Indeed, the crisis directed the focus of European policies towards economic and budgetary concerns resulting in the neglect of the social dimension.
[5] The EPSR contains a preamble and 3 chapters with target values for 20 fields: (general education, professional training and lifelong learning, gender equality, equal opportunities, active support for employment) (secure and adaptable employment, wages, information about employment conditions and protection in the event of dismissals, social dialogue and involvement of workers, work-life balance, healthy, safe and well-adapted working environments and data protection) (childcare and support for children, social protection, unemployment benefits, minimum income, old age income and pensions, healthcare, inclusion of people with disabilities, long-term care, housing and assistance for the homeless, access to essential services) The EPSR is intended to act as a reference document of sorts, by means of which the labour markets and social standards in the Member States may approach the standards defined in the Pillar in the long term.
Targets are as follows: In March 2018, the Commission proposed the establishment of a European Labour Authority as a specific measure to implement the EPSR and to enable self-employed workers to access social security.
During the Summit, The Porto Declaration [9] was presented and adopted, which evaluated COVID-19 crises, its consequences on European Social Rights and suggested some solutions on these issues.
The Member States fear a shift in competences to the benefit of the EU and/or European Commission and therefore insist on compliance with the principle of subsidiarity.
The EPSR represents another attempt from the EU to invest in the social dimension but, as history has shown, Member States have kept their distance from that idea.
The combination of the direct effect and the supremacy of the EU law over national laws with the constitutionalisation of economic freedoms has been seen as a possible threat by some Member States, as seen in the Viking and Laval case where the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favour of economic freedoms over the right to collective action.
[7] Several governments are concerned that it will put an additional burden on national state budgets (e.g. through higher social benefits).
Trade unions maintain that the initiative does not go far enough,[11][6][7] while employer associations criticise that the EPSR would make the EU less competitive.
Except for the few aspects in the Treaties, such as gender equality and anti-discrimination, there is no compulsion for either the Member States or the European institutions to implement the EPSR.
There is a possibility that the EPSR could have an impact on the European Court of Justice's judgements, thereby redressing the imbalance between economic and social integration.
Second, there is no real interaction between the ESPR and international law, list includes UN and ILO convention and the European Social Charter.