ILO Office for Spain participates in the Conference on Minimum Income Systems and Social Inclusion Policies in the framework of European Social Protection
The Conference, which was part of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was held in Aranjuez (Madrid) on 16 October 2023, with the participation of the Director of the Madrid Office, Félix Peinado.
18 October 2023
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MADRID (ILO News) - Organized by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, the Conference was attended, in addition to the Spanish Minister, by the Vice-President and Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Belgium, the Secretary of State for Labour and Social Affairs of Germany, the Director General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, as well as representatives of other EU Member States and experts and civil society organizations.
The Conference was organised in three panels: the role of minimum income schemes as a key element in social inclusion policies in Europe, evidence-based policies and social policy labs and a third high-level panel on the future of social policy in Europe.
The speakers declared their commitment to the European Social Pillar and in particular outlined the progress made with the adoption in January 2023 of the Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income. With a view to its development in the EU countries, they agreed on the need to have indicators of social convergence, to have access to and manage data for policy analysis and to find and show the causality between the social policies developed and the medium and long-term returns to society. Two working mechanisms were specifically highlighted for these purposes: the informal working group co-chaired by Spain and Belgium on indicators and social policy returns, and the social policy labs where best practices in this field can be found and developed.
The Conference concluded with the reading of the Aranjuez Declaration, a document in which the Spanish Presidency reaffirms its commitment to promote and improve minimum income systems, complemented by other inclusion policies that enhance their effectiveness. The Declaration reflects the importance of these minimum income systems and reaffirms the commitment to increase efforts to combat the common problem of the lack of coverage in this type of benefits. It also points out the need to complement minimum incomes with pathways to improve the inclusion of their beneficiaries and to promote the use of administrative records for both the design and evaluation of policies.
The Conference was organised in three panels: the role of minimum income schemes as a key element in social inclusion policies in Europe, evidence-based policies and social policy labs and a third high-level panel on the future of social policy in Europe.
The speakers declared their commitment to the European Social Pillar and in particular outlined the progress made with the adoption in January 2023 of the Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income. With a view to its development in the EU countries, they agreed on the need to have indicators of social convergence, to have access to and manage data for policy analysis and to find and show the causality between the social policies developed and the medium and long-term returns to society. Two working mechanisms were specifically highlighted for these purposes: the informal working group co-chaired by Spain and Belgium on indicators and social policy returns, and the social policy labs where best practices in this field can be found and developed.
The Conference concluded with the reading of the Aranjuez Declaration, a document in which the Spanish Presidency reaffirms its commitment to promote and improve minimum income systems, complemented by other inclusion policies that enhance their effectiveness. The Declaration reflects the importance of these minimum income systems and reaffirms the commitment to increase efforts to combat the common problem of the lack of coverage in this type of benefits. It also points out the need to complement minimum incomes with pathways to improve the inclusion of their beneficiaries and to promote the use of administrative records for both the design and evaluation of policies.