This Social Summit, which today started in the city of Porto, represents "a unique opportunity" that Europeans have to "defend their social model", something that distinguishes them in the world, this is also a meeting that aims to give a "response to fears", yesterday defended the Prime Minister at the opening of the conference on the European Council for Social Rights.Having at his side the Secretary-General of the European Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, and the European Commissioner for Empego and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, António Costa argued that the Social Pillar of the European Union, being "unique in the world" and the more advanced, it must always work on "trust-based" so that european countries, as he alluded to, when fundamental changes are projected at the level of the digital and climate change policies, see this changes as the "only effective response to the anxiety that transitions imposes".

Still according to the prime minister, the implementation of the Social Pillar "is the best tool" for show citizens that what appears to be a possible threat is actually "an opportunity to create more and better jobs, be more competitive and have sustainable and effective social protection", reaffirming that the pandemic of covid-19 "has put European society and the economy under great pressure". As the months went by, it turns out that "the worst days will be over", said António Costa, assuming that the European Union has acted swiftly, proving to be able to "provide a strong and coordinated response to the current emergency", recalling the this purpose that the 27 "launched a set of policies and tools" able to respond "effectively to the crisis", in particular with the specific objective of "protect jobs, support workers, families and businesses", and the wider spread of vaccines is also helping the recovery of economic and social development in the 27 Member States.The Portuguese caseIn relation to the Portuguese reality, a country that presides until June to the Council of European Union, the Prime Minister was clear that the crisis caused by covid-19 set out the "costs of precarious working conditions and gender inequality", which are still taking place in the country, as well as it has become clear that "the need to regulate new ways of working", in this case giving the examples of telework and the platforms Digital. On the other hand, the prime minister recalled that still remains to find the safe ways to for all, there is "universal access to quality health, but also to the protection of jobs and the unemployed", without forgetting the work that will have to strengthen the fight against poverty, "especially among the children", arguing that "the time has come" to combine emergency with recovery and the protection of jobs, avoiding bankruptcies and "investing greater competitiveness." In this context, and according to António coast, it is necessary that the European Union implements the "recovery of economic and social development on the basis of the drivers of green and digital transitions", while ensuring that this recovery "is fair and inclusive".