The conference took place in Palais d'Egmont in Brussels, with the participation of Commissioner ?pidla, and under the chairmanship of Director General van der Pas. Social partners from all 31 European sectoral social dialogue committees were invited to the event, to provide input to the debate on the major challenges facing the EU, in particular with regard to restructuring, demographic developments and skills needs, and strengthening the participation of actors from the new Member States and Candidate Countries.
The presentations and discussions showed that the social partners are able to bring forward concrete and consensual contributions to issues central to the Growth and jobs strategy. The sectoral social dialogue committees are privileged instances in this context, thanks to their capacity to take joint and autonomous action in favour of better employment and working conditions.