Indicators and targets for social inclusion in the European Union

In December 2001, the Laeken European Council adopted a set of commonly agreed and defined indicators for social inclusion. These should play a central role in monitoring the performance of Member States in making progress towards the key EU objectives in this area set by the Nice European Council in 2000, and represent a major step forward in the development of EU social policy. This article reviews the scientific and political basis on which the indicators were selected, and the implications for the future development of policy-making in Europe. It describes the key features of the indicators and some of the ways in which they can be developed. Finally, it investigates some important issues that need to be addressed when setting quantitative targets in the context of the social inclusion process.