The European Parliament works to ensure that its legislative and non-legislative work respects, promotes and safeguards the rights of the child and advances children’s lives both within the EU and in relation to the outside world.

The EU school fruit, vegetable and milk scheme lasts throughout the school year in the participating EU countries.

Aimed at promoting healthy eating habits among children, the EU school scheme includes the distribution of fruit, vegetables and milk products, as well as dedicated educational programmes to teach pupils about the importance of good nutrition and to explain how food is produced.

#EUelections2019 - Children’s rights

The European Parliament has adopted new rules to allow parents and carers to better reconcile their work and family lives.

The new rules for a better work-life balance, adopted on 4 April 2019, aim to increase the employment rate for women, create incentives for fathers to take family-related leave, and promote gender equality and equal opportunities. Parliament and Council agree on measures to reconcile career and private life:

- Ten working days paternity leave, paid at not less than the level of sick pay

- Two months of non-transferable paid parental leave

- Five days of annual carers’ leave

- Flexible working patterns, including remote working.

#EUelections2019 - Work-life balance

Parliament wants all workers to benefit from minimum rights on working conditions, including those on non-traditional contracts.

On 16th April 2019 MEPs approved minimum rights for workers with on-demand, voucher-based or platform jobs, like with Uber or Deliveroo. The new rules include: minimum rights agreed for workers in casual or short-term employment; working conditions that must be made clear to workers on their first day on the job, and probationary periods that may not be longer than six months.

How is the EU fighting youth unemployment? With more than 26 million Europeans out of work, unemployment is one of the biggest issues that Europe is facing today.

#EUelections2019 - Employment

In the face of persistent discrimination, Parliament calls for common rules to ensure that the rights of all national minorities are redressed and respected across the EU.

The rules stipulate that people belonging to national minorities are entitled to equal cultural, linguistic and educational rights, and member states are urged to end discriminatory practices.

MEPs call on the European Commission to draft a directive on minimum standards for minorities in the EU, including benchmarks and measures.

Parliament is also calling on EU countries to end statelessness for Roma people and to guarantee that this minority group enjoys full human rights.

#EUelections2019 - Minorities in the EU

Almost one in six people in the EU aged 15 and over lives with some kind of disability. As the population ages, this number is expected to rise significantly.

The Commission's European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, adopted in 2010, provides guidance for implementing the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which the EU is a party.

Key products and services, such as smartphones, ATMs, ticketing machines and banking services, will be made more accessible to people with disabilities. 80 million people in the EU live with a disability.

#EUelections2019 - Persons with disabilities

On 28 March, Parliament approved the next Erasmus+ programme for 2021-2027.

Erasmus+ is an EU programme supporting opportunities for education, training, young people and sport in Europe. It started as a student exchange programme in 1987, but since 2014 it also offers opportunities for teachers, trainees and volunteers of all ages. More than nine million people have taken part in the Erasmus+ programme over the last 30 years and nearly 800,000 people benefited from the programme in 2017 alone. The programme currently covers 33 countries (all 28 EU countries as well as Turkey, North Macedonia, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and is open to partner countries across the world.

#EUelections2019 - Erasmus +

EMPL Meeting - Gender Equality Week: Ensuring gender equality in the labour market: addressing the gender pay gap and the ‘sticky floor’

EMPL - Public Hearing ' Loneliness in the European Union '

EMPL Meeting - Exchange of views with Mario Nava, Director General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Committee on Employment and Social Affaires (EMPL) -  Interparliamentary Committee meeting - European child guarantee as a tool to fight poverty

Plenary session week 3 2018 in Strasbourg - Implementation of the Professional Qualifications Directive and the need for reform in professional services - Report: Nicola Danti

EMPL committee meeting.Economic Dialogue and exchange of views on the Annual Growth Survey - Exchange ov views with  the Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union and with the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs

Co-Decision meeting in the field of Employment

Plenary session Week 3 2017 in Strasbourg - A European Pillar of Social Rights

Elisabeth MORIN-CHARTIER on press conference on Youth Employment

Plenary session week 43-2014 - Strasbourg - Outcome of the high level conference on employment in Europe

Extraordinary Summit ' EU Growth and Employment Summit

From left : Herman VAN ROMPUY, Martin SCHULZ, Matteo RENZI, Francois HOLLANDE, Angela MERKEL and Jose BARROSO  prior to European Union (EU) extraordinary summit Growth and Employment

Local mini-market in Athens

Young woman at Manpower Job search office in Athens

Economy: IKA (Social Security Organisation) in Greece

IKA (Social Security Organisation) in Ilioupolis Suburb

Seasonal workers at Villehemont fruit enterprise.

Laborers working to build the new Eur Centre Congress Nuvola (The Cloud) by italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas in Rome on May 3,2012.

MEPs vote on the following topics: Recommendation to the Council taking stock of the functioning of the EEAS and for a stronger EU in the world - Urmas PAET (Renew, EE), EU/United States Agreement: modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV - Bernd LANGE (S&D, DE), The further repressions against the people of Belarus - Motions for resolutions, European Semester for economic policy coordination 2023 - Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and social priorities for 2023 - Estrella DURÁ FERRANDIS (S&D, ES), Implementation report on the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU - Pedro SILVA PEREIRA (S&D, PT), EU-Armenia relations - Andrey KOVATCHEV (EPP, BG) and EU-Azerbaijan relations - Željana ZOVKO (EPP, HR).

Voting session, including The further repressions against the people of Belarus and the Implementation report on the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU

On the 14th September 2022, Ursula von der LEYEN, EC President, delivers her State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech in the European Parliament. This infoclip illustrates one of the main stake of the coming year: recovery after Covid-19 pandemic through employment, youth and digital.

Infoclip: Recovery: Employment, youth and digital age

Illustrations of a pregnant woman, using bicycle, practising yoga, eating and reading

Infoclip: Social protection - Maternity leave

This infoclip illustrates topics as job search; soup kitchen programme, homelessness; medical assistance for homeless people; parental leave and seasonal work.

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