An Economy that Works for the People: The Gender Dimension in the EU’s Social and Employment Policy

This paper assesses the second priority of the von der Leyen Commission, an “economy that works for the people,” focusing on the role of equality in the EU’s economic and social policies as well as the role of social policy within the EU’s socio-economic governance. The paper interrogates the EU’s economic and social policy developments during the von der Leyen Commission in the context of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and the European Semester, the EU’s key socio-economic governance tool. The paper addresses, firstly, the EU’s discourse surrounding equality and social issues that has been criticized for being market-oriented. Secondly, it looks at substantive changes in governance arrangements and the policy issues taken forward. The analysis reveals that during the von der Leyen Commission, there were more continuities with the past than a fundamental change in direction to balancing economic and social objectives.