What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Removed:To be included in the EP resolution.

Changed:Recital 5: (5) The Guidelines contribute to the full implementation of the European Social Pillar, the EU headline targets for 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,Goals (SDGs), and are consistent with the existing Union legislation and various Union initiatives, including Council Recommendations of 14 June 2021 (5), 29 November 2021 (6), 5 April 2022 (7), 16 June 2022 (8), 28 November 2022 (9), 8 December 2022 (10), 30 January 2023 (11), 12 June 2023 (12) and 27 November 2023 (13), Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/402) (14), Council Resolution of 26 February 2021(15), Commission Communications on building an economy that works for people: an action plan for the social economy (16), on the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 (17), on the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 (18), on the Disability Employment Package (19), on a European Care Strategy (20), on A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age (21), on strengthening social dialogue in the European Union (22), on Better assessing the distributional impact of Member States’ policies (23),and(23), and on labour and skills shortages in the EU: an action plan (24), Decisions (EU) 2021/2316 (25) and (EU) 2023/936 (26) of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives (EU) 2022/2041 (27), (EU) 2022/2381 (28), EU(EU) 2023/970 (29) and EU(EU) 2024/1500(29a)2024/1500 (29a) of the European Parliament and of the Council, and the Commission proposals for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 De…Co…

Changed:Recital 13 – paragraph 2: The potential of persons with disabilities to contribute to economic growth and social development should be further realised, in line with the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (40) which invited Member States to set up employment and adult learning targets for persons with disabilities. The EU Roma Strategic Framework highlights the capacity within the marginalised Roma communities to reduce labour and skills shortages and aims to cut the employment gap between Roma and general population by at least half (41). New technologies and evolving workplaces throughout the Union allow for more flexible working arrangements as well as improved productivity and work-life balance, whilst contributing to the Union’s green commitments. Those developments also bring new challenges to labour markets, affecting the working conditions, health and safety at work and effective access to adequate social protection for workers and the self-employed. Member States should ensure that new forms of work organisation translate into quality jobs and adequatesadequate healthy and safe workplaces and working conditions as well as work-life balance, active and healthy ageing, maintaining established labour and social rights and strengthening Europe’s social model. / 40 COM(2021)0101. / 41 EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation for 2020-2030, COM(2020)0620.

Changed:Recital -1 (new): (-1) The European Parliament welcomes the Commission’s proposal for updated employment guidelines for the Member States, in particular its strong focus on education and training as well astraining; new technologies, artificial intelligence and algorithmic management as wellmanagement; asand recent policy initiatives such as platform work, affordable housing and tackling labour and skills shortages. The European Parliament, with a view to strengthening democratic decision-making, reiterates its call to be involved in setting the Integratedintegrated Guidelinesguidelines at Union level on an equal footing with the Council, in line with its legislative resolutions of 8 July 2015, 19 April 2018, 10 July 2020 and 18 October 2022 on the proposalrelevant proposals for a Council decision on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States.

Changed:Recital 4: (4) In order to enhance economic and social progress and upward convergence, support the green and digital transitions, strengthen the Union industrial base and achieve inclusive, competitive and resilient labour markets in the Union, while preventing any negative social consequences, Member States should promote fair wages,wages and decent working conditions, foster democracy at work, social dialogue and collective bargaining, protect workers´ rights, address labour and skills shortages and promote quality and inclusive education and training, with a particular focus on improving basic and cross-cutting skills, especially among disadvantaged students, and on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) inat school and in higher education, future-oriented vocational education and training, and lifelong upskilling and reskilling, as well as effective active labour market policies and improved working conditions and career opportunities. Member States should take prevention and prompt intervention measures to reduce early school leaving, with a particular focus on students and pupils at risk. Such measures should include psychological support, mentoring, career guidance and extracurricular activities to foster students' interest and participation, to ensure inclusive and quality education for all. This is of particular relevance for the less developed, remote and outermost regions of the EU, where the needs are the greatest. Shortages can be further addressed by improving fair int…intra-EU…

