Abstract

Date
-
Location
Double Tree by Hilton, Rue Gineste 3, 1210 Bruxelles

At this conference, experts from academia, trade unions and the European Commission will exchange perspectives on the impact of NextGenerationEU (NGEU) on national and EU social and labour policies. How different is this recovery strategy from the way the EU managed the 2011 euro crisis? What role does the European Pillar of Social Rights play in the socialisation of European integration? What are the most crucial unresolved challenges, and how can we tackle them?

Participants will also be discussing the main insights emerging from a mapping exercise that was conducted for the just published special issue of the Italian Labour Law e-Journal (ILLeJ) coedited by the ETUI (click here). This ILLeJ special issue explores the social dimension of the NGEU from a EU perspective, with contributions focusing on the implications for EU governance, and from a national perspective, through 22 country reports that map the social implications of the national recovery and resilience plans.


PROGRAMME (download here the pdf)

13:45 Opening remarks by Philippe Pochet (General Director, ETUI)

Panel: The social relevance of the NextGeneration EU
Chair: Emanuele Menegatti (Unibo)

  • Francesco Corti (Advisor Belgian Minister of Social Affairs and Health; Associate Research Fellow CEPS)

The social dimension of the RRPs: away from austerity back to a new investment-led growth strategy? Download here the presentation

  • Silvia Rainone (ETUI)

Towards a more solidaristic Union? Reflections on the legal framework Download here the presentation

  • Sonja Bekker (Utrecht University)

The labour dimension of economic governance after the Covid-19 pandemic Download here the presentation

Discussant:

  • Sotiria Theodoropoulou (ETUI)

15:30 Coffee break

16:00 Round table: The (unresolved) social challenges of the RRF: insights from national implementation
Chair: Silvia Rainone (ETUI)

Key points from country reports:

Brn Hacker (HTW Berlin) - Germany; Manos Matsaganis (Polytechnic University of Milan) - Greece; Krzysztof Stefański (Łódź University) - Poland; Raluca Dimitriu (Bucharest University of Economic Studies) - Romania

Discussants:

  • Marco Cilento (Head of Institutional Policy at European Trade Union Confederation)
  • Reka Horvath (Deputy Head of Unit RECOVER.B.3, European Commission) Download here the presentation

Q&A with participants

18:00 Closing remarks

Find here the Special Issue - The NextGeneration EU in Action: Impact on Social and Labour Policies of the Italian Labour Law e-Journal (ILLeJ).

Relevant pubications:

The EU recovery strategy. A blueprint for a more Social Europe or a house of cards?

An overview of the 2020-2021 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) in the social field. The impact of Covid-19

Bridging the gaps or falling short? The European Pillar of Social Rights and what it can bring to EU-level policymaking

Strengthening the EU’s social dimension: using the EMU to make the most out of the Social Pillar

Embedding the Recovery and Resilience Facility into the European Semester. Macroeconomic coordination gains and democratic limits

Balancing objectives? Just transition in national recovery and resilience plans

A ‘Social Imbalances Procedure’ for the EU. Towards operationalisation