An Informal Meeting of EU Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs is taking place at Zappeion Megaron on April 29-30. The meeting focuses on labour market and social policy reforms as well as measures to tackle undeclared labour.

On the first day, today, the Greek presidency and the two succeeding presidencies (Italy and Latvia) will meet with representatives of the Social Platform - the Platform of the European NGOs - on the role of minimum income schemes in economic recovery. A meeting with representatives of Social Partners will also take place, focusing on the role of wage-setting systems and reforms on Employment Protection Legislation in combating long-term unemployment and increasing participation in the labour market.

Two workshops will take place on the second day under the title “Employment and the Social Dimension of the Europe 2020 Strategy: Lessons Learnt and Future Orientations.” The first plenary session will report back from the workshops, while in the second plenary session, chaired by Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare, Ioannis Vroutsis, ministers will exchange views on the topic: “Towards quality jobs: measures to prevent undeclared work.” Combating undeclared work is one of the priorities of the Greek Presidency in the field of employment and social policy.