SEDEC members to debate regional aspects of labour mobility with Luxembourg Minister of Labour
In anticipation to the adoption of a "Labour Mobility Package" by the European Commission later this year, members of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) will engage in a debate on "Employment and Social Policies in the context of Labour Mobility" at their next meeting on 22 September. Participants to the debate will include Luxembourg's Minister of Labour, the Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Employment Committee and representatives from the European Commission, the business industry and civil society.
The European Commission has announced that it will present a "labour mobility package" towards the end of 2015, with the aim of supporting more efficient and fairer labour mobility and tackling abuse. The Commission intends to do so by means of better coordination of social security systems, the targeted review of the Posting of Workers Directive and an enhanced EURES - the European job mobility portal.
In order to feed into the reflection that will lead to the Committee of the Regions' (CoR) position on the matter, SEDEC members will be debating "Employment and Social Policies in the context of Labour Mobility" together with Luxembourg's Minister of Labour and Employment Nicolas Schmit, and MEP Marita Ulvskog, Vice-Chair of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee. Other speakers will include Jorg Tagger, European Commission's Deputy Head of Unit in charge of Free Movement of workers and Coordination of Social Security Schemes, Sverker Rudeberg, BUSINESSEUROPE's Chair of the Immigration and Mobility Working Group, and Claude Denagtergal from the European Trade Union Confederation.
Among the issues expected to be addressed are the various patterns in which EU regions deal with labour mobility, the efforts put in place to avoid social dumping, the specific situation and issues faced by border regions and the mobility projects put in place at regional level.
The SEDEC meeting will also provide members with the opportunity to discuss further steps in the development of a cooperation mechanism between the CoR and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation aimed at enhancing the role of regions as key drivers in the field - to be called "Knowledge Exchange Platform". SEDEC members will review the work in progress together with Peter Dröll, Acting Director responsible for Innovation Union and European Research Area at DG RTD.
More information: SEDEC meeting agenda
The Committee of the Regions' SEDEC commission
The Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) coordinates the European Committee of the Regions' work in the areas of employment, social policy, equal opportunities, innovation, research and technology, Digital Agenda, education and training, audio-visual industry and media, youth and sport, multilingualism and culture. It gathers about 110 regional and local elected representatives from the 28 EU member states. It is chaired by Yoomi Renström (SE/PES), Member of Ovanåker Municipal Council.