At their meeting today, EU employment and social affairs ministers presented their national targets to deliver on the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan by 2030.

The Commission welcomes the Member States' strong commitment to making Europe fair, inclusive and full of opportunities. With their national commitments, Member States support the joint efforts to reach the three EU headline targets for employment, skills and poverty reduction.

Three EU social targets by 2030

The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan sets out the EU’s ambition for a strong social Europe that focuses on jobs, skills and social inclusion, which is translated in three EU-level social targets to be achieved by 2030:

• 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, compared to 2019

All Member States commit to national targets

In the Action Plan, the Commission invited the European Council to endorse the three EU headline targets and called on the Member States to define their national targets, as a contribution to this common endeavour. All Member States have now submitted proposals for their national targets which they presented at today’s EPSCO Council. The national targets will contribute to the shared ambition of reaching the EU headline targets by 2030 in the areas of employment, skills, and poverty reduction.

Combined, Member States’ commitments set the EU firmly on the path to achieving or even exceeding the EU headline targets:

• on employment, the national targets taken together exceed the EU headline target
• on adult learning, the targets put forward by Member States so far almost reach the EU headline target
• on reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the national targets taken together exceed the EU headline target

This positive result comes despite the challenging backdrop of Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine and its social and economic consequences, and follows intensive consultation by Member States at various levels since autumn 2021.

Next steps

The Commission will closely monitor their implementation in the context of the 2023 cycle of the European Semester, the EU's coordination framework for economic and employment policies.