As part of the Athens presentation of the EU Report on the Future of Social Protection & the Welfare State in the EU of the High Level Group chaired by Anna Diamantopoulou, Professor Bernhard Ebbinghaus discussed the two main goals to provide social secruity for all and how to apply a life-course social investment strategy. Given the mega-trends of flexible work, digitalization, and green transition, European welfare states should aim at social security for all, including the atypical employed, platform workers, and self-employed. Also population ageing and migration shifts make it necessary to increase overall employment and raise the pension age with life expectancy. Professor Ebbinghaus argued the need to invest early in young people and foster their indepenence, helping them master the new world of work. Furthermore, continued VET, work-family reconciliation, and active ageing policies are crucial to achieve the goals of full employment. In the precence of HE the president of the Hellenic Republic, EU Commissioner Schmit and the Greek labour minister, the deliberations in Athens centred on the situation in Greece and how to apply the 21 recommendations of the EU report (europa.eu/!dXybFh).
Bernhard Ebbinghaus 