Ph.D. candidate University of Minho
João Mourato Pinto is graduated in International Relations from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and holds a master’s degree in International Relations – European Studies from both this university and Sciences Po Bordeaux (France). Currently, João Pinto is a Professor of diplomacy and a Ph.D. candidate based at the University of Minho studying the European Union as a global actor, especially towards Brazil and South America. He was a member of a research project on the EU's Strategic Partnerships funded by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) and has worked at the European Research Council (European Commission). Additionally, he is a former President of the Erasmus Student Network (2017-2019), where he has worked to increase access to and the quality of higher education student exchanges worldwide. João Pinto is a member of the Research Center in Political Science at the University of Minho and collaborates with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies. His main research interests are EU external action, Brazilian foreign policy, South American regionalism, public diplomacy, and democratic participation and citizenship in the EU.
Three ideas for a stronger Social Europe in a post-COVID-19 recovery
Through its eclectic 20 principles, the European Pillar of Social Rights is an opportunity to break silos and look at social development as the network of challenges that it truly is.
Departing from the rather long history of European social rights, the implementation of the EPSR must follow a holistic approach, identifying synergies with discussions it already hints at in its 20 principles.
In order to contribute to the identification of such synergies, this paper attempts to shed light on three transversal issues that national governments and the European Commission must bear in mind when implementing the EPSR: civil rights; labour relations; and gender equality. The analysis departs from the setting of the current model of welfare state in post-World War II Europe and it ends with the Porto Summit 2021, reflecting on the documents approved and what they can mean for a post-COVID-19 Social Europe.
Read the Paper:
Three ideas for a stronger Social Europe in a post- Covid 19 recovery
Political Mentor: YES Vice President and S&D MEP Alicia Homs
Academic Mentor: Matjaz Nahtigal, Associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana