20 years after the last Social Summit, European Commission President Juncker, Parliament President Tajani and Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (on behalf of the other EU leaders as holder of the Presidency of the Council ) proclaimed the European Pillar of Social Rights in Götenborg.

The ‘Pillar’ was first announced in 2015 during the State of the Union Address of Commission president Juncker and presented by the Commission in April 2017. Since the announcement of the ‘Pillar’ and the presentation of it, much has been said and discussed. Ceemet, expert on social affairs issues, contributed to the debate and presented its Position Paper.

Ceemet has warned in particularly in the past that expectations are created that simply cannot be met, with the risk of disappointing Europe’s citizens.

At Union level, the 20 principles do not entail an extension of the Union's powers and tasks as conferred by the Treaties. It therefore should be implemented within the limits of those powers and are not directly enforceable as such. The preamble clarifies that it is subject to discussions on Member State level including social partners, respecting the principle of subsidiarity.