State Secretary Dr. Schmachtenberg meets Finnish colleague

On 14 November 2019, State Secretary Dr. Schmachtenberg met his Finnish counterpart Pilvi Torsti from the Finnish labour ministry at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Their talks focused among other things on fostering the social dimension of Europe, including through the German proposal for the development of an EU framework for minimum wages and for national minimum income schemes in the EU states. State Secretary Schmachtenberg explained, By resolutely fighting against wage dumping and social inequalities in European countries with weaker economies, we are also protecting the welfare state and the Social Market Economy in countries such as Finland and Germany. Both sides also stressed the growing importance of the digital transformation of the world of work and the necessity to guarantee quality jobs in new forms of employment such as the platform economy, too. The two state secretaries also agreed that further training and lifelong learning are becoming more and more important, especially in times of technological change.