Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting ICM

Name: Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Ordinary meeting ICM
Uploaded: 2026-10-01T07:04:06+00:00
Duration: 3725 s

00:04 - 03:20

Speaker 2

Okay, colleagues, it's four past, so I think we are ready to start. And we will start with the adoption of the agenda, and if there are no objections, the agenda of the meeting is deemed adopted. And it is adopted. For chair's announcements, you have been informed via the technical notes about the interpretation provided today, and also, dear colleagues, please be informed that speech-to-text automatic transcription and translation is available for accessibility purposes. Please scan the QR code on posters and select the channel with the language being spoken, and for translation, you can choose your preferred language from the available options on the menu.

I would also like to inform you that there is a corrigendum needed to ensure an unequivocal interpretation in one of the provisions of Directive 2025/2450 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the 26th of November 2025, amending the directive as regards to the establishment and operation of European Works Councils and the effective enforcement of transnational information and consultation rights. Political groups and non-attached have been informed about this change and no objections have been raised. Subsequently, the corrigendum will be announced in the next plenary session according to rule 251.4. Thirdly, with regards to official notifications, I would like to inform you that on the 13th of September 2026, MEP Elena Donazzan left the EMPL committee as a full member, and on 14th of September she assumed the role as substitute member, and as of 14th of September, MEP Elena Yoncheva from the ECR assumed the role as full member in the EMPL committee. And as of the 13th of September, MEP Pál Szekeres from the Patriots left the EMPL committee as a full member.

And finally, please note that Idoia Mendia from the S&D has been appointed as rapporteur for the INI report on European Semester for economic policy coordination, employment and social priorities, annual report 2027. Then for the adoption of the minutes, if there are no objections, the minutes of the EMPL meeting of 2nd of September 2026 are deemed adopted. And they are adopted. Then we have some reports back from missions. Firstly, from 21st to 22nd of September, an EMPL delegation carried out a mission to the European Labour Authority in Bratislava and to Vienna to participate in an ELA-organised labour inspection.

This delegation was co-chaired by Marit Mai and Dennis Radtke and included George Falca and Branislav Ondruš. The aim of the mission was to discuss ELA's cooperation with the EMPL committee and to exchange views on key issues within the authority's remit that are on the EMPL committee's agenda, particularly in the context of the forthcoming fair labour mobility legislative package. I was informed that this was a highly insightful and useful mission, so I will now give the floor firstly to Marit Mai for reporting back.

03:20 - 05:02

Speaker 1

Yes, thank you very much, Chair, and also thanks to the rest of the delegation. It was indeed a very interesting mission. We had the first day and the second morning briefings by the ELA, by several parts of the ELA on their mandate, on challenges, on the work of the national liaison officers. And I think it was good for us to understand, also to learn about the relationship to the new proposal of the Commission on the mandate of ELA. So I think that was very pertinent and timely, the debate that we, the discussions that we had and the information that we got.

And on the second day, we did, we participated in a joint inspection from the Austrian and the Slovak authorities in Vienna, which was also super interesting. I think when we have more time, we can share more of the insights that we got there, but it was very interesting to see how, let's say, at first sight, something looks good and looks according to the rules, but once the inspections dig a little bit deeper into it, you see that there is all kinds of levels of, well, let's say, organizations involved which in the end show you that there is loopholes in our regulations and that in this case there was bogus self-standing people working as, what do you call them, as, ah, what is the word in English? I'm looking for the word in English.

05:02 - 05:03

Self-employment.

05:03 - 05:18

Self-employment, thank you very much. Yeah, I couldn't find it. It was bogus self-employment where at first sight it looked like it was very well, well organized. So I think this is the kind of thing that the inspection brings to sight and also showed us what good work ELA does. Thank you.

05:18 - 05:22

Speaker 2

And then Dennis, please.

05:22 - 05:54

Speaker 4

Yeah, what to add, Chair? Marit is absolutely right. It's also my impression. And maybe to add, it was really very well, well organized by ELA, not only very high professional work that is, that is delivered there, but also a very high professional organized delegation trip. So I think this should be well noted and it was very useful.

05:54 - 08:18

Li Andersson

Great, very happy to hear that. And of course, would also be happy to hear more about the reflections in later circumstances. Then for the next mission, that's to Lithuania. And I had the opportunity to lead an EMPL committee mission to Vilnius, Lithuania, from the 21st to the 23rd of September. So the course of two days, together with Mrs. Blinkevičiūtė and Mrs. Mendia, we had a series of very informative meetings with representatives of the Lithuanian government, of parliament, social partners, and civil society regarding employment and social affairs matters.

We also had meetings with the Minister of Social Security and Labour, the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, and the Vice-Minister of Finance, where we of course discussed the upcoming presidency. And Lithuania is already working closely as part of the trio with Irish and Greek colleagues. And our counterparts were very well briefed on the most important aspects of the difficult forthcoming negotiations regarding the MFF and of course also the ESF+ as well as legislative files that are fully or partially in EMPL remit, such as the fair mobility package and the traineeship directive. We also had a useful exchange with the Seimas, which is the Lithuanian National Parliament. After briefly meeting the Speaker of the Seimas, Mr. Oleckas, who was also a MEP from 2019 to 2024, we had a joint meeting with the chairs and members of three parliamentary committees: the Committee on Social Affairs and Labour, the Committee on European Affairs, and the Committee on Education and Science.

And this was also an opportunity to discuss on how our two parliamentary levels can contribute to a successful presidency while helping to ensure alignment with our committee's core focus on the European Pillar of Social Rights. We also had a very interesting meeting with the social partners, representatives of the main Lithuanian employers and workers association and discussed implementation of the minimum wage directive and also the transposition of the platform work directive, which is currently ongoing in Lithuania. So overall, I think it was very interesting and also once again allowed us to make very useful contacts with regards to the upcoming presidency. If any of the members want to add something, there is an opportunity for very short comments. Mrs. Blinkevičiūtė.