Changed:Recital 6: (6) The European Semester combines different instruments in an overarching framework for integrated multilateral coordination and surveillance of economic, employment, social and environmental policies within the Union. As part of its integrated analysis of employment and social developments in the context of the European Semester, the Commission assesses socio-economic risks to upward social convergence in Member States and monitors progress on the implementation of the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights on the basis of the Social Scoreboard and of the principles of the Social Convergence Framework. While pursuing environmental sustainability, productivity, fairness and macroeconomic stability, the European Semester provides for strong engagement with social partners, civil society and other stakeholders. It also supports the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),SDGs, including SDG5 on gender equality. Gender equality policies should be anchored and mainstreamed in all phases of the economic governance. The economic and employment policies of the Union and the Member States should go hand in hand with the Union’s fair transition to a climate-neutral, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and digital economy, improve competitiveness and productivity, ensure fair wages and decent working conditions, foster innovation, democracy at work, social dialogue and collective bargaining, promote social justice, equal opportunities and upward socio-e…socio-economic convergence, support and…

Changed:Recital 7 – paragraph 1: Climate change, biodiversitythe loss of biodiversity and other environment-related challenges, the need to ensure a fair green transition, energy independence, enhanced competitiveness of net-zero industries and the need to secure Europe’s open strategic autonomy, as well as the development of digitalisation, artificial intelligence and the platform economy, an increase in teleworking and demographic change are deeply transforming Union economies and societies. The Union and its Member States are to work together to effectively and proactively address such structural developments and adapt existing systems as needed, recognising the close interdependence of the Member States’ economies and labour markets, and related policies. This requires coordinated, ambitious and effective policy action at Union, national and regional levels while recognising the role of social partners and involving them,the social partners, in accordance with the TFEU and with the Union’s provisions on economic governance, taking into account the European Pillar of Social Rights. Such policy action should encompass a boost in sustainable investment across all EU regions, a renewed commitment to appropriately sequenced reforms and investments that enhance sustainable and inclusive economic growth, the creation of quality jobs, productivity, decent working conditions, social and territorial cohesion, upward socio-economic convergence, social justice, equal opportunities, resilience and the exercise of fiscal and social responsibility.

Changed:Recital 11: (11) Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Council, in its conclusions of 24 February 2022, condemned Russia’s actions, which seek to undermine European and global security and stability, and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people, underlining Russia’s violation of international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter. In the current context, temporary protection, as granted by Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 and extended by the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2409 (37), offers quick and effective assistance in Union countries to displaced people fleeing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and allows such displaced people to enjoy minimum rights across the Union that offer an adequate level of protection. It should be noted that suchSuch assistance, according to Council Directive 2001/55/EC(37a),2001/55/EC (37a), needs to be extended to all displaced persons and refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. By participating in the Union’s labour markets, persons displaced from Ukraine can continue to contribute to strengthening the Union’s economy and help support their country and people at home. In the future, the experience and skills acquired can contribute to rebuilding Ukraine. For unaccompanied children and teenagers, temporary protection confers the right to legal guardianship and access to childhood education and care. Member States should ensure that the implementation of the European Child Guarantee ensures access to free service…services for children fleeing …

Changed:Recital 12 – paragraph 1: Reforms to the labour market, including national wage-setting mechanisms, should respect and strengthen national practices of social dialogue, collective bargaining and the autonomy of the social partners, with a view to providing fair wages that enable a decent standard of living, sustainable growth and upward socio-economic and territorial convergence. Such reforms should allow for a broad consideration of socio-economic factors, including improvements in sustainability, competitiveness, innovation, the creation of quality jobs, decent working conditions, democracy at work, gender equality, in-work poverty, education, training and skills, public health, social protection and inclusion, as well as real incomes. Member States should implement the Directive (EU) 2022/2041 without delay. Member States, starting with an effective and rigorous implementation of Directive (EU) 2023/970, are also invited to take measures to ensure wage transparency, implement monitoring policies and stimulate companies to implement equal pay action plans. The importance of social dialogue in tackling challenges in the world of work, including labour and skills shortages, was reaffirmed at the 2024 Val Duchesse Summit.

