Employment and social affairs conference

• Latvian Presidency: Chairs of Employment and Social Affairs Committees
• Inquiry into Youth Unemployment
• The Youth Guarantee

Conference

The conference is being hosted by the Saeima as part of the parliamentary dimension of the Latvian Presidency of the EU. It will bring together the Chairs of Employment and Social Affairs Committees from all national parliaments and the European Parliament to discuss key national and EU issues relating to:

• Steps to promote the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups into the labour market;
• The value of social entrepreneurship as a tool for achieving social objectives; and
• The first year of implementing the Youth Guarantee initiative.

Keynote speakers will include the Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions; the Vice-President of the European Disability Forum; and the Vice-President of the National Youth Council of Latvia.

The Chairs will also have the opportunity to debate issues with and ask questions of the Vice-President of the European Commission for the Euro and Social Dialogue, Mr Valdis Dombrovskis, and the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Ms Marianne Thyssen.

Inquiry into youth unemployment

In 2014, the EU Committee published a report on tackling youth unemployment in the EU, following an in-depth inquiry into the subject.

The Committee argues that EU funds and projects should be used to add value to national measures, not to replace them. The Committee also reasoned that the UK should pilot a Youth Guarantee in the five areas of the UK eligible to receive EU funds from the Youth Unemployment Initiative.

Further information

• About Select Committees
• Watching Select Committees