France's President Emmanuel Macron and Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven speak to employees during a visit to the Volvo Campus Lundby of the Swedish carmaker on the sidelines of the European Social Summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, on November 17, 2017. A
Gothenburg, Sweden: More than 20 leaders from the European Union gathered in the Swedish city of Gothenburg on Friday to discuss social issues including jobs, growth, education and culture in the first such meeting in 20 years.
Dubbed the Social Summit, the gathering is meant to provide new impetus for EU member states to make sure that citizens have access to jobs with fair working conditions and that the labour market can stay competitive in the face of global and demographic changes.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who was co-chairing the meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the summit was timely and much-needed to refocus the energies of the EU and individual member states on social welfare, dpa reported.
"Our economies and the world of work have changed so profoundly - this means that the challenges we face also changed and that we need new solutions to manage them," Lofven said. "And that is what this summit is all about." Lofven said that changes in the job market, especially after the 2008 financial crisis, have led to rising political distrust by citizens.
"It is time for us to put people first," he said.
During the summit, the EU leaders will endorse a set of recommendations - called the European Pillar of Social Rights - which are meant to give countries guidance on how to deliver better social systems.(QNA)
