Entrepreneurship and skills for a fair, green and digital recovery

Past event online

Digital & Data Governance

23Nov2021

starts 10:00

ends 10:45

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🔴WATCH LIVE: Entrepreneurship and skills for a fair, green and digital recovery

A fair and inclusive recovery must place social rights at its core and re-evaluate the current social contract to best assess what is needed in post-lockdown Europe. The 2021 launch of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) Action Plan is the clear signal that the EU places the elements of inclusiveness and fairness at the core of Europe’s economic recovery. At the centre of these efforts are SMEs, who are more than just engines of local jobs and services; they are key to Europe’s economic development and social progress. Achieving the 2030 EPSR Action Plan and the recovery targets will require tight collaboration with and support of SMEs, representing the overwhelming majority of businesses and a key vehicle to trigger a lasting change to a fairer, greener, digital EU.

Last year, governments across the EU quickly introduced support measures, largely aimed at giving SMEs liquidity to withstand the immediate COVID-19 crisis. To sustain future success, this support must also extend to skills, training, access to finance, support for fair conditions and the right regulatory environment for growth. With 60% of SMEs reporting a fall in turnover in 2020 and 1.4 million jobs lost, ensuring they get back on track will require a carefully thought through plan.

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Schedule

10.00 10.45

Entrepreneurship and skills for a fair, green and digital recovery

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Questions include:

How can the EU and private sector maximise reskilling efforts to achieve a lasting recovery?
Will the Porto Social Summit mark a turn in reducing inequalities and ensuring a better social contract?
What are the barriers to a successful transformation to a better skilled and profitable market?
How can innovative public-private partnerships help SMEs to recover?

Moderator

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Speakers

Alain Godard

Chief Executive at the European Investment Fund (EIF)

Nicolas Schmit

European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights

Karen Massin

Head of EU Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google

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Speakers

Alain Godard was appointed to his current role following his excellent track record as the former director general and chief risk officer at the European Investment Bank (EIB). In his former position, he contributed to the design and implementation of the Investment Plan for Europe (IPE) and the European Fund for Strategic Investments, as well as the development of the EIB’s loan programme in the context of the EU’s financial assistance to euro area countries. He also played a key role in establishing the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Stability Mechanism. Godard is also the Founder and Co-Chair of Global Emerging Markets (GEMs), an international consortium of international financial institutions, multilateral development banks and national promotional banks, promoting investments in emerging countries.

Nicolas Schmit is European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights and a Luxembourgish politician and diplomat, who has been instrumental in fostering Europe’s social dimension in his position as European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights. An economist by training, he is a former member of the European Parliament and previously served as the Luxembourgish minister of labour. He has also held various positions within the Luxembourgish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as head of the Department of International Economic Relations and Cooperation. Schmit’s final diplomatic posting was as Luxembourg’s permanent representative to the EU.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Specialised in EU regulatory and public affairs, Karen Massin currently leads Google’s EU government affairs and public policy operations in Brussels. She previously served as the CEO of public affairs consultancy BCW in Brussels, in which role she coordinated government affairs and communication consultancy with a focus on EU and international policy, as well as provided policy council and intelligence on EU public affairs issues.

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