Demography conference in Brussels

In June 2012, the European social partners (Insurance Europe, AMICE, BIPAR and UNI Europa) organised a demography conference in Brussels, at which they presented their jointly-devised brochure with examples of best-practice on addressing demographic change. At this conference the social partners successfully continued their constructive collaboration which built on approval of the joint demography statement in January 2010. Discussions were held with representatives from European institutions, politicians and companies, setting out how work-life measures, qualifications and lifelong learning, and health and safety in the workplace can be used to counter the demographic challenges.

The high-point of the event was when the social partners presented the demography brochure with best practice examples from the European insurance sector. The initiatives presented in the brochure demonstrate the diverse, creative and, above all, effective measures with which the companies are increasing the appeal of the insurance sector and maintaining the employability of employees. The European Commission representative Norbert Schöbel from the General Directorate for Employment was clearly impressed by this concrete outcome of the Sectoral Social Dialogue. In his closing speech, Dr. Sebastian Hopfner, Deputy CEO at AGV and Chairman of the Insurance Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee, looked to the future with confidence:

„I am confident that many companies will follow the good examples from the brochure. The social partners will continue to collaborate to overcome the challenges the future holds together!“