The EU should introduce a minimum wage and support the targeted delivery of social housing in member states, a citizens panel meeting in Dublin have recommended.
Following a weekend of deliberations in Dublin Castle, 200 citizens from across the EU, of all ages and backgrounds, voted to adopt a series of 48 wide-ranging and ambitious recommendations as part of the EU's Conference on the Future of Europe.
These recommendations now go forward to a plenary session of the European Parliament which will take place in Strasbourg in March.
The group met in Dublin to finalise and vote on their recommendations, after previous meetings in Strasbourg and online.
Citizens' Assemblies in Ireland and other EU countries sparked the idea for the panel.
Among their recommendations were for the introduction of an EU minimum wage, which would be adjustable based on the cost of living in individual member states, and for greater EU efforts to prevent tax evasion.
The citizens voted 83 per cent in favour of EU action to support the targeted delivery of social housing.
The group also made a recommendation to include the introduction of an EU right to ‘smart working’, which would include recognising the right of EU workers to work remotely at home or from another location once connected online.
The group were tasked with debating a range of European issues, including: ‘A stronger economy; social justice and jobs; education; culture; youth and sport; and digital transformation’.
The focus over the weekend was "rightly on the fact that war has returned to the continent of Europe, and we are all shaken by the senseless invasion of Ukraine, " said Hannah Deasy, Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) communications director and conference lead.
This was “palpable” throughout the weekend’s deliberations, with many EU citizens from Central and Eastern Europe sharing their “lived experiences and reinforcing how important it is that we do not take our democratic freedoms for granted,” she said.
The full list of adopted recommendations will be published on Monday.