Pristina, on 01 December, 2020
The Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, today participated in the meeting of the Committee on Economy, Employment, Trade, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Investments, where it was discussed regarding the Recommendations issued by the “European Commission Report on Kosovo, for 2020.
Before the Commission, Minister Reçica stressed that MLSW has already worked hard on the legal infrastructure that regulates the employment relationship. “We have already agreed to proceed as soon as possible for approval in Parliament of the new draft law on labor. Also, the approval in Parliament of the Draft Law on the Labor Inspectorate will be a powerful mechanism that will contribute to the regulation of the employment relationship.
Meanwhile, regarding Occupational Safety and Health, Mr. Recica emphasized that the Concept Document for the advancement of legislation in the field of occupational safety and health has been drafted and approved. “Regulations with EU directives, but as the report points out, their implementation remains a challenge,” he said. Regarding the issue of Social Dialogue, Minister Reçica, who is also the chairman of the Economic and Social Council, added that great efforts have been made to strengthen social dialogue in the country and in this regard is being approved by the Assembly of the Draft Law on Social Economic Council.
“Regarding the sector strategy of MLSW and the Youth Employment Plan as required in the progress report of the European Commission, we will continue to implement this strategy as the main policy document of MLSW. Regarding employment in the country, I informed the Commission that we are already implementing Active Labor Market Measures (MATP), as measures that activate jobseekers in the labor market with measures such as: internships, public works, wage subsidies as well as grants for start-up businesses, where we have introduced as a criterion that half of the beneficiaries are women and young people”.
Minister Reçica also stressed that the incompatibility of professional skills with the needs of the labor market remains a problem and for this an inter-ministerial coordination is needed between MLSW, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Economic Development.