Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU pushes China on social welfare

  • Vladimir Spidla discussed social welfare with the Chinese over the weekend (Photo: European Commission)

EU top officials along with employment and social affairs commissioner Vladimir Spidla on Friday went to Beijing to advocate improvement of social welfare and worker protection.

An agreement with China that targeted matters involving social security, employment, demographic ageing and social policy was to be ratified by Vladimir Spidla on Saturday.

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"If we talk to them about health and safety at work, about social security and they see themselves that there is a necessity to change things in order to have a sustainable economy in the long-term that will also decrease possibilities for social dumping," said Mr Spidla, according to AFP.

"If they decide to copy the European pension model, it means they consider it to be the best," he continued.

Social dumping – when countries with weak labour and safety standards export cheap goods to a state with more rigorous legislation and protection – is a strong point of contention between Brussels and Beijing.

The two sides have been locked into disputes focussing on the import of cheap Chinese textiles and shoes into Europe.

Mr Spidla said he hoped the EU's dialogue would "help China develop modern systems of social security."

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With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

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Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

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