On 9 February 2021, EFEE attended the Liaison Forum of the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL), which took place in online. The Liaison Forum brings together EU cross-industry and sectoral social partners to discuss the latest developments in the field of social dialogue. The Liaison forum was opened by Mr Andrei Luchici, Project Leader – Free movement of workers at EURES DG EMPL, who gave an overview of the Annual Report on Intra-EU Labour Mobility 2020. Subsequently, Ms. Christine Le Forestier, Director of Social Affairs at FIEC, introduced the joint sectoral social dialogue project on “Tackling Undeclared Work in the Construction Sector” to the participants.
Following these introductory presentations, the Liaison Forum received an update on the social dialogue policy developments in the EU. Participants were informed on upcoming dedicated hearings, including those on micro-credentials and individual learning accounts as well as the Updated Occupational Safety and Health Framework 2021-2027. Hereafter, more details were given on the social dialogue call 2020 and the upcoming social dialogue call 2021. Regarding the former, the European Commission highlighted that 27 out of 36 projects were approved, which amounted to a total of 9 million euros being dedicated to the 2020 call. Regarding the latter, it was underlined that two additional priorities would be added to the 2021 call: (1) capacity-building for national social partners, and (2) technical assistance of cross-sectoral social partners to capacity-building of national social partners. Furthermore, the Commission announced that in March a new call under the EaSI programme would be published that specifically targets social partners tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. The call will be open to consortia of national social partners under the guidance of EU cross-sectoral social partners, who intend to present a project aimed at capacity-building within the context of the current crisis.
The meeting was closed by dialogue between the sectoral social partners and Ms Andrea Nahles, Special Advisor on social dialogue to Commissioner Schmit, to discuss the results of her Report on the Action Plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Action Plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights is set to be adopted by the European Commission on 3 March and will be a cornerstone document for the Social Summit, which will be organized under the Portuguese Presidency in Porto on 7 May 2021.
For more details, please contact isaline.ossieur@educationemployers.eu