Bilateral cooperation between Romania and France on labour and social security will be strengthened and extended under the two countries' strategic partnership, Romania's Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity Simona Bucura Oprescu said meeting her French counterpart Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet.
According to a social media post by Romania's Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity (MMSS), a government delegation led by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu paid an official visit to France, with Bucura Oprescu meeting the French minister of labour and employment.
"It is important to coordinate our policies on employment, job security, employees' rights. We also need to invest more in both training and upskilling to meet the growing challenges of an increasingly complex labour market. We will develop new partnerships that will also support social economy, thus contributing to the creation of new, more inclusive jobs," said Bucura-Oprescu.
Talks between the two ministers aimed at strengthening and expanding bilateral cooperation, based on the a roadmap in the strategic partnership between Romania and France for 2020-2024.
The roadmap is designed to promote social inclusion, develop the social economy, recognise and defend the rights of Romanian workers in France and French workers in Romania, support vulnerable groups. The two officials agreed to extend cooperation to other areas of their competence, aiming at exchanges of experience in the area of labour inspection, field visits by labour inspectors, information and joint control over the working conditions of the citizens of the two countries.
Other lines of cooperation include supporting the autonomy of older people and strengthening the integration of marginalised groups with the labour market, including youth not in employment, education or training. In the area of social benefits, joint projects include collaboration for the development of strategies for family policies and the digitalisation of social assistance services.
The Romanian minister also visited the Alter Mundi workshop in Paris, a solidarity enterprise of social utility, where he met Alexandre Lourie, international director of Groupe SOS, the largest consortium of social integration enterprises in France, of which Romania's Workshops Without Borders Association (AFF) is a member, and Jean-Marc Borello, founder and chairman of the SOS Board of Directors.
"France is a model to follow in terms of the social economy. Its experience is very valuable for the development of the social economy and the implementation of pilot projects in this regard in Romania. France is a valuable source of inspiration for good practices and public policies regarding the social economy and beyond," said Bucura-Oprescu.
The Romanian government retinue also visited the Euronaval Centre, the main and oldest world exhibition of naval defence. They also met leaders of the Romanian community in France in Suresnes, in the western part of Paris, where the new headquarters of the Dumitru Staniloae Christian Orthodox Centre for Studies and Research was recently inaugurated. The Romanian delegation was welcomed by Romanian Christian Orthodox Metropolitan of Western and Southern Europe Iosif.
France is one of the most important trading partners and investors in Romania. Ties between the two countries have been continuously strengthened in recent years, including at a political and defence level, thanks to their strategic partnership.
There are 400,000 people making up the Romanian community in France. Romanians make up the second largest community of doctors in France, almost 10,000, and also the second largest workforce in construction and agriculture (10% of the total). France is Romania's third largest trade partner.
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