Luxembourg Minister Nicolas Schmit, Chairperson of the PES Social and Employment Ministers Network, said: “Now is the time to renew our core engagement for fairer mobility. Our approach does not allow for the discrimination of workers, nor for their exploitation. We are strongly committed to non-discrimination, equal pay for equal work, access to social security, strong social standards and the protection of all workers’ rights. Fair mobility prevents social dumping and competition for the lowest standards, it ensures the protection of all workers and strengthens our freedom of movement.”
At the beginning of the meeting, MEP Pervenche Berès, Chairperson of the PES Social Europe Network presented the new flagship project of the PES, the PES European Youth Plan. At this occasion, Pervenche Berès stated “With our European youth plan we want to create decent employment for Europe’s youth, to promote active and critical citizenship and to guarantee equal opportunities in life starting from early childhood onwards. Investing in youth, in quality education and in quality jobs is the way forwards.”
Participants at the PES EPSCO Ministerial meeting were:
Nicolas Schmit – Minister for Labour, Employment, Social and Solidarity Economy, Luxembourg
Lodewijk Asscher – Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, the Netherlands
Alois Stöger – Minister Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Austria
Myriam El Khomri – Minister of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue, France
Thorben Albrecht – Permanent State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany
José António Vieira da Silva – Minister of Labour, Solidarity, and Social Security, Portugal
Michaela Marksová-Tominová, Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, Czech Republic
Peter Pogačar – State Secretary Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Slovenia
Ylva Johansson – Minister of Employment, Sweden
Maria João Rodrigues – Vice-President of the S&D Group in the European Parliament
Pervenche Berès – MEP, Chair of the PES Social Europe Network
Yonnec Polet – Deputy Secretary General, PES
