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Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (Social policy), 9 March 2026
Main results
Investing in children
The Council approved conclusions calling on member states and the Commission to invest in children, in order to increase their well-being and combat poverty and social exclusion in the EU.
Breaking the cycle of disadvantage must be a collective European effort. Poverty in childhood too often leads to exclusion in adulthood, with profound human and economic costs. By ensuring adequate funding and targeted policies, we can give every child a fair start and strengthen our Union for generations to come.
Clea Hadjistephanou Papaellina, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Republic of Cyprus
Investing in children is a strategic investment in the EU’s future competitiveness, stability and cohesion. The conclusions call on EU countries and the Commission to ensure adequate funding for projects that address child poverty.
As part of the European Semester cycle, the Council approved the employment and social aspects of the 2026 euro area recommendation. It also adopted the 2026 Joint Employment Report and approved conclusions on this report.
In the context of the 2026 European Semester, ministers adopted, for the first time, a Council recommendation on human capital. The aim of the recommendation is to provide guidance to member states on tackling labour and skills shortages across the EU, with a view to boosting competitiveness.
Human capital is Europe’s greatest asset. With persistent labour and skills shortages affecting strategic sectors from health to digital technologies, today’s recommendation marks a decisive step to strengthen our competitiveness, resilience and social cohesion by investing more effectively in people’s knowledge, skills and potential.
Marinos Moushouttas, Minister of Labour, Republic of Cyprus
The recommendation calls on countries to prioritise skills in strategic sectors and those that support the EU’s competitiveness and preparedness, with a particular focus on areas such as strengthening basic skills, vocational education and training (VET), and higher education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Accessible, up-to-date skills intelligence should also be supported, as it allows member states to forecast future demand for a given occupation.
In the context of the 2026 European Semester, ministers exchanged views on the topic of quality jobs in the context of AI-driven change.
In particular, they focused on how the European Semester could support efforts to match skilled workers with appropriate job opportunities. They also considered additional measures that could be introduced at national and EU level to ensure that AI adoption in the workplace strengthens workers’ rights and fosters higher and more equal living and working conditions across all member states.
The Nobel prize-winning economist, Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides, took the floor to share his insights on the transformative role of AI in the world of work.
Ministers held a policy debate on the topic of breaking the poverty cycle. The aim of the discussion was to identify policies and best practices with a view to developing person-centred services that can lift people out of vulnerable situations and help them integrate into society or reduce the likelihood of people falling into poverty in the first place. Ministers also shared their views on how such person-centred policies might be incorporated into the Commission’s upcoming Anti-Poverty Strategy.
Ministers endorsed the key messages of the Employment Committee’s review of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee. The Council recommendation establishing a Youth Guarantee is reviewed every two years; the latest review focused on identifying structural and institutional challenges that prevent the sustainable integration of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEETs) into the labour market.
Over lunch, ministers took part in an informal discussion entitled: 'Building Futures: Housing Solutions in a Changing Demographic Landscape across Europe'.
They reflected on the interplay between housing supply and demographic trends such as population ageing and rural-urban migration; shared examples of policies being implemented at national level to address these issues; and explored ways that the EU could better support member-state efforts.
They also discussed how policies aimed at mitigating the risk of housing exclusion, particularly for young people, might be improved through the collection of high-quality, accurate and comparable data.
