Outcomes of the Meeting of IOE Members from Europe and Central Asia

IOE members from Europe and Central Asia gathered in Rome, Italy, on 12-13 September 2019 for their annual meeting to discuss labour and social policy issues of interest to the region. The meeting was kindly hosted by the Employers’ Confederation of Italy, Confindustria.

Participants discussed the priorities of IOE members from Europe and Central Asia for 2020, the IOE centenary year, which feed into the “IOE Centenary Manifesto” together with all the other regions. These priorities will be the programmatic basis for IOE work in 2020 and the years to come.

The meeting started with a session dedicated to social policies in the context of globalisation and the multilateral trade system. This debate was enriched notably by the participation of the Deputy-Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

An interactive tour de table followed under the leadership of the IOE Vice-President for Europe and Central Asia, Ms Renate Hornung-Draus, where participants provided insightful information about the current challenges for employers’ organisations of the region in a changing political and economic environment, showing sometimes similar and sometimes very distinct situations in different countries.

Members had the chance to learn about the future activities of the ILO Regional Office in order to give effect and to implement the content of the ILO Centenary Declaration. They also got insights about the new ILO work on productivity. 

Turning to the future of work, the meeting has been an opportunity to deepen the discussion about the impact of the transformation of work on the representativity of employers’ organisations, and to agree on the many challenges ahead. Subsequently the discussion continued on the future for business models and industrial relations, as well as the key topic for companies of skills and how to anticipate the related needs in the context of the new forms of work.

To be noted also, two side-events were held on the first day, before the meeting of members from Europe and Central Asia, to discuss specific projects and activities respectively with members from the Balkans and from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

You may access the agenda of the meeting with the respective links to all presentations in the Resources section. You can view the pictures of the event on the IOE Flickr page.

Last but not least, the next meetings of IOE members from Europe and Central Asia will take place in Budapest on 10-11 September 2020, and in Tbilisi on 9-10 September 2021. Please save these dates in your diary!