September is a packed month of European political developments, as anticipated following the June European elections.
It started with the publication of the Draghi report on the “The Future of European competitiveness” highlighting that: “The European welfare state will be critical to provide strong public services, social protection, housing, transport and childcare during this transition. At the same time, Europe will need a fundamentally new approach to skills. The EU must ensure that all workers have a right to education and retraining, allowing them to move into new roles as their companies adopt technology, or into good jobs in new sectors.”
Then this week has been busy in Brussels with the unveiling of portfolios of the new European Commission college by President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, with a full presentation to the European Parliament of the plans for 2024-2029. The full list of Commissioner-designates can be found here and hearings will be organised in October in front of different European Parliament committees before proceeding to vote in November.
The Mission Letters addressed from Ursula von der Leyen to all Commissioners can be found on the European Commission website, and the following Mission Letters are of particular interest for the Families Europe community.
Roxana Mînzatu. Executive Vice-President for People, Skills and Preparedness. Mission Letter.
She will work on continued building of a Union of Equality and breaking down barriers to discrimination, focusing also on supporting mental health of children and young people. She must develop a new action plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and work on the first ever European Anti-Poverty Strategy. She will also contribute to the future European Affordable Housing Plan, and develop work-life balance measures especially related to digitalisation through measures on the right to disconnect. While the European Care Strategy is not mentioned specifically, she will be tasked to create a more coherent framework for addressing long-term care workforce challenges. Finally, the European Social Fund and European Child Guarantee are mentioned as key instruments for supporting social rights and the fight against poverty.
Hadja Lahbib. Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management; Equality. Mission Letter.
She is to be a Commissioner with two hats, one being the new Commissioner on Equality, responsible for developing a Roadmap for Women’s Rights and a new Gender Equality Strategy. She will lead on full implementation of the European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and UNCRPD implementation. She will also present a renewed LGBTIQ strategy, present a new Anti-Racism Strategy and work on mainstreaming equality considerations in EU policies. Finally, also in her portfolio is support to a European action plan against cyberbullying and developing an EU-wide enquiry on the broader impacts of social media.
Magnus Brunner. Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration. Mission Letter.
He will lead the work to better protect children from sexual abuse online and offline including completing negotiations on legislative proposals like the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation, and implement current legislative proposals. Additionally, he will oversee the implementation of the Pact for Migration and Asylum, and will need to step up enforcement of rules on the prevention of exploitation of workers in Europe with an irregular status (many of whom are found in the care sector).
Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing. Mission Letter.
He would work on an Action Plan for Affordable Energy Prices to help bring down the prices for families, and propose further measures to tackle energy poverty. He will also put forward the first every European Affordable Housing Plan, to help provide technical assistance to cities and Member States with a focus on investment and skills needed, also supporting the use of Cohesion policy funds for investments in affordable housing.
Glenn Micallef. Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport. Mission Letter.
He will develop a Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness for increase solidarity and engagement between people of different ages, and he will lead on the development of a European action plan against cyberbullying. He will also be responsible for the European Strategy of the Rights of the Child.
Henna Virkkunen: Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. Mission Letter.
She will be responsible for effective enforcement of the Digital Services Act, and will set up a European AI Research Council. There is unfortunately no mention in her portfolio of the Better Internet of Kids + Strategy, however the action plan on cyberbullying will also be among her key areas of work.
COFACE Families Europe will continue monitoring closely the developments over the next months, building on existing strong partnerships with the Commission departments to shape a family-supportive Europe.
