On Monday 22 February, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, and Duarte Veiga da Cunha, representative from the Portuguese section of SGI Europe, took part in the informal meeting of employment and social policy ministers organized by the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.

During the opening session, Valeria Ronzitti, General Secretary, said:

“Ahead of the publication of the Action plan for the Implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, we welcome the focus put by the Portuguese Presidency on the topic of ‘Jobs for the Future of a Strong Social Europe’. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now time to adopt a new paradigm for Europe, based on high-quality services of general Interest. We have the right tools at our disposal to make it a reality with the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the upcoming Action Plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

In the afternoon session on "Gender equality as a driver for recovery" Ms Ronzitti commented:

“More than ever before, we now need to develop a holistic approach to fix the gender dimension of our labour markets. SGI Europe calls for a solution relying on three main priorities: de-segregate the labour market of the gender perspective, invest in infrastructures supporting the participation of women (such as childcare), and further mainstreaming gender-budgeting.”

You can find more on SGI Europe messages and priorities on our website: www.sgieurope.org.