Changed:Recital 12 – paragraph 2: The Recovery and Resilience Facility and other Union funds are supporting Member States in implementing reforms and investments that are in line with the Union’s priorities, making Union economies and societies more sustainable and resilient and better prepared for the green and digital transitions in the changing context following the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has further aggravated pre-existing socio-economic challenges, as higher energy prices particularly affected low-income households. Member States and the Union should continue to ensure that the social, employment and economic impacts are mitigated and that transitions are socially fair and just, also in light of the fact that increased open strategic autonomy and an accelerated green transition will help reduce the dependence on imports of energy and other strategic products and technologies, in particular from Russia. Strengthening resilience and pursuing an inclusive and resilient society in which people are protected and empowered to anticipate and manage change, and in which they can actively participate in society and the economy, are essential. This is whyTherefore, democracy at work has to be strengthened at Union and national levels.level.

Changed:Annex – guideline 5 – paragraph 1: Member States should actively promote a sustainable social market economy and facilitate and support investment in the creation of quality jobs, also taking advantage of the potential linked to the digital and green transitions, in light of the Union and national headline targets for 2030 on employment. If well anticipated and substantially funded, the transition towards sustainable, renewable and circular economies generates potential to create significant number of new jobs and to transform existing employment into green and sustainable jobs in most sectors. To that end, Member States should facilitate the hiring of people by businesses, significantlymake investsignificant investments in the green transition, and foster VET, responsible entrepreneurship and genuine self-employment including among women, young people, older people and other disadvantaged groups. They should, in particular, support the creation and growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including through better access to finance. Member States should fully implement the Social Economy Action Plan and the Green Deal and actively promote the development of the social economy, including social enterprises, and tap into its full potential. They should develop relevant measures and strategies for the social economy, and foster social innovation. Member States should encourage business models that create quality job opportunities and generate social welfare, notably at local level, including in the circular economy and in terri……

Changed:Annex – guideline 5 – paragraph 2: To strengthen resilience in the face of possible economic and/or labour market shocks, well-designedwell-designed, short-term work schemes, like the onesthose developed in the context of the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE),Emergency, and similar arrangements play an important role. Member States should address the impact of present and future crisis,crises, including the intensifying impacts of climate change such as heatwaves, droughts or wildfires on the labour market. Short-term work schemes can also support structural transformations by facilitating and supporting restructuring processes and the reallocation of labour from declining sectors towards emerging ones, thereby increasing productivity, preserving employment and helping to modernise the economy, including via associated skills development. Well-designed hiring and transition incentives, lifelong learning, VET, and upskilling and reskilling measures, developed in close cooperation with social partners, should be considered in order to support quality job creation and transitions throughout the working life, and to address labour and skill shortages, also in light of the digital and green transformations, demographic change, as well as of the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Recruitment difficulties and labour shortages are particularly prevalent in sectors with challenging working conditions and poor job quality. The creation of quality jobs and the implementation o…of retenti…

Changed:Annex – guideline 5 – paragraph 4 a (new): In order to avoid the offshoring of companies that have received European aid, it is essential to review existing state aid rules and funding programmes and establish strategic solutions aimedaiming atto maintainingmaintain the industrial base within Europe.the Union. This includes strengthening European strategic autonomy and promoting a robust European industrial policy. Furthermore, the transition must be accompanied by social and employment measures to ensure a just transition for all, ensuring that no workers or communities are left behind during this process.

Changed:Annex – guideline 7 – paragraph 1: In order to benefit from a dynamic and productive workforce and new work patterns and business models, Member States should work together with the social partners on fair, transparent and predictable working conditions, balancing rights and obligations. They should reduce and prevent segmentation within labour markets, fight undeclared work and bogus self-employment, and foster the transition towards open-ended forms of employment. Employment protection rules, labour law and institutions should all provide for the protection of labour rights, a high level of social protection and secure employment, inclusive recruitment, health and safety at work, as well as well-adapted working environments for all workers. At the same time, Member States should ensure a suitable environment for companies and employers to adapt to changes. Member States should fully implement EU occupational health and safety regulations, including binding occupational exposure limit values, in order to work towards reducing the number of fatal accidents at work and eliminating workplace cancer. Promoting the use of flexible working arrangements such as teleworking can contribute to higher employment levels and more inclusive labour markets and can contribute to enableenabling previously excluded groups of workers to access the labour market. At the same time, it also risks diluting boundaries between working time and private life, therefore highlightingthere is a need for a directive on the right to disconnect. Furthermore…Furthermore, …

