Anette Kramme, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, engaged in numerous talks with policy-makers in Bratislava, Slovakia's capital, on 3 October 2023, the Day of German Unity.
Anette Kramme first attended an official reception to mark the Day of German Unity hosted by Ambassador Barbara Wolf at the Slovak National Gallery which included a series of informal discussions with representatives from the fields of policy-making, business and society. Then she had an exchange of views with State Secretary Anna Aftanasová at the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family of the Slovak Republic. The meeting, which was attended by nearly all department heads of the ministry, focused on issues concerning pensions, securing a skilled workforce, and legislation regarding individuals with severe disabilities. Both sides saw parallels, particularly on the issue of pensions.
This was followed by a discussion on continuing vocational education and training and securing the supply of skilled labour with members of the German-Slovak Chamber of Industry and Commerce, including representatives from Volkswagen, Siemens and Schaeffler.
On the following day, 4 October, Parliamentary State Secretary Kramme and the Executive Director of the European Labour Authority (ELA), Marius Cosmin Boiangiu, opened a meeting of German ELA labour attachés, where the social challenges associated with the European free movement of workers and the protection of foreign workers in Germany were discussed with ELA representatives.