European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities – annual report 2026

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 8Adopted

   Paragraph 3 a (new)

   Tabled by Idoia Mendia, Gabriele Bischoff, Estelle Ceulemans · S&D

   Added: 3a. Recalls Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s commitment made in 2019 to ensuring that every child in Europe at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights, such as healthcare and education, which was followed by the adoption of Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee1a; stresses that the objectives of the European Child Guarantee cannot be achieved without an ambitious dedicated budget at both EU and national level; reiterates, in this context, its call for a substantial dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee; underlines the urgent need for this dedicated budget to be allocated in the next multiannual financial framework in order to respond to the growing challenge of child poverty and social exclusion; ______________ 1a OJ L 223, 22.6.2021, p. 14, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2021/1004/oj.

2. Amendment 11Adopted

   Paragraph 6 a (new)

   Tabled by Anthony Smith, Pasquale Tridico · The Left

   Added: 6a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, within the framework of the European Semester, to promote high-quality and fairly remunerated traineeships and to prevent their misuse as a substitute for regular employment; calls for the forthcoming directive on improving trainees’ working conditions1a to be ambitious and comprehensive, ensuring the full protection of trainees’ rights, including the possibility of terminating the traineeship without prejudice in the event of a breach of fundamental rights, and calls for the swift conclusion of negotiations; _____________________ 1a Commission proposal of 20 March 2024 for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on improving and enforcing working conditions of trainees and combating regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships (‘Traineeships Directive’) (COM(2024)0132).

3. Amendment 15Rejected

   Paragraph 8 a (new)

   Tabled by Pasquale Tridico · The Left

   Added: 8a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, within the framework of the European Semester, to closely monitor the direct transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/28311a and developments in platform work, with a view to ensuring fair and transparent working conditions, legal certainty and a level playing field; calls, in particular, for enhanced transparency and accountability in remuneration-setting mechanisms, especially where algorithmic management systems determine pay, in order to improve clarity, predictability and proportionality in income-setting practices; ____________________ 1a Directive (EU) 2024/2831 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on improving working conditions in platform work (OJ L, 2024/2831, 11.11.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/2831/oj).

4. Amendment 19Rejected

   Recital B

   Tabled by Séverine Werbrouck · PfE

   B. whereas the European Removed: Semester remains a central instrument for coordinating economic, fiscal, employment and social policy across the EU, and should aim to embed social justice, environmental sustainability and intergenerational fairness more systematically into macroeconomic governance, putting the EPSR at its core and respecting Added: Pillar of Social Rights has no binding legal force and must not serve as a basis for extending the EU’s competences into areas reserved to the Member States under the Treaties; whereas social policy, wage-setting mechanisms and the organisation of social protection systems remain primarily national competences; whereas the European Semester must not evolve into a mechanism of centralised social surveillance or indirect social harmonisation; whereas full respect for the principle of Removed: subsidiarity; whereas efforts have been made to better balance the monitoring of economic and social objectives in the European Semester process with the development of the Social Scoreboard and the recent integration of the social convergence framework into the process; whereas the 2026 Autumn Package was presented without an Annual Sustainable Growth Survey setting out a holistic and balanced strategy for the EU’s economic, social and employment, and environmental objectives and anchoring the European Semester in a broad vision of sustainable growth for the Union; whereas the EU must remain committed to competitiveness, sustainability and social justice, without allowing one objective to be pursued at the expense of the others; Added: subsidiarity and national diversity of social models must remain a cornerstone of economic governance within the EU;

5. Amendment 20Rejected

   Paragraph 5

   Tabled by Séverine Werbrouck · PfE

   5. Reiterates its call for Removed: an increase in the funding of the European Child Guarantee, with a dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion, and for Member States to Removed: earmark at least 5 % Added: allocate an adequate portion of their allocated ESF+ funds to fighting child poverty and promoting children’s well-being, with Removed: at least 10 % earmarked for Member States with Added: particular attention paid to Member States where child poverty levels Removed: exceeding Added: exceed the EU average; Added: recalls that combating poverty primarily falls within the responsibility of national family and social policies;

6. Amendment 21Rejected

   Paragraph 9

   Tabled by Séverine Werbrouck · PfE

   9. Removed: Calls for an EU directive on a framework for minimum income schemes, with the purpose of safeguarding the right to a decent life and ensuring that every person in need in the EU is covered by a minimum income scheme; recalls that such a directive, in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, would address gaps in the EU social acquis by contributing to the goals of reducing poverty while fostering the active integration of people who are absent from the labour market; Added: Recalls the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 11 November 2025 in Case C-19/231a concerning Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages, which held that the determination of pay falls outside the competences conferred on the Union pursuant to Article 153(5) TFEU; stresses, therefore, that any EU action affecting wage formation at national level risks undermining the proper functioning of collective bargaining models; ________________________ 1a Judgment of the Court of Justice of 11 November 2025, Kingdom of Denmark v European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, C-19/23 ECLI:EU:C:2025:865.

7. Amendment 22Rejected

   Paragraph 19

   Tabled by Séverine Werbrouck · PfE

   19. Removed: Highlights the need for EU initiatives on skills shortages to provide stronger support for comprehensive, inclusive Added: Acknowledges the existence of skills shortages in certain sectors but stresses that responses must primarily focus on mobilising the existing workforce within the Member States, improving working conditions and wage levels, and strengthening national education and vocational training systems in line with domestic labour market needs; underlines that education and training Removed: systems, including through active labour market policies, individual learning accounts and micro-credentials, and the strengthening of procedures for the validation of non-formal and informal learning; further stresses the importance of improving and facilitating fair labour mobility within the EU and of the role of legal migration and the recognition of foreign qualifications to address skills shortages; is concerned that adult participation in training remains well below the 60 % target in most Member States, particularly among low-skilled workers, older workers, non-EU nationals and persons with disabilities; calls on the Commission to put forward concrete solutions to skills shortages and to address persistent challenges in the upcoming Fair Labour Mobility Package, ensuring that the forthcoming Skills Portability Initiative addresses current obstacles to skills recognition; Added: policies fall within the competences of the Member States and must respect national specificities;

8. Amendment 23Rejected

   Paragraph 19 a (new)

   Tabled by Séverine Werbrouck · PfE

   Added: 19a. Considers that labour mobility within the EU must remain balanced and must not contribute to social dumping or brain drain in less economically developed regions; stresses that legal migration cannot constitute a structural or automatic response to labour shortages and that priority should be given to upskilling and reskilling EU citizens; calls on the Commission to fully respect the principle of subsidiarity when proposing initiatives related to skills recognition, portability or labour mobility;

9. Amendment 24Rejected

   Paragraph 22

   Tabled by Séverine Werbrouck · PfE

   22. Removed: Stresses that, within the framework of Added: Recalls that national defence policy and the determination of defence expenditure remain the sovereign prerogative of the Member States, in accordance with Articles 4(2), 24 and 42 of the Treaty on European Union; stresses that the European Semester, Removed: defence spending must be planned in a coordinated, efficient, transparent and European manner to maximise societal benefits; underlines that security-related investment should include societal resilience, including infrastructure with high civilian benefits, social protection, civic education, democratic resilience and protection against disinformation, recognising that social stability and democratic trust are important components of Europe’s security architecture and must be reflected in the Semester’s analysis of long-term reform and investment needs; Added: as an instrument of economic policy coordination under Articles 121 and 148 TFEU, must not be used to assess, coordinate or steer national defence planning or military expenditure; rejects any attempt to integrate defence priorities into social or fiscal surveillance mechanisms;