EU leaders debated Friday how to fight poverty and inequality as the continent emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, divided about the limits of Brussels' role in rebuilding a fair economy.
Most of the EU's 27 leaders made the trip to the banks of the Douro river in the Portuguese city of Porto where activists were also gathered to argue that social issues should be a European priority.
A handful of leaders, notably German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, were to attend only by videoconference, still concerned about spreading the coronavirus.
As part of what is dubbed the "social summit", the meeting began on Friday with conferences bringing together representatives of civil society and trade unionists, with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders attending workshops.
This "very important social summit comes at the absolutely right time, we've been through a very tough year," said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen as she arrived for the talks in Porto's imposing old customs house.
Social issues such as jobs, training and combatting poverty need to be an "absolute priority" and show that "Europe can deliver", she added.
The events are being held just days after Portugal, with one of the lowest coronavirus incidence rates in Europe, entered the final phase of lifting Covid restrictions.
For Fernanda Martins, who runs a small family cafe nearby with her husband, Friday's meeting meant above all the return, however briefly, of a clientele that has been missing since the pandemic hit.
"The summit has brought the area back to life and finally given us some work. That's all we want, I hope there will be more," said the 60-year-old woman who reopened her establishment a month ago but has had few customers since then.
A little further on, at his ceramics shop, Manuel Andrade, 64, said he has been living off odd jobs and the solidarity of his neighbours, and receives no state subsidies.
Aware of the theme of Friday's meeting, he said "there should be more training, because without training, wages are very low".
The host of the summit, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, said the pandemic "highlighted the cost of precarious working conditions and gender inequalities."
It also underlines the "need to regulate new forms of work, such as telework and digital platforms."
The social summit will be followed by a more formal dinner, where leaders will discuss the latest developments in fighting the pandemic, including the US proposal to lift patents on anti-Covid vaccines to help developing countries.
They will again discuss social affairs on Saturday, ahead of a video summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with Merkel and Rutte participating by video link.
At the heart of the economic discussion will be a non-binding proposal by the EU executive to get countries to target an employment rate of 78 percent by 2030, train at least 60 percent of adults each year and reduce the number of people at risk of poverty by 15 million.
Leftist parties have organised a counter-summit and plan to demonstrate in the streets of Porto on Saturday, claiming the two-day meeting amounts to little more than a talking shop.
The EU's social action plan "clearly lacks ambition", said Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on human rights.
He said that 700,000 people in Europe sleep rough every night and more than 20 million workers are living in poverty due to the increase in precarious work contracts used by digital platforms for food delivery and taxis.
The EU's 27 member states are deeply divided on social issues. The countries of the south -- such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal -- are determined to push for the protection of the economically vulnerable.
Rich northern countries, attached to their successful national models, and the eastern countries, which fear losing their competitiveness, reject going further down this route.
But a lot has changed in Europe since the eurozone debt crisis, when Germany and allies imposed cost-cutting reforms on Greece and Portugal in return for bailout loans.
Last year, the EU member states agreed a massive 750-billion-euro ($905 billion) recovery plan whose benefits should begin to be felt this year.
"The great promise of Europe, since its inception 70 years ago, is prosperity for all," said European Employment Commissioner Nicolas Schmit.
