financial means, gender, sexual orientation, cultural background or any other factor.

This is a fundamental right that many people still don’t enjoy – patients across Europe have unequal access to healthcare due to varied budgets, high medicine prices, profiteering companies, and licensing issues.

To guarantee healthy, cohesive, and socially just communities, we must reverse austerity and health corporatisation, and invest in quality, affordable public health institutions. We also fight for strong occupational health and safety protections, including protection against physical and psychological risks at work. We defend sexual and reproductive health and rights and advocate gender-sensitive healthcare policies that address women’s specific health needs throughout their lives.