Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission, together with State Secretary Dr Rolf Schmachtenberg.
On 16 February 2023, State Secretary Dr Rolf Schmachtenberg welcomed Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission, to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for talks. They exchanged views on the challenges for Europe and Germany caused by demographic trends and on the measures initiated so far to address them.
Vice-President Šuica, who holds the office of Commissioner for Democracy and Demography in the European Commission, emphasized the importance of investing in digital technologies which, in particular, offer development opportunities for Europe’s rural regions.
State Secretary Schmachtenberg stressed that securing the supply of skilled labour was one of the most pressing tasks in safeguarding prosperity and the stability of Germany’s social security systems. In this context, he described the Federal Government’s Skilled Labour Strategy, which was adopted in autumn 2022, to Vice-President Šuica.