Informal Meeting of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) - Employment & Social Policy

An informal meeting of the ministers of the European Union responsible for employment and social affairs will take place on 17 and 18 April at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The two-day meeting will discuss the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and how they can be applied in order to improve workforce skills and qualifications and ensure equal opportunities and access to the labour market. The ministers will discuss the EU Council Recommendation on improving qualifications and creating new employment opportunities for older people.

The programme will also focus on active labour market policies regarding young people and the long-term unemployed. In this context, Juan Menéndez-Valdés, Director, Eurofound, will present data on youth and long-term unemployed. His session titled: Young people and long-term unemployed – Remaining challenges in the labour market, will show the data on the EU population, both young and long time unemployed (LTU), focussing on the young people who have not been reached, or ineffectively reached, by the Youth Guarantee.

Bulgarian Presidency website: Informal Meeting of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) - Employment & Social Policy - Agenda and videos now available

Presentation: Young people and long-term unemployed – Remaining challenges in the labour market

Blog: Long-term unemployed youth: The legacy of the crisis

Photos: 'Arrivals' and 'Handshakes'