08:18 - 09:37

Vilija Blinkevičiūtė

Taip, ačiū pirmininke. Iš tikrųjų aš labai dėkoju, kad mūsų EMPL komitetas vyko į mano šalį Lietuvą, kuri tikrai labai intensyviai rengiasi pirmininkavimui. Ir kaip pirmininkė pabrėžė, darbotvarkė buvo be galo intensyvi ir susitikimai ir su ministrais, ir su Seimo pirmininke, su parlamento komitetais, su socialiniais partneriais dar kartą parodė, kad iš tikrųjų Lietuva labai intensyviai rengiasi pirmininkavimui ir ne veltui vieną iš penkių pirmininkavimo prioritetų pasirinko socialinės apsaugos užimtumo stiprinimą. Tai todėl mūsų susitikimuose ne kartą ir buvo pabrėžta, kad didžiausias dėmesys bus kreipiamas laukiamam kokybiško darbo vietų aktui, būsto įgyvendinimui, vaiko garantijos stiprinimui, psichinės sveikatos darbe. Ir iš tikrųjų tikiuosi, kad pavyks pasiekti gerų rezultatų.

Kadangi esu iš Lietuvos, tai tikrai dar kartą dėkoju mūsų visai delegacijai, todėl kad vertinimai ir atsiliepimai yra labai puikūs. Ačiū.

09:37 - 01:02:01

Li Andersson

Thank you very much. And then we are ready to move on to the votes. We have three votes today. First, the adoption of the draft report on boosting skills in the Union, opportunities for vocational education and training in times of transition. Then the adoption of the draft report on the guidelines for the employment policies of Member States and adoption of the draft opinion in letter form on the mobilisation of European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for displaced workers following an application from Finland.

And first, I will announce the non-EMPL members replacing full or substitute members. Mr. Buia is replaced by Mr. Vavrikievič. Mr. Geuking is replaced by Mr. Jiménez Laras. Mrs. Vind is replaced by Mrs. Schaldemose. Mrs. Peter-Hansen is replaced by Mr. Søndergaard and Mr. Wolken by Mr. Stoyanov.

Is that correct? Seems to be. Good. Then we are going to move on to the first vote, which was boosting skills in the Union. All right, compromise amendment one, those in favour?

Those against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise amendment two, those in favour? Those against?

Abstentions? Adopted. Amendment 64, those in favour? Those against? Abstentions?

Let's check 64. I open the vote. Close the vote. Adopted, 19 in favour, 16 against and six abstentions.

Then we have amendment 65. Is it not working? It's okay. So, now we have amendment 65. Those in favor?

Those against? Abstentions? Rejected. Compromise amendment 8, those in favor? Those against?

Abstentions? Adopted. Amendment 74, those in favor? Those against? Abstentions?

Rejected. Amendment 82, those in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted.

Compromise amendment 3, those in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Amendment 105, those in favor?

Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise amendment 4, those in favor? Against?

Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise amendment 5 is a roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote.

And it is adopted. 27 in favor, 10 against and 6 abstentions. Compromise amendment 6, those in favor? Against? Abstentions?

Adopted. Compromise amendment 7, those in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted.

The final vote is a roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote. Adopted with 38 in favor, 1 against and 4 abstentions. Then we move on to the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States.

All right, compromise amendment 1, those in favor? Those against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise amendment 2, those in favor?

Abstentions? I think it is rejected but we're gonna check. I open the vote for compromise amendment 3. And I close the vote. Rejected with 21 against, 20 in favor and 3 abstentions.

That means we vote on amendment 91, those in favor? Those against? Abstentions? Rejected. Amendment 92, those in... sorry.

Yes, compromise amendment 4, those in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise amendment 5, those in favor?

Abstentions? Adopted. The final vote is a roll call vote. I open the vote. Okay.

So, those in favor? Those against? Abstentions? Adopted. We are finished with the votes and next we will have the interparliamentary committee meeting on the future of the European Social Fund Plus at 10 o'clock and you are very warmly welcome to participate.

Okay, dear colleagues, can I please ask you to take your seats? We are about to start. So, dear colleagues, members of national parliaments, and esteemed guests, welcome to our interparliamentary committee meeting. As chair of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, it is my privilege to open our joint discussion on the future architecture and priorities of the European Social Fund for the 2028-2034 period. Under our current framework, the ESF+ stands as the European Union's main funding instrument for employment and social policies, backed directly by 95.1 billion from the EU budget.

It also plays a central role in turning the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights into tangible action and driving progress towards our common headline targets. Across member states, this funding has delivered proven results, helping millions of citizens gain new qualifications, re-enter the labour market, or access essential social inclusion services. Yet, as we look across the European Union, progress towards these 2030 social targets remains deeply uneven. Even as employment figures improve, severe deficits persist in job quality and social inclusion, leaving one in twelve European workers at risk of poverty. Adult participation in training continues to lag far behind our common European goals, while our collective efforts fall well short of our target to lift 15 million people out of poverty by 2030.

These ongoing struggles are made even harder by a severe cost-of-living crisis, especially rising housing expenses, alongside rapid developments in artificial intelligence and shifting demographics. Looking ahead to the proposed 2028-2034 framework, under national and regional partnership plans, the European Commission suggests replacing dedicated fund budget lines and specific thematic earmarks with a broad 14% social spending requirement. But when we examine the financial reality, this spending floor translates into a substantial funding reduction.