The Social Summit in Porto is the culmination of the ambitious Portuguese Council Presidency, which has advanced many important trade union demands. There, the Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights is to be solemnly proclaimed on 7 May 2021.

The draft directive on minimum wages is the most important initiative to date in current EU social policy. While it is explicitly supported by the European trade union movement, there is resistance at Council level. A first draft report from the EU Parliament, on the other hand, is much more promising. The two co-rapporteurs aim to improve the directive even further in the interests of European workers.
 

In addition, there are currently also increased efforts to close the pay gap. On 4 March 2021, the EU Commission presented its proposed directive on wage transparency. This proposal contains binding measures such as the publication of the gender pay gap in companies with 250 employees or more, or mandatory information on the level of pay before starting employment, as well as the mandatory information on the level of pay before the start of employment.
 

Other important topics that will be discussed at the Social Summit include platform work, the integration of social policy measures into the recovery plans and fair procurement.
 

The ÖGB Europabüro, AK EUROPA and the ETUC would like to use the opportunity to draw attention to important concerns in the run-up to the EU Social Summit.
 

For this purpose, we will discuss with:

Renate Anderl, AK President

Wolfgang Katzian, ÖGB President

Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC

Dennis Radtke, MEP, Rapporteur on the Minimum Wages Directive

Opening remarks:

Oliver Röpke, ÖGB, President of the EESC Workers' Group.

Moderator: Walter Hämmerle, Editor in Chief Wiener Zeitung

The contributions will be in German and English (with simultaneous translation).