Changed:Annex – guideline 7 – paragraph 4: The mobility of learners, apprentices and workers should be increased and adequately supported, especially for learners in vocational education and training with fewer mobility experiences, with the aim of enhancing their skills and employability, exploiting the full potential of the European labour market and contributing to EU-level competitiveness. Obstacles to intra-EU labour mobility, including procedures to recognise professional qualifications or transfer acquired social security rights, should be tackled. BasedOn onthe basis of the work of the SMET (SingleSingle Market Enforcement Taskforce),Taskforce, Member States should simplify and standardise their reporting requirements. Additionally, Member States should enable their administrations to receive standardizedstandardised documents in other Union languages. Fair and decent conditions for all those pursuing a cross-border activity should be ensured by avoiding discrimination and ensuring equal treatment with EU nationals, enforcing national and EU legislation and stepping up administrative cooperation between national administrations with regard to mobile workers, benefitting from the assistance of the European Labour Authority. While supporting labour mobility, Member States should also effectively counter the negative impact of brain-drainbrain drain in certain regions, especially in southern and eastern Member States as well as in remote and rural areas.

Changed:Annex – guideline 7 – paragraph 7: Member States should foster democracy at work and ensure an enabling environment for bipartite and tripartite social dialogue at all levels, including collective bargaining, in the public and private sectors in accordance with national law and/or practice, after consultation and in close cooperation with social partners, while respecting their autonomy. Member States should involve social partners in a systematic, meaningful and timely manner in the design and implementation of employment, social and, where relevant, economic and other public policies including in the setting and updating of statutory minimum wages. Member States should promote a higher level of coverage of collective bargaining, including by promoting the building and strengthening of capacity of the social partners, enable effective collective bargaining at all appropriate levels and encourage coordination between and across those levels. The social partners should be encouraged to negotiate and conclude collective agreements in matters relevant to them, fully respecting their autonomy and the right to collective action. Member States should implement Directive (EU) 2022/2041 without delay and prepare action plans to increase the collective bargaining coverage in line with that directive,Directive, where applicable.

Changed:Annex – guideline 8 – paragraph 2: Member States should modernise social protection systems to provide adequate, effective, efficient and sustainable social protection for all, throughout all stages of life, fostering social inclusion and upward social mobility, incentivising labour market participation, supporting social investment, fighting poverty and social exclusion and addressing inequalities, including through the design of their tax and benefit systems and by assessing the distributional impact of policies. Complementing universal approaches with targeted ones will improve the effectiveness of social protection systems. The modernisation of social protection systems should also aim to improve their resilience to multi-faceted challenges. Particular support should be provided to vulnerable households that are most affected by climate change, by the challenges related to the green and digital transitions, and by the high cost of living, including energy costs. Member States should further address gaps in access to social protection for workers and the self-employed in light of the rise of atypical forms of work.

Changed:Annex – guideline 8 – paragraph 4: Member States should ensure timely access to affordable preventive and curative healthcare and long-term care of good quality, while safeguarding sustainability in the long term. In the context of an increasing demand for long-term care, also linked to demographic changes, gaps in adequacy, as well as labour shortages, poor working conditions and the often inadequate remuneration of carers, should be addressed.

Changed:Annex – guideline 8 – paragraph 6: In a context of increasing longevity and demographic change, Member States should secure the adequacy and sustainability of pension systems for workers and the self-employed, providing equal opportunities for women and men to acquire and accrue pension rights, including through supplementary schemes to ensure a decent retirement income above the poverty line. Pension reforms should be supported by policies that aim to reduce the gender pension gap, including by adequately valued periods of maternity and parental leave, and to promote active and healthy ageing and decent working conditions to ensure that workers can actually remain in employment until they reach the statutory retirement age. At the same time workers who wish to remain active after they have reached the retirement age should have the possibility to do so. Member States should establish a constructive dialogue with social partners and other relevant stakeholders, and allow for an appropriate phasing in of the reforms.