“During my time as Minister For Employment I have visited all of the
Nordic countries and looked at all the good examples of efficient
measures aimed at those who are the furthest away from the labour
market,” says Hillevi Engström in the programme’s preface, where she
underlines the advantages of sharing experiences in the way the Nordic
countries do.
This will also be at the core of the cooperation in 2013, when
Sweden will do a lot to highlight experiences and good examples of what
works when it comes to getting more people into work and reduce the
risks of people falling outside of the labour market.
“This is particularly important in a time of global economic
unrest,” says Hillevi Engström, who, alongside Prime Minister Fredrik
Reinfeldt, will focus on young people’s place in the labour market.
A job summit will be held on 16 May during the prime ministerial
meeting in Stockholm. It will have a broad remit and welcomes
participants from several ministries and councils of ministers in
addition to the Nordic Council of Ministers for Labour. The summit will
see examples from the Nordic region of how politicians and businesses
can cooperate to successfully integrate young people in the labour
market. There will also be a conference attended by prime ministers,
labour ministers and Sweden’s Minister for Finance. Background reports
will be prepared which will analyse young people’s transition from
school to working life, young people’s situation in the labour market
and young people outside of the labour market in the Nordic region.
The focus on young people’s situation in the labour market will also
include a closer look at their work environment. There will be a major
event in cooperation with the Swedish ILO committee in Stockholm in
October, among other things.
Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag will also gather his Nordic
colleagues to an informal ministerial meeting in November which will
focus on the integration of foreign born people into the labour
market.
Work to find solutions to border obstacles between the Nordic
countries continues unabated and will be followed up by Sweden’s
Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2013.
