At an informal two-day meeting in Vienna organised by the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 July, ministers responsible for social affairs will be getting to grips with the ramifications and challenges created by new forms of employment in an era of the digital platforms and the effects of robotisation.
The debates on the first day will undoubtedly resonate with the recent initiatives launched by the European Commission - in connection with the promulgation of the European Pillar of Social Rights - particularly with regard to strengthening contractual relations (see EUROPE 12046) and expanding access to the social security systems (see EUROPE 11980).
In the morning, Ministers and the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen, will attend a range of different speeches on the challenges created by new forms of employment generated by the digital era. The futurologist, Matthias Horx, will discuss digitisation related myths. Juan Menéndez-Valdés, the Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, will analyse employment and working conditions at the digital platforms.
Isabel Caño Aguilar, Vice President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), will examine European approaches for supporting the transition to a “digitalised world of work” in the perspective of the European Commission's White Paper on the future of employment.
A debate between the national delegations and social partners will follow on the question of social and legal protection for these new kinds of workers.
The working lunch will focus on the roles played by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the post-2020 European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) as part of the support provided alongside the emergence of these new kinds of jobs.
On Thursday afternoon, three parallel workshops will be facilitated: the first will focus on challenges to labour law; the second will concentrate on social protection related challenges and finally; - the third workshop will focus on new kinds of employment for persons with disabilities.
On Friday, ministers will be examining robotics and its impact on “the quantity and quality of work”. This is an important subject, with the Commission recently having published a report in which it demonstrated that almost 70% of jobs in some member states are under threat (see EUROPE 12062).
The day will begin with a speech by Horst Pichler, Head of Research Group on Cognitive Robotics at the Graz-based Joanneum Research institute. He will be discussing the changes created by robotics. Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs of the OECD, will discuss artificial intelligence related concerns, a subject that will also be tackled during the informal Competitiveness Ministers’ meeting at the beginning of the week (see EUROPE 12063). Finally, Christa Sedlatschek, Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), will tackle the effects of robotics on workers.
The different delegations will then be invited to put forward their points of view before finishing at the beginning of the afternoon. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)