The EESC hosted a conference in Brussels on 8 November, focusing on the social dimension within the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the EU's largest financial instrument.

The RRF aims to promote social cohesion and mitigate the pandemic's social impact. However, shortcomings in the NRRPs persist, including uneven investment in social programmes across Member States, inadequate consultation with social partners and a weak gender dimension.

EESC President, Oliver Röpke, emphasised the need for new measures to address imbalances in EU-funded social programmes, particularly in housing, training and education. Evelyn Regner, Vice-President of the European Parliament, highlighted the uneven social dimension in NRRPs, stressing the effectiveness of the milestones mechanism in countries with strong social partner involvement.

Nicolas Schmit, EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, called for unallocated RRF funds to be considered for investment in housing, noting that while the RRF has increased the capacity for social investment in the EU, Member States face housing problems that need urgent attention.

Participants in the conference criticised the inadequacy of gender provisions in the RRF, falling short of EU commitments to gender equality. While acknowledging ongoing projects in some Member States that could enhance gender equality in the long term, the debate underscored the need for a more robust and comprehensive approach to address the social and gender dimensions in the NRRPs.

The conference addressed various aspects of these plans, including social cohesion and the youth dimension, with a particular focus on educational measures in NRRP programmes aimed at young people. Participants underscored the need for more comprehensive strategies to facilitate the transition from education to the workplace, and emphasised the importance of providing young people with a platform to actively engage in decisions that shape their future. (ll)