The International Seminar “Social Cohesion, Demography and Democracy in the European Union”, organized by Centro de Formação e Tempos Livres (CFTL) in cooperation with Base-Frente Unitária de Trabalhadores (BASE-FUT), with the support of EZA and with funding from the European Union, took place at the from 26 February to 1 March 2026 in Vila Nova de Gaia / Portugal.
The seminar aimed to debate the challenges that demography and migration pose to social cohesion in the European Union and their implications for democracy and for the European social model; the role that regions and municipalities can play in combating poverty and the depopulation of inland regions; and how trade unions and other workers’ organizations can contribute to reducing social and territorial inequalities, namely through fairer wages and a fairer distribution of wealth.
The seminar was attended by around 50 representatives of workers’ organizations from France, Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia, Albania and Portugal.
The programme included three subjects that, in different ways, reflect the following challenges for Portugal and for the other countries of the European Union:
How do major demographic changes, such as ageing and migration, affect social cohesion and democracy, and what challenges do they pose to social protection, family policies, care systems and migration policies?
What role can municipalities and regions play in combating poverty and depopulation, strengthening local communities and promoting more balanced territorial development?
How can trade unions contribute to reducing social and territorial inequalities, namely through fairer wages and a more equitable distribution of wea
The first panel, entitled “Culture and civic associations as the cement of social and territorial cohesion”, raised a set of challenges for participants but also presented lines of action for improving and deepening democracy and the European social model. Among the challenges identified were social atomisation and individualism, declining belief in collective action, the negative impacts associated with information and communication technologies and the need to renew local and national associational networks. These challenges are currently common across the entire European space.
Nevertheless, participants highlighted possible lines of action that could mitigate or reverse these trends. Examples include the promotion of a model of associative democracy that, while being a pillar of popular sovereignty, also constitutes a strong contribution to the renewal of representative democracy. Associative life also opens up possibilities for addressing social problems that span beyond institutional or electoral timeframes. In this regard, the words of one of the speakers in this panel were highlighted: “Popular associations are not relics of the past; they are workshops of participation and debate.”
Several associative experiences playing an important role in their respective social contexts were highlighted, including initiatives focused on immigrant integration, the organisation and empowerment of women in rural contexts in Spain, and the creation of spaces for civic and cultural education. Associative life was considered by participants to be an important element of historical and cultural identity, both locally and nationally. In this sense, associations are often one of the voices of local populations and are essential for social and territorial cohesion. In addition to strong civic participation, social and territorial cohesion also requires access to a range of public services, including strengthening the public (and cooperative) housing sector, providing quality employment opportunities, ensuring universal access to healthcare, with particular emphasis on the creation of a national care service.
In this context, it is essential to advocate for specific investment in associative projects from the State, including training for local populations and the construction and rehabilitation of collective facilities. Such investment is not only a social and cultural investment, but also a crucial investment in democracy.
The second panel, entitled “Demography and Democracy – Challenges for Social and Territorial Cohesion”, addressed topics such as population ageing, low birth rates, and the reconfiguration of the working class, a phenomenon particularly visible in several European countries such as Portugal, which hosts a significant immigrant workforce.
Unlike fluctuations in migration flows, population ageing is a long-term trend observable across multiple national contexts within the European Union. Regarding birth rates, there was broad consensus on the role that the State and public policies can play in promoting them. However, it was stressed that this role should not involve coercing individuals to have children. Instead, public policies should create material and social conditions enabling people to fulfil their life projects, particularly in terms of forming families.
Among the factors that can foster these family projects are higher wages and stable employment, better work–life balance, greater gender equality, the creation of social infrastructures supporting families (e.g. childcare facilities).
It was also emphasized that low wages, constant changes in labour legislation, and its ongoing flexibilization, which contributes to labour precariousness, run counter to social cohesion. The competitiveness of the European Union cannot be achieved through the erosion of labour and social rights, undeclared work or the exploitation of migrant workers.
Currently, more than 1.5 million migrant workers live in Portugal, representing an unprecedented transformation in the profile of the Portuguese working class. This corresponds to around 20% of the national labour force, a figure that does not include the thousands who may be working under undeclared conditions. These workers lack rights, cannot contribute to Social Security, and are not covered by trade unions or collective bargaining.
