Recital (15)

Discrimination in all its forms should be tackled, gender equality ensured and the employment of groups that are under-represented in the labour market supported. Equal access and opportunities for all should be ensured and poverty and social exclusion, in particular that of children, persons with disabilities and the Roma people, should be reduced, in particular by ensuring an effective functioning of labour markets and adequate and inclusive social protection systems, as set out in Council Recommendations of 8 November 2019 and of 30 January 2023. In addition, barriers to inclusive and future-oriented high-quality education and training, lifelong learning and labour-market participation should be removed. Member States should invest in early childhood education and care, in line with the Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 and the Recommendation on the Barcelona targets for 2030, in making vocational education and training more attractive and inclusive, in line with Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020, and in digital and green skills, in line with the Digital Education Action Plan and the Recommendations on learning for the green transition and sustainable development and on Pathways to School Success. Access to affordable and adequate housing, including through social housing, is a necessary condition for ensuring equal opportunities. Homelessness should be tackled, specifically through prevention measures and by promoting access to permanent housing and the provision of enabling support services based on concepts such as Housing First. Timely and equal access to affordable high-quality long-term care, in line with Council Recommendation of 8 December 2022, and healthcare services, including prevention and health promotion, are particularly relevant, in light of potential future health risks and in a context of ageing societies. The potential of persons with disabilities to contribute to economic growth and social development should be further realised, in line with the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which invited Member States to set up employment and adult learning targets for persons with disabilities. The EU Roma Strategic Framework set out in the Communication of the Commission of 7 October 2020 entitled A Union of Equality: EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation and the Council Recommendation of 12 March 2021 highlight the capacity within the marginalised Roma communities to reduce labour and skills shortages and aim to cut the employment gap between Roma communities and the general population by at least half. New technologies and evolving workplaces throughout the Union allow for more flexible working arrangements as well as improved productivity and work-life balance, while contributing to the Union’s green commitments. Those developments also bring new challenges to labour markets, affecting working conditions, health and safety at work and effective access to adequate social protection for workers and the self-employed. Member States, in collaboration with the social partners, should ensure that new forms of work organisation translate into quality jobs and into adequate, healthy and safe workplaces and working conditions, as well as work-life balance, active and healthy ageing, maintaining established labour and social rights, and strengthening the European social model.