On the 8 and 9 June 2023, the 19th PES Network Board meeting took place in Stockholm under the Swedish Presidency. The agenda of the two-day meeting was packed with many exciting topics such as upskilling and reskilling in tight labour markets, attracting third country nationals and supporting the green transition.
The Board meeting kicked off with a topic that is of growing importance in light of the lack of skilled labour force: how to attract skills and talents from third countries. The European Commission’s PES Network Board member, Director Jordi Curell gave an overview of the latest Commissions initiatives, such as the Talent pool. Thereafter, a representative from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) provided an overview of the latest ILO initiatives to support fair recruitment on third country nationals.
Next on the agenda was the update on the 2023 PES Network Work Programme. The Board endorsed the latest Opinion Paper of the Network in the context of the European Year of Skills as well as the updated Key Considerations on the integration of persons displaced and refugees. Both documents will be available soon in the PES Network’s Knowledge Centre.
In the afternoon the Swedish Minister for Employment and Integration, Mr Johan Pehrson, join the Board meeting and gave an update on the latest labour market trends in Sweden.
After that, Finland, France and Sweden provided insights on ongoing PES reforms. Board members had the opportunity to exchange on their experience of institutional reforms with PES.
Day 1 ended with the election of the new Chair and the new first Vice Chair of the PES Network. We congratulate Ms Caroline Mancel, Deputy Director General of Actiris for being elected new Chair as of 1st July 2023. We also congratulate Ms. Inga Balnanosiené, Director of Employment Services, for being elected 1st Vice Chair as of 1st January 2024.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank our current Chair, Mr Johannes Kopf, Managing Director of AMS Austria, for leading the Network during the past four years. He took over the Chair of the Network in difficult times and together with the first Vice Chair Mr Spiros Protopsaltis they continued the great success story of our PES Network!
Day 2 was dedicated to the topic Green Transition and Skills. The Swedish colleagues gave an overview of their efforts to support the labour market in view of the green transition. After that, the PES Board discussed the key topics with regard to skills for a Green Transition: Forecasting and future skills, up- and reskilling for vulnerable groups and labour mobility to meet green transition skills needs. This topic was introduced by an input from our colleagues from the OECD sharing the latest research results on the role of PES in view of the Green Transition.
The Board ended with a review of nine fruitful Thematic Learning Dialogues touching upon key strategic challenges identified during the 3rd cycle assessments with “action plans”. An update on the ongoing works for the 4th cycle of Benchlearning that will start in January 2024 concluded this session. Board members were also encouraged to mobilise instruments at their disposal via the PES Network and EU funds to support reforms emerging from Benchlearning recommendations.
We thank our Swedish colleagues for their hospitality and the organisation of this 19th Board meeting. We are looking forward to seeing you at the next Board meeting in December under the Spanish Presidency!
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