(Brussels) “The European Commission will hold a public consultation about the European core of welfare services. Comece welcomes such ambitious initiative” and hopes the welfare rights that will be drafted “may become a standard for the economic and welfare policies developed by the EU and its member states”. This is written in a notice posted today by the Secretariat of the Commission of the EU Bishops Conferences. “This initiative is based on the EU’s welfare laws and strengthens the efforts that the European Commission is making to make the Economic and Monetary Union deeper and fairer”. The social agenda, as explained by Comece, will have no binding legal status once approved, but, as explained by the EU Commission, it should become the standard framework to assess welfare services and employment results in the participating countries. The consultation, which is a customary procedure for the EU Executive to listen to European citizens and stakeholders, will end in December; all Europeans and all the parties concerned are expressly called to join in. Comece – which has already confirmed it will take part in the consultation – shows that it likes the working document submitted by the EU Commission and “particularly likes the proposals to provide access to housing projects and quality healthcare”.