One of the main achievements of the social Open Method of Coordination has been the development of EU indicators in the areas of social inclusion and social protection (pensions, healthcare and long-term care).
EU social indicators are used in various contexts, including:
- monitoring the Europe 2030 target on poverty and social exclusion and identifying key social trends to watch in the EU
- preparing the European semester and providing evidence for assessing specific social challenges facing EU countries
- as part of EU countries' reporting on social policies in the National Reform Programmes and country-specific/thematic surveys
- for thematic reports on relevant topics such as pensions adequacy in the EU, child poverty and well-being etc.
- for EU-level analytical work in the field of social policy