EU Cohesion policy: launch of the new EU Social Progress Index 2020

Today, the Commission is publishing the 2020 EU Social Progress Index (EU-SPI) to help policymakers and stakeholders to develop better policies and key investment priorities with clear and measurable objectives to address social issues across the Union. Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, commented: “The EU-SPI measures the capacity of EU’s Member States and regions to meet people’s basic human needs, to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and to ensure living conditions at their full potential. It is a useful tool to fine-tune interventions of regional development programmes and to direct EU funds towards those areas able to significantly increase living standards.” Going beyond GDP to reflect better societal development, the 2020 EU-SPI reveals that social disparities still vary greatly across EU regions. Nordic countries perform quite well while southeast countries lag behind. Most EU regions perform well in basic human needs, such as nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, shelter and personal security. Results vary when it comes to more intermediate indicators of social development, such as access to basic knowledge, access to information and communication, health and wellness and environmental quality. The highest differences are related with the opportunity indicators, meaning personal rights, personal freedom and choice, tolerance and inclusion, access to advanced education and lifelong learning. The EU SPI platform will be online at 14h today.