On Thursday 13 July, the EU Ministers for employment and social affairs began an informal meeting in Madrid devoted to national experiences of social dialogue in the Member States and the role of social dialogue in care policies, particularly long-term care, with the Commission having just set up a new Social Dialogue Committee for social services (see EUROPE 13219/17).
The meeting will continue on 14 July and will also be an opportunity to look at ways of measuring the results of social investment.
“The future of Europe depends on improving rights in the world of work, workers’ training rights, but also on what the Spanish government has done in a remarkable way, which is putting an end to precarious relationships in the world of work”, declared the Spanish Minister for Employment, Yolanda Díaz Pérez, at the start of the meeting.
“During this Presidency, we will be undertaking a whole series of initiatives to promote stable, high-quality employment within the European Union”, she added. “We have a very important task to accomplish during this Presidency: to continue with ongoing dossiers and to make progress on the outstanding social dialogue agreements on disconnecting and remote working, and the directive on digital platform workers”, the minister added.
The European Commissioner for Employment, Nicolas Schmit, stressed that social dialogue is even more important during these times of transition, both in terms of energy and digital technology.
For BusinessEurope representative Maxime Cerutti, this meeting should serve to reaffirm respect for the autonomy of the social partners.
Employers will also be calling on Member States to lighten the burden on companies when they implement national or EU social legislation. Finally, the challenge of labour market shortages in Europe also needs to be tackled, explained BusinessEurope.
EUROPE will continue to follow this story. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)