This Peer Review will be hosted by the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration on 28-29 November 2023 in Madrid.

The Peer Review will bring together government representatives from the host country (Spain), six peer countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia), representatives of the European Commission and independent experts.

The Peer Review will focus on the Policy Lab, or Laboratory of inclusion and activation strategies, an unprecedented initiative aiming at supporting evidence-based social policies in Spain. The Policy Lab accompanies the implementation of the Spanish national minimum income scheme launched in 2020: in order to test new complementary interventions, a range of 34 educational, employment, and psychosocial pilot programmes involving local governments and the third sector were launched.

All pilot programmes are being evaluated through Randomised Control Trials, an experimental design tool used in research, which uses a treatment group and a control group to assess the impact of a particular intervention. The Policy Lab, which oversees the design, implementation, and evaluation of the pilot measures, brings together a range of scientific partners to ensure that evaluations follow the highest scientific standards.

Background

A rigorous evaluation of public policies is a critical component of evidence-based policymaking and good governance. It is essential for understanding which policies are most effective, promoting accountability, effectiveness and efficiency, enhancing transparency and building public confidence, facilitating continuous adaptation and improvements in policy design.

The pilot programmes, which will be discussed at the Peer Review, are funded by NextGenerationEU. The Recovery and Resilience Facility support reforms and investments in the EU Member States, in line with their national Recovery and Resilience plans.

Joint efforts from EU institutions, Member States and stakeholders at different levels to build a fairer and more inclusive EU also feed into the European Pillar of Social Rights.  

In line with the principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, Member States should design comprehensive strategies in the area of social inclusion: income support schemes, which provide an essential safety net and help lifting people out of poverty, should go hand-in-hand with measures aiming at active inclusion in society and incentives to (re)integrate into the labour market for those able to work.

The 2023 Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income calls on Member States to modernise their minimum income schemes by reaffirming the active inclusion approach and focusing on adequacy, coverage and take-up of benefits, as well access to inclusive labour markets, enabling and essential services and individualised support.

The recommendation also focuses on strengthening governance, monitoring and reporting mechanisms for income support policies and related labour market activation measures, considering the role of stakeholders involved, such as regional and local authorities, social partners, civil society organisations and social economy actors.