The EU’s perilous social justice bill

Kai Weiss | 8th June 2021 | Uncategorised

The Commission’s three-pronged plans for a new Europe have returned from hibernation - and are a sleepwalk into bad policy

The European Commission promised a transformation of EU politics when Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues came into office in late 2019. Of course, no one expected the continent would be engulfed by a pandemic. But as the coronavirus crisis recedes over the summer, ambitious plans for transition will regain the spotlight of European politics. Brussels has focused on three visions in particular: ecological transformation through a Green Deal, digital transition through “strategic autonomy” and social transition to greater Europe-wide solidarity, convergence, and social justice. The recent Social Summit in Porto put this latter topic, the European Pillar of Social Rights, back into the headlines again. As von der Leyen has said herself, “as we overcome the pandemic … it is time to also adapt the social rulebook. A rulebook which ensures solidarity between generations.” One-size-fits-no one The Pillar includes ideas such as a Europe-wide minimum wage, fair working conditions, greate...

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