Event

3rd Annual Forum - 'A strong welfare state for a socially robust single market: The role of social security'

15. Oct 2024

The 3rd ESIP Annual Forum took place in Brussels on 15 October 2024. The Forum is ESIP's flagship public event annually. As with the previous editions, the Forum was a standing-room only event. Heartfelt thanks to our speakers and to all of you for taking part and turning the Forum into a big success!

'A strong welfare state for a socially robust single market: The role of social security’ was this year's theme.

We enjoyed a full day rich with discussions on how to ensure that the European single market works for all. We heard from five leading Members of the European Parliament, European Commission officials, social security experts, academia and many more engaged in a lively conversation on:

- Supporting mobility of workers across the EU and fighting workforce shortages: Where social protection and labour policies meet

- A single market that works for all: How do we bridge the gaps in social protection?

- A single market for pharmaceuticals: How do we ensure access to affordable and effective medicines?

- Roundtable discussion with MEPs András KULJA (EPP, HU), Vytenis ANDRIUKAITIS (S&D, LT), Vlad VOICULESCU (Renew, RO) & Tilly METZ (Greens/EFA, LU) : The welfare states & Europe’s competitiveness: Friends or foes?

Here is the detailed programme as well as the slides by Professor Anton Hemerijck on the future of the welfare state. Additionally, visit this gallery to see pictures from the Forum.

Furthermore, during the Forum, we launched an agenda-setting report on trends of ever-increasing pharmaceutical expenditure, collecting figures from ESIP and MEDEV Members. More about the report here. Benedetta Baldini, ESIP's Senior policy advisor presented the main findings of the report in this presentation.

We will soon be producing a Forum summary report with all the key points made by our speakers.

We look forward to welcoming you to the 4th ESIP Annual Forum which will take place in Brussels in the fall of 2025!