MEPs plan to work on a wide range of topics.

On 4 September, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) invited the new Director-General Mario Nava, who took up his post at the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) in June. As part of the exchange of views with MEPs, he presented the most important initiatives of his Directorate-General. Nava plans to build on existing initiatives. The work will focus on the following three pillars:

1. the legal basis, in particular the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union on labour mobility, social security systems and the improvement of employment conditions,
   
2. the realisation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and
   
3. the policy areas in which DG EMPL is active.
   

Among the achievements of the last legislative period, he cited, for example, the directive for platform workers, the setting of new limit values for asbestos exposure and the proposal for the directive on traineeships.

Affordable housing and the impact of change

There was lively interest in the new action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights and the measures taken by the European Commission to tackle the housing crisis. Health and safety at work seemed to be of less concern to MEPs. They took note of the information that DG EMPL is working on the sixth amendment to the Directive on Carcinogens, Mutagens or Reprotoxic Substances (CMRD) and only enquired about the situation in Greece. A high number of work-related accidents occur there because, among other things, not all employers comply with European safety standards.

The situation was similar in the area of digital and green transition. Artificial intelligence and its impact on jobs, the implementation of the green transition and the labour market opportunities for young Europeans did occupy the committee, but there were far more questions about the impact of the transition on the housing market in Europe.

The German members of the EMPL who took the floor also discussed other topics. They addressed the extension of the mandate of the European Labour Authority (ELA) and public procurement law (Dennis Radkte, EPP) as well as the still open procedure for amending the Coordination Regulation (Gabriele Bischoff, S&D).

Work with EU agencies and on own-initiative reports

In autumn, the EMPL plans to invite the directors of the agencies that fall within its remit to an exchange of views. These include the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the European Training Foundation (ETF), the ELA and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). The five agencies play an important role in the European Commission's labour and social policy. It remains to be seen whether the MEPs will honour Nava's request and hold a strategic debate with him on their future work on own-initiative reports. He would welcome this step in order to be able to utilise the scarce resources with which the two institutions work wisely.