Creating a more social Europe has been one of the priorities of the EC, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen wrote in a statement. "This is a matter of both social fairness and economic necessity: economic growth goes hand in hand with social progress," she added.

"International Labour Day reminds us of the struggle workers have been through over the past 2 centuries to achieve the high social standards that we enjoy today. Let us join forces to make the EU Pillar of Social Rights, and social Europe as a whole, a reality for every worker in Europe," the statement of the commissioner on the occasion of May 1 reads.