Comitato economico e sociale europeo
This event is organised in the context of the preparation of an own-initiative opinion on the topic of "Employment opportunities for economically inactive people". It focuses in particular on this category of people, who, contrary to unemployed, are less studied. However, they have a labour market potential, and specific active public policies need to be created for them. Speakers include representatives of the European Commission, Eurofound and organised civil society.
On the 29th October, the Group on the Inclusion of the Roma will be looking at the Roma's current health situation and their access to healthcare. Issues such as discrimination in access to health care, differences in life expectancy between Roma and non-Roma, as well as poverty and its effects on the Roma's health situation will be discussed. The hearing will also look into the situation in women's and children's health, with a particular emphasis on forced sterilizations, pregnancy and infant mortality, as well as vaccination amongst children. It will also feature a discussion on the solutions offered by the state in the light of health issues brought about by poverty, as well as recommendations on the way forward.
The EESC Study Group on the Inclusion of the Roma will be organising a public hearing on the issue of early school leaving within the Roma community. Education is considered the key for a better future. Yet the social exclusion they face, as well as certain regulatory measures, amongst others factors, affect negatively the education they receive.
This hearing will highlight the current situation with regard to early school leaving amongst the Roma. It will seek to identify factors which trigger this phenomenon and feature a discussion on initiatives and good practices which are being undertaken by civil society organisations as well as recommendations on how early school leaving can be prevented.
On the 12 April 2018 from 2.00 to 4.30 pm, the Labour Market Observatory will hold a conference on the topic of the long-term unemployment. Following the 2016 Council's recommendation on this subject, the aim is to assess the current situation and discuss about the outcome of LMO's project to evaluate the implementation of the recommendation in the EU Member States. Participants will include representatives of the European Commission, social partners, the EESC groups on disabilities and Roma.
The LMO and CEDEFOP organise a joint event "Education and Training - Employment Encounter" on the 23 March 2018 in Lisbon. The aim is to strengthen contacts between EU-level and national policymakers and VET providers and encourage dialogue between, on one side, the education & training actors and, on the other side, the Portuguese labour market stakeholders of Portugal. Participants include the Minister of Labour, training providers, social partners, students' organisations and the national Economic and Social Council.
Ongoing megatrends such as globalisation, digitalisation and demographic change have a significant impact on labour markets and businesses across Europe. 40% of European employers have difficulty in finding people with the skills they need to grow and innovate. At the same time, 70 million Europeans lack adequate reading and writing skills and even more have poor numeracy and digital skills.
Joint EESC – Cedefop event. The aim of this event is to bring together countries and relevant stakeholders to help each other in the definition and implementation of measures to improve literacy, numeracy and digital competences of adults with low level of skills, in line with the 2016 Council recommendation ‘Upskilling pathways: new opportunities for adults’. Participation to this forum is on invitation.
Roma still remain the most underrepresented group on the labour market, with high numbers of unemployment. Due to the combination of various factors, such as poverty and deprivation, low levels of education and skills and discrimination in both education and employment, there are still serious structural barriers for Roma. Therefore they do not benefit from mainstream or targeted measures/initiatives. The Roma Platform is a high-level event that will provide an opportunity to discuss education and employment for Roma.
The European Commission and the EESC co-organize, on the sidelines of the Summit, an event on the role of the social economy in the future of work.
The PSG on the inclusion of the Roma will in its hearing on 15 November deal with segregation in education of Roma. Roma are often placed in special schools for children with learning disabilities. The Commission has launched infringement procedures against the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary for school segregation As segregation has negative consequences on school attainment it severely affects the Roma though their entire life and maintain them in a situation of deprivation and poverty.
