Brussels, 29/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 27 November, the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Vladimir Spidla, and the Indian Employment Minister, Oscar Fernandes, signed a memorandum of understanding on reinforcing dialogue on social affairs and employment, as agreed at the EU/India Summit in September 2005. A Commission press release states that the agreement will help to exchange ideas and experience in fields such as social protection, cohesion, employment law, relations between the social partners and social dialogue. The first concrete realisation of this collaboration was a seminar on the subject of qualifications and training, which will be followed by a similar initiative in autumn 2007, and by a series of joint studies and exchange programmes between civil servants and social partners. India is one of the main players in international trade, and "it is time for a policy dialogue (...) on employment and social affairs issues. In a globalised world, we can all learn from each other," commented Commissioner Spidla.
The press release notes that similar agreements exist with other third countries (the United States, Japan and China), or are being developed (Brazil and Mexico), in order to add value to the external dimension of the European social agenda. (For more information: http://www.delind.ec.europa.eu ). (mg)