Portuguese Presidency emphasises Social Europe

CEC European Managers welcomes the new Portuguese EU Presidency, highlighting the importance of social dialogue for the future of (social) Europe. To transition to a greener and fairer economy, we need the active involvement of employers, workers and managers at all levels. Portugal’s strong focus on Social Europe is important at a time where many are affected by the impact of the pandemic.

“This is an extremely important time for the European Union. It’s now about setting the right framework conditions for our life and work in 2030. Managers need to be actively involved and accompanied in making the transition to a sustainable economy happen on the ground” says Ludger Ramme, President of CEC European Managers

Portugal takes over the EU Presidency for the first semester of 2021. Following the Germany Presidency concluding a historic budgetary agreement, it’s now up on Portugal to make the EU transition concrete. In his opening statement, the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, underlined „that investment in training, qualifications and innovation, guaranteeing a high level of social protection, is the way to ensure that the transition is in fact an opportunity for everyone and that no one is left behind.“

Under the slogan ‘Time to deliver: a fair, green and digital recovery’, Portugal formulates its priorities on the following areas:

• To promote a recovery leveraged by the climate and digital transitions;
• To implement the European Pillar of Social Rights of the European Union as a distinctive element for ensuring a fair and inclusive climate and digital transition;
• To strengthen Europe’s autonomy whilst remaining open to the world, taking a leading role in climate action and promoting a digital transformation in the service of people.

Besides the EU budget for the transition and the new green EU legislation package, it’s now about making sure the money is well spent. For that, we need qualified managers capable of re-orienting their business models towards a sustainable model, in line with the EU Green Deal. It’s now about enabling managerial professions to step up though adequate competences on Sustainable Leadership, an active involvement in social dialogue and an incentivizing legal framework.