Spain Schmit Appreciates Tender

The European Commissioner for Labor and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit has endorsed and thanked the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy Yolanda Daz for promoting the future European directive on minimum wages.Both have agreed that in the European Union there cannot be situations in which people work and are below the poverty line.This is not the Europe we aspire to said Daz who highlighted the Unions involvement in the recovery after the crisis suffered by the pandemic. Europe has changed we are facing a Europe closer to citizenship which places workers young people women or pensioners at the center explained the minister. Otherwise - he added - there is a huge risk of social disaffection.Minimum wageSchmit thanked Spain for its active involvement in shaping the minimum wage directive. Daz explained the importance of this measure promoting collective bargaining so as to guarantee its proper functioning in setting wages especially at the sectoral level.The Commissioner also agreed on the need for strong collective bargaining and social partners in all the States of the European Union.The Minister of Labor recalled that the revaluation of the Minimum Wage in Spain has contributed to improving the lives of the people who receive it who are generally the most vulnerable workers as well as reducing the gender gap.For Daz the minimum wage underpins the principle of equal treatment. It is crucial to reinforce working people against unfair and abusive deductions and variations stressed the vice president.Alert Mechanisms of Social ImbalancesThe commissioner also thanked the initiative of the Social Imbalances Alert Mechanism promoted by the vice president together with Belgium and which already has the support of several countries of the bloc of 27.A useful Europe cannot ignore the social consequences of its policies and for this reason it is necessary that these be as central as the formulas of economic governance said the vice president.Schmit has recognized that the mechanism is an essential tool to advance in a fairer Europe and has ensured that it will continue to promote the debate on this matter within the European Union to achieve a more social Europe.This mechanism designed to detect possible social imbalances that require special attention aims to place social indicators at the same level as macroeconomic ones so that more effective and socially fair public management can be carried out.Daz and Schmit have also agreed on the advisability of starting work on this mechanism as soon as possible within the Employment and Social Protection Committees for its possible articulation and inclusion in the future European Semester the framework in which they coordinate the economic policies of the countries of the European Union.European Pillar of Social Rights Action PlanWith regard to the Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights Daz and Schmit praised the progress made in this initiative -whose scope reaches the field of employment training and equality as well as inclusion and social protection- as well as in transparency in equal pay and in delivery workers on digital platforms in which Spain has been at the forefront of Europe with its legislation.Working marketIn addition Commissioner Schmit has shown his support for reforms that guarantee greater stability in employment and the importance of continuing efforts to improve workers skills.At the end of the meeting the commissioner indicated that it is currently decisive to sustain the recovery and efforts are aimed at making that recovery strong and lasting.