Press Release: EU calls on social partners to join the flexicurity debate

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, together with Commissioner Vladimír Spidla and Member States' representatives called on employers' and workers' organisations to participate actively in the debate on flexicurity. The informal Tripartite Social Summit was organised jointly by the Finnish Presidency and the Commission to encourage high-level trade union and employer representatives to examine ways of combining active labour market policies, flexible contractual arrangements, lifelong learning and social protection. It was the first opportunity for the social partners to provide input to discussions on flexicurity at the European level.