An exciting event that gathered policy-makers from the European, national and regional level, together with ESPON researchers and international practitioners to examine the territorial dimension of labour markets in Southern Europe, took place in Bucharest on the 30^th of October 2019. Under the title “Shaping the ‘Next Economy’: The Territorial Dimension of the Future of Work in Southern Europe”, policy-makers from the European, national and regional level, gathered together with ESPON researchers and international practitioners to examine the territorial dimension of labour markets in Southern Europe. 

Recent ESPON research unveils striking trends and territorial endowments driving the new locational preferences of new employment creation, leading to uneven territorial consequences of European migration patterns and giving rise to ‘geographies of discontent’.

Mr Liviu Bailesteanu (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Coordinator of the Urban Agenda – Jobs and Skills and Partnerships) welcomed the participants and gave some opening statements about the current situation in Europe and particularly in Romania – where most regions fall in the cluster of ‘less competitive regions with low incidence of KE’ when compared with other European regions in terms of KE patterns and migration territorial dynamics.

Which KE and mobility patterns appear in ESPON countries and particularly in Romanian North-East region? Ms Cristina Vasilescu of the Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale presented the key results of the ESPON Project "Geography of New Employment Dynamics in Europe". The intra-European migration trends and drivers identified for the ESPON countries were presented, as well as potential future scenarios. In terms of policy recommendations, while there is no ‘one-strategy-fits-all”, there are key assets and regional strategies favouring the development of knowledge economy, based on the resources (or weaknesses) existing in the respective territories.

Mr Emil Boc (Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and member of the European Committee of the Regions) opened the second session of the day “Bridging the Skills Gap at the Regional and Local level – the policy perspective” presenting the regional perspective of brain drain in Europe, which is directly triggered by existing social and economic imbalances among the EU regions. He shared some key insights about this phenomenon in Europe and how to address this challenge in a multilevel approach, including the example of Cluj Napoca in terms of public policies and successful practices. Mr Felix Rohn (DG EMPL, EC) presented the European policy framework for cooperation on skills and regional smart specialization and Mr Liviu Bailestean shared the key results after three years of implementation of the EU agenda on Jobs and Skills and its relevance for the future of Europe.

Ms Andreea Pop opened the afternoon session “Tackling Youth Unemployment: Is Enough Being Done?” sharing and discussing with the audience the key recommendations and results of the ESPON YUTRENDS research project – such as the main factors influencing regional youth unemployment and what policies can help to tackle this challenge.

Mr Liviu Bailesteanu presented the concluding remarks of the day and closed the session of the day after some very interesting insights and exchange between the participants who attended this Seminar.

The presentations and photos of the seminar can be found on the page of the event, where you can also find our policy brief "Addressing labour migration challenges in Europe" in English and Romanian.