Baltic Sea Region High Level Labour Ministries Meeting

High-Level Meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs took place on the 26th of August, during the 28th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Oslo, Norway.

As a continuation of the successful meeting of the ministers and high-ranking representatives of the labour ministries two years ago in Berlin, the representatives met again to discuss the follow-up and implementation of the Berlin Declaration, focusing on the future of work, demographic challenges and sustainable inclusive labour market in the Baltic Sea region. The representatives provided the vision and strategy for the future of working life on national and the Baltic Sea region’s level.

Our Director General Ambassador Maira Mora and Pyry Niemi, BSPC rapporteur on labour issues, opened the meeting where representatives of the Ministries of Labour took a stand on the issues defined in Berlin Declaration, focusing on the future of work, demographic challenges and sustainable inclusive labour market in the Baltic Sea region. The representatives agreed that the Berlin Declaration was still very much relevant, especially when it comes to regional cooperation: even though there is no one fix for the whole region, exchanging national experiences can be beneficial in developing solutions.

Baltic Sea Region’s stakeholders (such as the CBSS, Baltic Sea Labour Forum (BSLF), BSPC, European Union for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) Policy Area Education) also shared current developments in the field of labour and employment. CBSS’ Baltic Sea Labour Forum (BSLF) presented our latest, European Social Fund financed Sustainable Working Life initiative, aiming to review current data and develop future forecasts to provide evidence-based policy guidelines.

The meeting was followed by the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC), that also included a session on the future of work in the Baltic Sea Region.

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference brought together about 200 parliamentarians from 27 parliaments and parliamentary organisation to promote cooperation between state and non-state institutions – especially with the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The conference serves as a forum for discussion and information exchange between parliaments and governments as well as other bodies and organisations at the international and inter-regional level.

See more photos from the events here.