On 24 September, State Secretary Schmachtenberg and Thierry Michels, a member of the French National Assembly, met at the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Thierry Michels, who was in Berlin as a member of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly, wanted to learn more about Germany’s ongoing pension policy initiatives and shared information on the planned pension reforms in France.
Moreover, State Secretary Schmachtenberg and Mr. Michels also discussed policies for persons with disabilities.
They agreed that regarding both these topics Germany and France were confronted with many shared challenges and were pursuing similar strategies despite their different histories in these two policy fields. The two concluded that close Franco-German cooperation is and remains important, particularly with regard to cooperation at EU level.