The European Pillar of Social Rights was proclaimed by EU leaders in 2017 . It sets out 20 key principles that, in the EU’s own words, “represent the beacon guiding us towards a strong social Europe that is fair, inclusive and full of opportunity in the 21st century.”
The European Pillar of Social Rights, or Social Pillar, marked a turning point for an EU that is increasingly working on addressing social issues. While you might have heard of the Social Pillar, you might be less familiar with its concrete changes it’s creating in the lives of persons with disabilities.
Most of the 20 principles have an impact on disability issues. Principle 17 is specifically about “Inclusion of people with disabilities”, and other principles are supporting inclusive education and employment, gender equality and equal opportunities for all, inclusive health and long-term care, and access to essential services.
These principles paved the way for a number of concrete advances since 2017. They are outlined in the March 2021 action plan for implementing the 20 principles of the EU Pillar of Social Rights.
EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 is part of the EU pillar of Social Rights. In fact, the strategy was formally announced in the Pillar’s action plan!
We are not yet halfway through the strategy’s lifespan but we have already seen a number of advances for persons with disabilities: new legislation to create the European Disability Card and Parking Card; an EU resource centre on accessibility; guidance on inclusive employment and reasonable accommodation and other advances that can be found on the Strategy’s online monitoring framework..
EU Care Strategy
The European Care Strategy was launched in September 2022. It is a set of concrete actions to improve the situation for carers and care receivers.
The Strategy clearly takes persons with disabilities into account. It shows a solid understanding of the most pressing issues facing the sector and, most importantly, facing recipients of care and support services. Focus is also placed on community-based services, independent living and the transition away from institutional care.
Other positive points include:
- A clear understanding of the gender perspective when it comes to care provision;
- the issue of cost, which prevents many persons with disabilities from accessing support
- The acknowledgement of the crucial role that third-country nationals play in ensuring the strength and resilience of the care sector in the EU.
Unlike some of the other actions in this list, the EU Care Strategy doesn’t result in any binding obligations on the EU Member States.
You can read EDF’s full analysis of the EU Care Strategy here.
Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages
In 2022, EU negotiators agreed on rules (a Directive) to set adequate minimum wages across the Union. The rules will apply to all EU workers who have an employment contract or employment relationship, including those with disabilities.
The Directive contains a recital that references the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the requirement to provide “equal remuneration for work of equal value”. This principle includes minimum wage requirements in sheltered employment.
The Directive also establishes a requirement to ensure accessibile information on statutory minimum wages, minimum wage protection provided by universally applicable collective agreements, and redress mechanisms.
You can read our analysis of the Directive, fully explaining its impact.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting
The EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD) will force some companies operating in the EU to report on their practices for the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Companies based in the EU will have to start reporting on several topics, including:
- The percentage of employees with disabilities, as well as an explanation of how this data was collected.
- Diversity within the Board of Directors.
- Positive impacts of actions for customers and end-users, such as product design that improves accessibility for persons with disabilities or a commitment to making online services accessible to persons with disabilities.
- The number of work-related incidents and/or complaints and severe human rights impacts within its workforce.
While this EU Directive and its reporting standards do not strictly oblige companies to change the way they operate, they do hold them accountable for revealing their successes and shortcomings. They will also make it easier to keep companies accountable when it comes to the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Read a detailed description in our article “Companies in the EU will have to report on disability inclusion”
Legislation to combat gender-based violence against women
The European Union formally adopted its very first law on combating violence against women in May 2024. EDF followed the negotiations closely, advocating for the rights of women with disabilities.
The new law requires all EU countries to criminalise female genital mutilation, forced marriage and cyber violence. Cyber violence includes the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, cyberstalking, cyber harassment and cyber incitement to hatred or violence. Disappointingly, the law failed to ban forced sterilisation.
However, it will for better protection and support of women with disabilities, including by:
- Creating aggravating circumstances for offences committed against a person with disabilities.
- Requiring EU countries to ensure the availability and accessibility of helplines for victims.
- Requiring EU countries to ensure that all support services covered by the law have sufficient capacity to accommodate victims with disabilities, considering their specific needs, including personal assistance
Read the article “EU Directive on combating violence against women: specific improvements on disability’
Other actions
Some other significant outcomes of the pillar have been:
- The EU Gender Equality Strategy
- The EU Digital Education Action Plan
- The EU Anti-racism Action Plan
- The LGBTIQ Equality Strategy
- The EU Pay Transparency Directive
- The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the Child Guarantee
- The European Platform on Combatting Homelessness
What are our hopes for the future of the EU Pillar of Social Rights?
With the review of the Pillar in 2025, we hope that EU decision-makers will boost their commitment to a more social Europe. We would like to see the European Commission planning future actions to implement the 20 principles of the Pillar. M
More concretely, we urge the European Commission to update the ongoing EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
We urge the Commission to establish new actions and flagship initiatives within the Strategy for the period 2025-2030, building on the advances that have been made since 2021.
Featured photo: European Union, 2017