Employment and the Danish presidency

On 18 November the Employment and the Danish Presidency: towards fair and competitive labour markets took place organized by the IOS EU Platform and the IOS Future of Work.  Sonja Bekkers (Utrecht University) outlined the EU’s recent social policy trajectory: the 2017 European Pillar of Social Rights, the renewed commitments and concrete actions agreed at the 2021 Porto Social Summit, and a new action planned for 2025 to further strengthen the EU’s social dimension.

Mikkel Mailand (University of Copenhagen) presented the Danish Presidency’s priorities in employment and social policy. He discussed the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, noting both its positive reception among EU labour researchers and the implementation challenges it faces.

A lively Q&A followed. Topics included the Commission’s decision not to start an infringement procedure during a pending Court case, the political sensitivity of the ECJ ruling during the Danish Presidency, and questions on fair mobility and the position of temporary and migrant workers, with examples from the Netherlands and Denmark. Mailand noted that labour shortages make stricter regulation of labour migration politically difficult.