(22 February 2013) – The European Commission has just published the 2012 annual report of the Social Protection Committee. “Social Europe – Current challenges and the way forward” gives a very complete overview of the current social situation in the EU and its Member States.
A Treaty-based Committee (Article 160 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU), the Social Protection Committee (SPC) serves as a vehicle for cooperative exchange between Member States and the European Commission in the framework of the Open Method of Co-ordination on social inclusion, health care and long-term care as well as pensions (“Social” OMC).
Chapter 1 of the report looks at the overall macro-economic and labour market context in which social protection policies develop. Chapter 2 presents the social situation in the European Union and key social trends to watch. Chapter 3 looks into the evolution of resources and expenditure for social protection policies.
Chapter 4 summarises the key policy developments that took place over the last year within the three strands of the social OMC. It draws upon the National Social Reports submitted by 22 Member States in 2012 and is complemented by the results of the SPC thematic reviews carried out in the course of the same year. An annex to the report presents a detailed social profile of each of the 27 EU Member States.