Forging the new EU agenda

The beginning of a new legislature offers unique possibilities for reshaping the work plan of European institutions, adapting the approach to some existing initiatives, and putting forward new policy initiatives that freshly appointed European Commissioners or Members of the European Parliament would want to champion.  

The Progressive Economic Policy Conference is an initiative co-organised with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the S&D Group, in collaboration with progressive organisations, representatives of the social-democratic movement and trade unions. 

Under Chatham House rules, it aims to advance progressive priorities in some of the critical policy areas in which the Union will be active in this new legislature. Given the intimate closed-door setting, the discussions allowed for fine-tuning organisational priorities and open exchanges. 

Taking place at the Académie Royale de Belgique, the conference kicked off on 25 September at 14:00 with a speech by the European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli on Anchoring equality in the new European agenda and a high-level talk with ETUC Secretary General Esther Lynch and S&D Vice President Gabriele Bischoff on Supporting workers in the transitions and ensuring quality jobs. In the late afternoon of 25 September and on the following day, six main roundtables on the EU’s key economic policy challenges took place.

In the discussions, several critical priorities of progressives and trade unions were addressed transversally across the conference, including:  

• Continuing the social agenda anchored to the European Pillar of Social Rights 
• Protecting and expanding the EU Green Deal principles, policies and reach  
• Ensuring the quality of work and good employment amidst the transitions  
• Upholding upward convergence, territorial cohesion and equality 

This event took place under Chatham House rules, and participation was possible upon invitation only. For more information, please contact Thainá Leite, FEPS Project Officer (thaina.leite@feps-europe.eu), or Vanessa Zwisele, FEPS Project Officer (vanessa.zwisele@feps-europe.eu).