President Iohannis at Gothenburg Summit: Enhanced attention must be paid to integration of vulnerable groups on labour market

President Klaus Iohannis stated on Friday that incentives must be found for employers so that the employment rate increases among youngsters, underscoring that an enhanced attention must be paid for the integration on the labour market of some particularly vulnerable groups, such as the Roma minority, people with disabilities or the elderly. 

"First of all, regarding the key challenges that must be addressed to improve access to the labour market for all men and women, I consider that education, including lifelong learning, is the cornerstone for ensuring our citizens are ready to fulfil the new requirements of the labour market. It is also important to ensure equal opportunities, both in terms of access to education and in the creation of an educational framework that responds through content and teaching methods to the principles of gender equality in education. At the same time, we should better focus on measures aimed at ensuring the acquisition of transversal competencies," Iohannis said in his speech at the session regarding the access on the labour market of the Social Summit in Gothenburg. 

He revealed, in respect to youth unemployment, that having more relevant educational policies would contribute to reducing youth unemployment rate. 

"Also, incentives should be established for employers in order to boost the young people employment rate," the head of state said. 

President Iohannis mentioned that in order to maintain a balance between supply and demand on the labour market, there is a need of sustainable investments, such as the Youth Guarantee, the European Qualifications Framework or the European Quality Framework for Apprenticeships. 

"We need to ensure ways of continuing EU support in this regard, including in the post-2020 period," he underscored. 

The head of state said that a particular concern is represented by the integration of the vulnerable groups on the labour market, showing that mapping vulnerabilities is important and measures to lowering or eliminating them should follow shortly. 

"The integration on the labour market of particularly vulnerable groups as Roma, persons with disabilities or aging ones should be carried out with further determination," Iohannis stated. 

The President also underscored that the European initiatives regarding job creation should be focused on upgrading the legislation, filling on the blanks where necessary, in line with EU competences, while avoiding, at the same time, the deepening of gaps between Euro and non-Euro countries, between West and East. 

He added that Romania took on the responsibility of ensuring a legal framework which considers both short and medium term challenges for the labour market. AGERPRES .