Social & Health Priorities

3.1 Empowering youth

Empowering youth: a manifesto with clear policy proposals

In 2022, the European Year of Youth aimed to raise awareness about the problems the youngest generations are facing. As reformists, our commitment is to give young generations a world that works for them.

Young people face many challenges that previous generations seemingly did not, such as access to housing and employment. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced opportunities and increased mental well-being issues. Despite facing these challenges, young European citizens are strongly mobilized on critical issues like the fight against climate change or against discrimination. They want to be part of the decision-making process.

Read more

3.2 Nurturing future generations

We set up a child guarantee to nurture the future

One in 4 children in the EU are at risk of poverty, a trend exacerbated by the increased cost of living, the energy crisis, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU Child Guarantee aims to provide every child in Europe with equal opportunities.

Europe is one of the richest regions in the world, yet there is a growing number of children and families living with poverty on the continent. Specific groups, including those in single-parent families, large-disadvantaged families, children with disabilities, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, also confront heightened risks. Their total number is close to 20 million people!

In 2019, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in her Political Guidelines the creation of a European Child Guarantee. Since then, a Council Recommendation was adopted in 2021 calling on Member States to guarantee free and effective access to children in need to a set of key services: early childhood education and care, education (including school-based activities and at least one healthy meal each school day), healthcare. In addition, Member States committed to provide healthy nutrition, and adequate housing.

Read more

3.4 Empowering diverse leadership

We empowered leadership and diversity in companies governance bodies

Renew Europe champions gender equality by advocating for increased representation of women in directorial roles within large corporations.

The stark under-representation of women on company boards is a glaring gender inequality in the EU- clearly contradicting European values. Currently, only one third of corporate board members are women, and the disparity is even more pronounced among executive boards lacking female directors. With this directive, we raised the bar on greater gender equality, challenging the status quo.

The new European rules which will be in place by July 2026 require clear and transparent board appointment procedures with an objective assessment based on merit. In cases where candidates are equally qualified in terms of ability, competence and professional performance, priority will be given to the candidate of the under-represented sex. Companies failing to comply will face financial consequences, reinforcing the commitment to gender diversity. At the same time, with the concept of ‘faming list’ introduced by Renew Europe, companies that are meeting the targets will receive positive recognition.

Read more

3.5 Healthy workplaces

We fought against work place cancers

In a bid to safeguard workers from hazardous substances like asbestos and other cancer- causing substances,Renew Europe has taken a pioneering role.

Asbestos remains the primary cause of occupational cancer across Europe. It can take up to four decades for symptoms to emerge following exposure. Staggeringly, as much as 78% of recognized occupational cancers in Member States are attributed to asbestos. Unfortunately, it is not a problem of the past as asbestos persists in many buildings and structures constructed before its 2005 ban by the Union and causing a risk notably to construction workers in the context of the renovation wave of the Green Deal.

Read more

3.6 Stronger European healthcare

Building the European health union

Following the pandemic, the call to address public health threats and challenges at a European level has strengthened. Renew Europe took this call seriously and made public health a priority in the past five years.

As a strong supporter of better cross border cooperation in all policy areas, we took concrete steps to improve EU coordination to address existing health inequalities, better preparedness for future health threats and improve healthcare for all.

We feel strongly that quality data is the starting point to better public health in Europe. Data shows us that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular or respiratory problems, cancer and diabetes cause most deaths in Europe, two thirds in total. At the same time 70% of these NCDs are avoidable if we put in place better prevention measures, especially for vulnerable groups. Not only could this save lives, it could also lead to a lower burden on our national healthcare systems. The reality however is that EU countries on average spend 3% of their health spending on prevention. This is why we called for more coordination at a European level to increase the focus on prevention measures, improve early diagnosis and support patient empowerment.

Another important area of healthcare where we lack quality European data is mental health in Europe. 84 million people across the EU suffer from mental disorders such as anxiety and panic disorders and depression, and we know that young people increasingly face mental health issues since the pandemic. To give people the right support and break stigmas, we called for a European Mental Health Strategy by launching our own mental health survey to illustrate the data problem that requires our attention.

Read more