Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă and Minister of Labour and Social Justice, Marius Budăi, participated in the Tripartite Social Summit in Brussels - Main contents

Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă i and Minister of Labour and Social Justice Marius Budăi participated in the Tripartite Social Summit, which was held on March 20 in Brussels. The main theme of the high-level event focusing on economic growth and employment was “For a stronger, united and forward-looking Europe”.

The Summit reunion, which was also attended by representatives of European trade unions and business owners, was co-chaired by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk i, the President of the European Commission i, Jean-Claude Juncker i and the Romanian Prime Minister, Viorica Dăncilă, as part of Romania’s rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The summit was also attended by Minister of European Funds Rovana Plumb i and Minister Delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba.

The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, reminded about the directives and regulations on which the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the EU i Council reached an agreement in the past few weeks. Among them, there was also the preliminary political agreement reached on Monday, March 19, on the Regulation to revise European norms on coordinating social security (883 and 987), updating and protecting the rights of citizens moving to another EU country and facilitating cooperation between national authorities.

In his turn, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, acclaimed the 50 years of labour mobility.

“Romania has constantly asserted the necessity and importance of providing a living standard for its citizens that is as high as possible. In this regard, together with its actions at a European level that Romania has been sustaining actively and constantly, actual steps have also been taken domestically to help reach the convergence objective. From this point of view, one of the Romanian Government’s priorities is to provide measures contributing to increasing citizens’ living standard, consistent with the level of economic growth. One of the already implemented measures focused on providing an adequate wage level in key fields, such as healthcare and education. These measures, implemented at a national level, drove substantial adjustments of citizens’ living standard. Purchasing power increased due to the rise of pensions and wages, above the inflation level. As an example, over the course of two years, the purchasing power at a national level increased by 20.6%, in relation to the average wage”, underlined Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă.

The discussions focused on three sub-themes: 50 years of labour mobility - making the best of workers’ free movement for well-functioning labour markets, stimulating investments in a deeper and fairer Single Market; building on the New Start for Social Dialogue to shape the future world of labour.

Minister of Labour and Social Justice Marius Budăi coordinated the debate on the theme: “50 years of labour mobility - making the best of free movement of workers for well-functioning labour markets”.

“Labour mobility is the expression of a fundamental principle, that of free movement, an essential element of the common labour market. This essential right for our citizens is laid out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, constituting a right enshrined from the very first stages of the European construct. At the same time, it is worth noting that ever more European citizens make use of their free movement right, choosing to work in another EU member state”, stated Minister of Labour Marius Budăi.

The Romanian official highlighted that trust and cooperation between member states should be fundamental for a truly inclusive labour market, for workers from all member states, without limitations, especially given that the effects of the global economic crisis continue to affect the labour market as a whole.

The Tripartite Social Summit in Brussels was also attended by officials from Finland and Croatia, the following two states that will follow Romania in the rotating Presidency of the EU Council.