The ministerial UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) meeting on work and employment, held on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 September and co-chaired by EU Social Affairs, Employment and Mobility Commissioner Marianne Thyssen and Jordanian labour minister Ali Al-Ghezawi (see EUROPE 11631), focused on the challenge of disillusioned young people without a job, who add to the influx of migration.
UfM secretary general Fathallah Sijilmassi attended the meeting, but no details have yet emerged about the number of European and Mediterranean ministers who took part. Thyssen said the situation in the region was having a strong impact on EuroMed cooperation, which was going through "turbulent times".
At the opening of the formal sitting on Tuesday, Thyssen recalled that half of young people in the southern Mediterranean had no hope of getting a job and said: "We cannot afford a lost generation. We cannot afford disillusioned young people. We must be bold and creative". She spoke at length about the refugee crisis, noting: "I want to underline that the EU is a committed partner to address the refugee crisis in the region".
Thyssen called for areas of cooperation to be sought between both shores despite the difficult context, in order to breathe new life into UfM cooperation: "You know that there have been some ups and downs in the cooperation in recent years, due to various reasons: there was the Arab Spring, the economic and financial crisis". These have been "turbulent times for both shores of the Mediterranean", she said.
Anticipating objections, she said: "Who said it would be easy?" She stated that in difficult times, it was important to mobilise all stakeholders, including the EuroMed social partners that she met the day before and who published a common statement calling for social dialogue. Thyssen hailed this common commitment by employers and workers’ organisations, and promised to pay more attention to jobs for young people and women in the region, where she said that sadly very few women are in employment.
The social partners issued a statement noting that the European Union and its neighbouring region, the countries in the southern Mediterranean, are connected and influenced by the same trends and large-scale global challenges. Stressing the importance of social dialogue, they say it has to be adapted to suit the situation of each side and have a legal framework. The social dialogue also needs to take account of the fact that the two regions have been worse hit than others by the recent financial, economic and refugee crises, and have recently experienced delicate and slow green shoots of recovery compared with other parts of the world. (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)