On 14–15 April 2025, Social Platform was invited to participate in an informal meeting of Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs (EPSCO). Taking place in Warsaw, the meeting was hosted by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU and gathered Ministers from the EU member states, EFTA countries and Ukraine, as well as the European Commission Vice-President Roxana Minzatu, Li Andersson, Chair of the EMPL Committee of the European Parliament, the chairs of EMCO and SPC, high representatives of ILO, as well as the European Social Partners.
The meeting addressed topics such as the impact of digitalisation and AI on the world of work and workers’ rights, active migrant integration policies, and equality in the labour market, with particular emphasis on care responsibilities.
Social Platform’s Vice-President, Mikael Leyi, addressed the high-level roundtable on the issue of migration and integration of migrants into the labour market. Our message was clear: an equal, fair and just society, is where social rights are not limited nor restrictive, and where everyone has access to them regardless of their migration status.
Mikael pointed out that while many migrants are highly skilled their qualifications are not recognised in Europe which leads to underemployment – working in jobs below their skillset.
We also called for private and public employers to take on a bigger role to ensure that migrant workers have meaningful access to information, skills training and recognition, and for Member States to ambitiously implement existing EU directives on non-discrimination, labour rights, and working conditions.
“Social Platform calls for strong social protection and inclusion for all – regardless of migration status.
From protecting cohesion policy in the next EU budget, to the upcoming European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, we must place human rights at the centre of policy making!“
Mikael Leyi, Vice-President of Social Platform
On the margins of the informal EPSCO meeting Mikael Leyi, together with Social Platform Secretary General Laura de Bonfils, were also pleased to meet with: Lilian Tschan, State Secretary for Germany at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Wilm Geurts, Director of the International Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment of the Netherlands, Fiona Ward, Assistant Secretary at the Irish Department of Social Protection, and Korinna Schumann, Austrian Minister of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection to discuss the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the upcoming anti-poverty strategy and the future of the MFF and cohesion funds.
The next EPSCO ministerial meeting will be held in June, with discussions set to focus on the next Action Plan for the Pillar of Social Rights and on combating poverty.
