In cooperation with the European Commission, the Research Department of the ILO and the ILO Office for the European Union and the Benelux countries are pleased to invite you to participate in the joint ILO/EC International Seminar “Inventory of labour market policy measures in the EU 2008-2013: The crisis and beyond” that will take place on 9 December 2015 in Brussels, Belgium.

The event provides an opportunity to present the main outcomes of a research project which studied the way in which the labour market policies of Member States of the European Union have responded to the dramatic impact of the financial crisis of 2007/08 on their labour markets, and the extent to which those policies were successful in mitigating that negative impact.

We would appreciate it if you would inform us of your availability to participate in this seminar no later than 30 November 2015. Interested parties are kindly requested to register online by following this link, allowing us and our contractors to best manage this event. We will confirm your registration.  

Draft programme  

8.30-9.00 Arrival and registration  

9.00-9.15 Opening and introduction  

• Welcome address and opening remarks [introducing the DG's priorities and work on labour market policies, as well as give an overview of future challenges from our prospective]
• Stefan Olsson, Director, DG EMPL, European Commission  

9.15-10.45 Session I: Scope and challenges of labour market policy measures in the post-2007 EU

Moderator: Anne Bucher, Director, DG ECFIN, European Commission (TBC)

• Presentation of the global context: Raymond Torres, Director, ILO Research Department
• Technical presentation of the report: Catherine Saget, Head of Unit, ILO Research Department and André Gama, Technical Officer, Research Department  

Discussants:

• Aron Kiss, Economist, DG EMPL, European Commission
• Philip Jung, Professor of Macroeconomics, University of Dortmund  

10.45-11.00 Coffee Break

11.00-12.30 Session II: Focus on unemployment benefits and wages with examples from national experiences in selected countries

Moderator: Catherine Saget, Head of Unit, ILO Research Department

• Unemployment benefits in the EU and France: Bruno Coquet, OFCE Research Fellow, IZA Policy Fellow
• Discussant: EC country desk expert (name TBC)
• Wages in the EU and in Greece: Thomas Moutos, Professor of Economics, University of Athens
• Discussant: EC country desk expert (name TBC)  

12.30-13.15 Closing Session: Policy lessons

Moderator: Robert Strauss, Head of Unit, DG EMPL, European Commission

Panelists:

• Barbara Kauffmann, Director, DG EMPL , European Commission (TBC)
• Raymond Torres, Director, ILO Research Department
• Sotiria Theodoropoulou, Senior Researcher, ETUI
• Business Europe (TBC)  

13.30 Lunch for all participants  

Please note that as a contribution to ongoing efforts to save the rainforest we will not distribute hard copies of the report during the seminar; we plan to send participants an electronic version (after the seminar).