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Portugal: Only a strong social state can respond to the post-covid crisis

Lisbon, May 5 (EFE) .- (Camera: Paula Fernández) The response to the post-coronavirus crisis "is only achieved through a strong social state," says the Portuguese Minister of Labor, Ana, in an interview with EFE. Mendes Godinho, who highlights the opportunity to strengthen social Europe that opens at the summit convened this week in Porto.SOUNDBITES IN PORTUGUESE OF THE MINISTER OF PORTUGAL ANA MENDES GODINHO."The action plan of the European plan for social rights is a commitment to a set of goals related to various areas of the social dimension. The great importance of the action plan is to have concrete objectives to be achieved by 2030 in the whole of Europe, be it at the level of employment, qualifications, or the level of combating poverty These are the macro objectives, and within each of them we have more defined goals such as youth employment, the fight against inequality between men and women and qualifications in the digital area "."I think this crisis showed well how Europe's social values ??and Europe's dimension of solidarity are the key principles that unite us as a society and what differentiates us from the rest of the world. This model of social Europe is what sets us apart. It differs from other realities and it is clear what we have to deepen and accelerate. And we also have to transform what has to be transformed. Because this pandemic also showed us that there are dimensions of social Europe that have to have a different response. Just think, for example, the number of atypical or informal situations that were outside the social protection system "."In recent months we have seen that the response to a crisis is only achieved through a strong social state that corrects asymmetries, distributes and guarantees that regardless of where a person is born, they have collective response instruments when necessary.""This social Europe also has to be a Europe that welcomes and treats everyone in solidarity. I give a concrete example of what Portugal did during the pandemic and as the particular one of having been at a critical moment, fragile for everyone from the point of view From an economic and social point of view. Portugal recognized all the rights of all immigrants who were in Portugal even though their processes had not been completed. At the beginning of this week, we extended this recognition of rights to all the people who presented their legalization requests until the end of April 2021 "."Europe needs everyone. We cannot forget how old Europe is and how much a mainly immigrant population needs to also ensure that it can overcome this giant demographic challenge that we have as a continent. Let us not forget that the immigrant population is also a key factor in our future. ""In this survey that was carried out with companies and workers, the majority argued that they do not want to have a model that is exclusively teleworking. They strongly defend mixed, hybrid solutions, and above all that they are the result of dialogue and agreement between company and worker and that They are not imposed solutions. I think that is the way, that clearly we all understood the advantages that teleworking can have, but also the disadvantages. That is why it is necessary to have balanced models that balance the various dimensions and, on the other hand, also safeguard various of the situations that became evident that extreme telework. The isolation of people, lack of definition of rules, such as the issues of food allowance or the rules applicable to accidents at work or the rules of safety and health at work "."The great concern at European level is to have convergence indicators and objectives at European level at the level of conditions and quality of life of Europeans. What has been on the table is the discussion of a directive on adequate minimum wages in European terms, which does not intend an equal value for all Europeans, but reference values ??based on the economic indicators of each European country ".