# Council Decision (EU) 2018/1215 of 16 July 2018 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, Division: Guideline 8: Promoting equal opportunities for all, fostering social inclusion and combatting poverty

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Member States should promote inclusive labour markets, open to all, by putting in place effective measures to fight all forms of discrimination and promote equal opportunities for under-represented groups in the labour market. They should ensure equal treatment regarding employment, social protection, education and access to goods and services, regardless of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Member States should modernise social protection systems to provide effective, efficient, sustainable and adequate social protection throughout all stages of an individual's life, fostering social inclusion and upward social mobility, incentivising labour market participation and addressing inequalities, including through the design of their tax and benefit systems. Complementing universal approaches with selective ones will improve effectiveness of social protection systems. The modernisation of social protection systems should lead to better access, sustainability, adequacy and quality.
Member States should develop and implement preventive and integrated strategies through the combination of the three strands of active inclusion: adequate income support, inclusive labour markets and access to quality services, meeting individual needs. Social protection systems should ensure adequate minimum income benefits for everyone lacking sufficient resources and promote social inclusion by encouraging people to actively participate in the labour market and society.
The availability of affordable, accessible and quality services such as early childhood education and care, out-of-school care, education, training, housing, health services and long-term care is essential for ensuring equal opportunities, including for women, children and young people. Particular attention should be given to fighting poverty and social exclusion, including reducing in-work and child poverty. Member States should ensure that everyone has access to essential services. For those in need or in a vulnerable situation, Member States should ensure access to adequate social housing or housing assistance. Homelessness should be tackled specifically. The specific needs of people with disabilities should be taken into account.
Member States should ensure timely access to affordable preventive and curative health care and long-term care of good quality, while safeguarding sustainability over the long run.
In a context of increasing longevity and demographic change, Member States should secure the adequacy and sustainability of pension systems for workers and self-employed, providing equal opportunities for women and men to acquire pension rights, including through supplementary schemes to ensure an adequate income. Pension reforms should be supported by measures that extend working lives, such as by raising the effective retirement age, and be framed within active ageing strategies. Member States should establish a constructive dialogue with the relevant stakeholders, and allow an appropriate phasing in of the reforms.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2018/1215/annex/division/4 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2018-1215/annex/division-4
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.