The debate on immigration is also closely linked to the debate on nationality, both highly relevant issues in Portugal and across Europe. The current framework governing access to residence in Portugal and Portuguese nationality was described as profoundly unjust, hypocritical and mercenary. While access to nationality is made more difficult for poorer immigrants—hindering their integration into Portuguese society—mechanisms exist that function as “fast tracks” to nationality for wealthier migrants, such as “Golden Visas” or the nonhabitual resident status.
A humanist European immigration policy, promoting access to social rights, is therefore essential to prevent the erosion of the European social model, revitalising it as a space of well-being and of values such as freedom, solidarity and inclusion.
Such an approach may help to halt the rise of chauvinism, discrimination, hatred and social division, which increasingly contaminate significant parts of European public opinion and pose a serious risk to the European social model itself.
The third panel, entitled “Strengthening the Role of Regions and Local Authorities in Promoting Social and Territorial Cohesion”, aimed to explore the role that regions and municipalities can play in promoting social cohesion.
The discussion began by clarifying key concepts such as social and territorial cohesion, decentralisation, and regionalisation, given that these notions can be interpreted in different ways.
The starting point was a diagnosis of existing problems (partly resulting, in the Portuguese case, from an overly centralised State) such as economic and social inequalities, poverty, and social exclusion – all of which significantly affect citizens’ capacity for civic participation.
It was emphasised that these issues concern real people living in peripheral and inland regions. Over the years, the Portuguese State—like others—has closed schools and other public services in several parts of the country, particularly in regions with low population density.
In contrast to a centralised State, a consensual and elective regionalisation process built from the bottom up could help mitigate many of these problems by following principles such as
bringing decision-making closer to local populations and sharing it with them;
investing in locally based public services;
providing regional and local authorities with the financial and human resources necessary to meet their new responsibilities;
establishing a stable and predictable European funding framework aligned with the endogenous development capacities of territories;
implementing tax policies that favour economic activity in peripheral regions.
Social and territorial cohesion also requires a persistent fight against poverty and multiple social inequalities, including through policies supporting youth employment, the restoration and expansion of public transport networks, sustainable agriculture, sustainable forest management, incentives for SMEs and cooperatives (notably in the housing sector), and the promotion of volunteering as a form of active citizenship.
Access to healthcare was also highlighted as a fundamental element of social and territorial cohesion. In addition to strengthening local healthcare facilities, the importance of investing in preventive approaches to health was emphasised.
The seminar concluded with a round table entitled “The Role of Workers’ Organisations in Combating Inequalities and Promoting Social and Territorial Cohesion”.
Speakers from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Romania, Albania, Latvia and Lithuania, all members of trade unions and other workers’ organisations, shared their national experiences. From their contributions, several key points were highlighted. Workers’ organisations—particularly trade unions— are, by their very nature, institutions that strengthen social and territorial cohesion because they:
provide unique spaces for listening to and expressing workers’ demands across generations and for defending their fundamental rights;
organise and structure collective action and solidarity across the entire working class.
By participating in collective bargaining and in the structures of social dialogue, trade unions also make a significant contribution to justice and social cohesion within European countries. In this framework, unions can play a fundamental role in achieving a fairer redistribution of wealth, mitigating its concentration in the hands of a small number of individuals. This can be achieved through increasing lower wages, restraining excessive top salaries, and combating the destruction of productive sectors and its negative consequences.
In summary, a trade union strategy for cohesion involves revitalising collective bargaining mechanisms, ensuring decent wages that guarantee a dignified standard of living for workers and their families (including the possibility of savings), and improving public services and infrastructure. Such a strategy could go even further, recommending the participation of workers’ representatives on company boards, stronger wage growth, and the reduction of working hours and work intensity, allowing more time for rest, leisure and better work–family balance.
Although trade unions must reinvent some of their communication strategies, particularly in reaching younger generations, migrant workers, and workers in sectors such as agriculture and crafts, it must also be recognised that these organisations operate within a legal framework that can either facilitate or hinder their action. It is therefore essential to create a system of incentives for collective action and a legal framework that strengthens the power of workers’ organisations, encouraging workers’ participation and union membership.