"Social Protection" June 2013

Transcription

1 6 th EU-India Joint Seminar on Employment and Social Policy "Social Protection" June 2013 Brussels, Hotel Crown Plaza, Place Rogier DRAFT Programme In the framework of bilateral cooperation with India, the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission will organise the 6th EU-India Seminar on Employment and Social Policy focussing this year on "Social Protection". The seminar will allow exchanging experiences and good practice in the area of social protection between EU and India, also in the wider context of renewed impetus at global level to reinforce the international community's long-standing commitment to promoting social protection. Both the EU and India participate in the global debate on the development of social protection floors. The 100 th International Labour Conference committed to establishing national social protection floors aiming at extending at least a minimum of social security to all, as part of comprehensive social security systems. This concept was taken up in the debate of G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, and endorsed by G20 Heads of State and Government at its Cannes Summit and last year in Los Cabos where they recognised the importance of establishing nationally determined social protection floors and agreed to continue to foster international policy coherence, coordination, cooperation and knowledge sharing to assist low-income countries in capacity building for implementing nationally determined social protection floors. The Recommendation on social protection floors adopted by the International Labour Organisation in June 2012 defines social protection floors as nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. Social protection, including the development of nationally defined social protection floors, is also one of the key priorities of the ASEM (Asia Europe) dialogue on employment and social issues. One of the objectives of the EU is to promote proper social protection. Most Member States have established comprehensive social protection systems for their citizens, but they are facing the impact of the crisis and rapid population ageing which make it more difficult to maintain social protection systems in their present form. At the same time, rapid development in emerging economies like India makes it possible to envisage comprehensive social protection systems for their populations. For both mature and emerging economies, the fundamental question is how to design social protection systems that are not just a luxury made possible by a high level of economic performance, but that actually underpin and support the development of human capital and its productive use and thus become an essential ingredient of a high-performance economy and inclusive society. In this context, sharing views and practice from different national experiences is particularly beneficial and should contribute to closer EU-India relations and possibly a shared vision in international fora. 1

2 24 June Registration Opening of the Seminar Mr László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Union Minister of Labour and Employment Coffee First Session: Social protection as a means to invest in people Social protection and employment: a mutually reinforced relationship Social protection as a driver for sustainable economic growth Financing of social protection systems related to demographics Chair: Mr Georg Fischer, Director for Analysis, Evaluation, External Relations, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission Dr Mrutyunjay Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, India Prof Maurizio Ferrera, University of Milan Mr Egbert Holthuis, Head of Unit Social Protection - Social Inclusion Strategy, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission Mr Luis Monteiro, Vogal do Conselho Directivo, Instituto de Segurança Social, Portugal Ms. Virginie Toussain, jurist-conseil (L Union sociale pour l habitat - Représentation auprès de l UE) (on behalf of CEEP) Lunch 2

3 Second Session: Efficient social protection systems Sustainability, coverage and affordability of social protection systems Enhancing efficiency of social spending Income support and access to social services Ensuring social inclusion Chair: Dr Mrutyunjay Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, India Ms. Anne-Catherine Guio, vice-chair of the ad-hoc group on efficiency and effectiveness of social spending and financing arrangements of the Social protection committee (SPC- FEE) Mr Sharad Patil, Secretary General, Employers Federation of India, Council of Indian Employers Mr Ralf Jacob, Head of Unit - Active Ageing, Pensions, Healthcare, Social Services, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission Ms Claudia Menne, ETUC, Belgium Mr. Ravi Wig, Chairman Industrial Relations & HR Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry), India Coffee 3

4 Third Session: Effective social dialogue in tackling poverty and social exclusion The Social Protection Floors Recommendation 2012 includes tripartite participation with representative organizations of employers and workers, as well as consultation with other relevant and representative organizations of persons concerned in the principles to be applied by Members Social partners role in developing and implementing social protection systems Facilitating efficiency in provision as well as wider consultation and inclusion Chair: Mr Armindo Silva, Director for Employment and Social Legislation, Social Dialogue; DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission Mr Othmar Walser, European Association of Paritarian Institutions AEIP Mr Emmanuel Julien, Assistant Director of Social Relations (MEDEF) (on behalf of BUSINESSEUROPE) Mr Didier Louvet, specialist in social protection for the ETUC and the CGT (France) Shri K.E. Raghunathan, National General Secretary All India Manufacturers Organisation Ms Barbara Caracciolo, Solidar Cocktail Dinner 4

5 25 June Coffee Fourth session: Improving Social Protection Coverage, Tackling Informal and "Shadow" Economy Social protection as fundamental right to everyone Efforts to extend the coverage of social protection to those employed in the informal economy Pursuing the objective of increasing the formal economy and elimination of the informal sector Chair: Shri A.K. Agarwal, Director General Employees State Insurance Corporation Hélène Bourgade, Head of Unit for Employment, Social Inclusion, Migration, DG Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid, European Commission Johannes Schweighofer, Head of Unit International Labour Market Policies and Research; Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection; Austria Ms. Magdalena Bober, Adviser Social Affairs (BUSINESSEUROPE) Marty Chen, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; International Coordinator, WIEGO Network Coffee 5

6 Final Round Table: Follow-up to the Recommendation on social protection floors adopted by the International Labour Conference Building social protection floors for a fair and inclusive globalisation The role of global policy dialogue and international cooperation, particularly between India and the EU Next steps in implementing the Recommendation In this context reflect upon the issues concluded in the above sessions Chair: Mr Michael Morass, Deputy Head of Unit External Relations, Neighbourhood Policy, Enlargement, IPA, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission Introductory statement setting the scene: Mr Alejandro Bonilla, Officer-in-Charge of the Social Protection Department, ILO (8 min each) Mr Lauris Beets, former Director of International Affairs, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Netherlands Mr Herwig Immervoll, Senior Economist, Social Policy Division, OECD Shri Badish Jindal National President Federation of Associations of Small Industries of India Ms Ellen Nygren, ETUC, Belgium Concluding remarks Dr Mrutyunjay Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, India Mr Koos Richelle, Director General, DG Employment, Social Affairs, Inclusion of the European Commission Lunch 6