Employment and Social Policy Ministers are convening in Athens on 29 April 2014, for a two-day informal meeting to discuss labour market reforms and social policies on the way to job-rich recovery and exchange views on measures to prevent undeclared work.

The Informal Meeting of EU Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs is taking place on 29-30 April at Zappeion Megaron, chaired by Greek Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare, Ioannis Vroutsis.

On the first day of the Council, two meetings will take place, one with the Social Platform and one with the Social Partners. The meeting between the Greek presidency and the two succeeding presidencies (by Italy and Latvia) with representatives of the Social Platform will focus on the role of minimum income schemes in economic recovery, while the meeting with representatives of Social Partners will focus on labour market reforms on the way to job rich recovery - the role of wage-setting systems and reforms on Employment Protection Legislation in combatting long-term unemployment and increasing participation in the labour market.

The informal meeting will resume in plenary on Wednesday 30 April, with a summary on the meetings with the Social Platform and the Social Partners. Two parallel workshops will then take place, under the general title: “Employment and the Social Dimension of the Europe 2020 Strategy: Lessons Learnt and Future Orientations”.

Italian Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Giuliano Poletti, will chair the first Workshop on the theme: “Labour Market Reforms on the Way to Job Rich Recovery. Combatting the long-term unemployment and increasing the participation in the labour market. The role of wage setting systems and reforms on Employment Protection Legislation”.

Greek Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare, Ioannis Vroutsis, will chair Workshop II, the title of which is “Economic recovery and social policies: the role of minimum income schemes”.

The first plenary session, in the afternoon, will report back from the workshops. During the second plenary session, chaired by Minister Vroutsis, ministers will exchange views on the topic: “Towards quality jobs: measures to prevent undeclared work”. Combating undeclared work is one of the priorities of the Greek Presidency in the field of employment and social policy.