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 will allow for fine-tuning organisational priorities and open exchanges. 

Taking place at the Académie Royale de Belgique, the conference will kick 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 on Supporting workers in the transitions and ensuring quality jobs. In the late afternoon of 25 September and on the following day, it will feature six main roundtables on the EU’s key economic policy challenges.

In the discussions, several critical priorities of progressives and trade unions are 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 will take place under Chatham House rules, and participation is 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).