The European Commission has announced it will create a high-level expert group to examine the impact of artificial intelligence on the European Union’s labour market. The measure was presented in Brussels on July 22, 2026 as part of a revised social strategy built around the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The Commission set out three priorities: making essential goods and services more affordable, managing the effects of AI on employment and reducing inequalities. It also confirmed a Quality Jobs Act before the end of the year.
The EU executive said the future law would update European worker-protection rules while taking account of business competitiveness. It intends to study new indicators for measuring job quality, poverty and affordability across the bloc.
On technology, the Commission said the expert group would assess how AI is reshaping employment and that workplaces would be helped to introduce algorithmic management tools “responsibly”. It acknowledged that rapid adoption could lift innovation and productivity while raising questions over the future of jobs, skills and public services.
Brussels opened a second round of consultations with trade unions and employers on the jobs law on July 20. Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness Roxana Mînzatu said Europe had “built the strongest social model in the world”. That consultation runs until September 28.
A further consultation is planned on measures to help people facing significant obstacles in entering work, including gender-related gaps. The Commission argued that moving people from inactivity into employment would cut poverty and strengthen competitiveness.
The plan also promises support for small and medium-sized companies applying the Pay Transparency Directive, a European agreement on care work to address staff shortages in long-term care, a vocational training strategy and a new youth strategy. A separate “Right to Stay” strategy, led by Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto, is due by December.
The EU has kept its 2030 targets of a 78 per cent employment rate, against 76.3 per cent now, and 60 per cent of adults in training each year, against 39.5 per cent.
It also aims to cut the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million compared with 2019. The reduction achieved so far is 3.5 million, according to Commission figures, and the bloc unveiled its first anti-poverty strategy in May with the aim of eradicating poverty by 2050.