The Recovery and Resilience Facility has increased the capacity for social investment in the EU. However, National Recovery and Resilience Plans, funded by the facility, are still plagued by shortcomings such as uneven investing in social programmes in different Member States, insufficient consultation with social partners and a gender dimension that is too weak
Europäisches Semester
In an opinion debated and adopted in plenary, the European Economic and Social Committee renewed its request for reform of the European Semester. The opinion, which draws on a recent consultation undertaken in 23 different Member States, calls for an EU regulation to make civil society involvement in the cycle mandatory.
A resilient, sustainable and inclusive Europe is only possible if organised civil society is systematically involved in both national recovery plans and the Commission's new REPowerEU strategy. During its annual conference in June, the European Semester Group (ESG) renewed its call for a regulation or directive to ensure civil society participation, and proposed a permanent and common investment financing mechanism to enhance crisis preparedness and response capacity.