EESC President

On 9 May, President Röpke celebrated Europe Day in Madrid at an event on "The future of the EU social agenda".

Organised by the Spanish Minister of Labour and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, the event gathered many prominent speakers including Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister Luka Mesec, Romanian Minister for Labour and Social Solidarity Simona Bucura-Oprescu, Polish Deputy Minister of Labour Katarzyna Nowakowska and Member of the European Parliament Leïla Chaibi.

In his intervention, President Röpke underlined that social dialogue is a cornerstone of our European social model and democratic values. He recalled that to protect and defend those values, Europe needs strong and engaged social partners and full involvement of civil society. This is particularly important now, as the future of Europe and especially the role of the European Union as a project of peace, shared values and well-being for its citizens, is at stake.

In this context, President stressed that social dialogue needs to be meaningful at all levels – European and national, and at all stages of the decision-making process.

Green transition, youth employment, work-related privacy and surveillance; improving skills matching, and capacity building were among the most important issues that social partners need to discuss.

Given the current rapid spread of AI, algorithmic management and especially of the new generative AI, one of the priorities of President Röpke's mandate is to continue raising awareness and proposing solutions, especially when it comes to the rights of workers. The EESC is currently working on three opinions relating to the issue of AI.