Launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe
On Europe Day 2021 (9 May), the European Union (EU) launched its Conference on the Future of Europe. This multilingual digital platform aims to provide EU citizens with an open and inclusive form of deliberative democracy to debate Europe’s challenges and priorities such as migration, the economy, the rule of law, values and rights or the EU’s role in the world. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented it as an unprecedented “opportunity to bring Europeans together virtually”.
Event outcomes and key ideas will be made public and used as inputs for the European Citizens’ panels and the Conference Plenaries, where they will be debated to produce the Conference’s conclusions.
A renewed European social contract in Porto
On 7 May 2021, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU hosted the Porto Social Summit, which aimed at rallying forces to strengthen the commitment to implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights (ESPR), a 20-point strategy to achieve a more social Europe.
All partners to the Conference committed to the three 2030 headline targets set in the EPSR in a joint Porto Social Commitment:
- At least 78% of people aged 20 to 64 should be in employment,
- At least 60% of all adults should participate in training every year,
- The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion should be reduced by at least 15 million, including at least 5 million children.
(Re)watch the webinar held before the Summit by EuroMed Rights with Professor Olivier De Schutter, United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and Ms Evelyn Regner, S&D MEP and Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.
EU Blue Card: a key objective of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum
On 17 May 2021, the EU Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on new rules for the entry and residence of highly skilled workers from outside the EU under the revised Blue Card Directive. This agreement is a key objective of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and aims to include more flexible admission conditions and enhanced rights for highly skilled workers from outside the EU.
Mobility procedures for Blue Cardholders will be simplified, and they will receive equal treatment to local workers. The Directive still needs to be formally adopted, and the Member States will have two years to transpose the rules into national law.