Yesterday GI-ESCR responded to a call from the European Commission for submissions on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Adopted in 2017 by the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission, the Pillar sets out 20 key principles and rights aimed at ensuring that the transitions of climate neutrality, digitalisation and demographic change are socially fair and just.  Principle 20 of the Pillar states that “[e]veryone has the right to access essential services of good quality”, and the Pillar reaffirms other specific economic and social rights that require public services, such as childcare, social protection, health care, and housing.

GI-ESCR’s submission emphasises that universally accessible and quality public services are at the core of the European social model, and are critical to maintaining healthy democracies. The submission explains that international human rights law requires that the EU and its Member States ensure that services essential for the realisation of ESCR be provided in a democratic and non-commercial way, with public control, for the public good. GI-ESCR proposes several steps to be taken by the European Commission to support the provision of strong public services in all of its Member States and to ensure that the EU’s development interventions are focused on strengthening public services.