4 February 2016 The Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction in meeting with the delegation of the Austrian Parliamentary Committee for Labour and Social Affairs

4 February 2016 The Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction in meeting with the delegation of the Austrian Parliamentary Committee for Labour and Social Affairs

Thursday, 4 February 2016

Delegation of Austrian Parliamentary Committee for Labour and Social Affairs Visits National Assembly

The Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, Dr Vesna Rakonjac and Mirjana Dragas, met today with a delegation of the Austrian Parliamentary Committee for Labour and Social Affairs, headed by its Chairman Jozef Muhic.


The officials exchanged the parliamentary committees’ experiences concerning labour, social security and insurance against work-related injuries, and opined that Austria’s experience of dual education and insurance against work-related injuries, which would include both the workers and children from the moment they start pre-school and extend over the entire period of their education, would be very useful for Serbia.

Committee Chairperson Dr Vera Rakonjac presented the work of the Committee she is heading in great detail, emphasising its legislative activities which had resulted in the adoption of systemic laws regulating the sphere of labour. She spoke in great length about the Law amending and modifying the Labour Law and the Law on Employment of Foreigners, as well as the Law on Requirements for Sending Employees to Temporary Work Abroad and their Protection. The Committee Chairperson also announced the adoption of the Bill on Employment of Seasonal Workers, as well as the drafting of regulations to facilitate the employment of young people and ‘difficult to employ’ categories.

Speaking of the other aspects of the Committee’s work, Chairperson Rakonjac mentioned its activities concerning the promotion of rights and protection of persons with disabilities, the laws which enable persons with disabilities, about 800,000 Serbian citizens, to fully integrate in society. She announced the adoption of the Bill amending and modifying the Anti-Discrimination Law which will make it possible for blind and visually impaired people to use a stamp, which will allow them to exercise their right to vote and stand for elections to its full capacity in the next elections. The Committee has worked and will continue to work on the empowerment of young people with disabilities and with foster families, so as to complete the process of deinstitutionalisation of children without parental care, added Rakonjac. She underlined the Committee’s excellent cooperation with the non-governmental sector on the realisation of the project of unimpeded flow of workforce with the signatories of the Dayton Agreement, following the Nordic model of cooperation, and the establishment of the Working Group for the Political Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

“In 2015, the Committee, and the whole state, had one extra activity – migrant crisis management, in which the Committee acted in concert with the governmental, non-governmental and civil sector, as well as with international organisations. Serbia will follow the EU directives, but will also continue to, capacities permitting, help the migrants, especially the women and unaccompanied children, to ensure their protection along the transit route”, concluded Rakonjac.

The Chairman of the Austrian Parliamentary Committee for Labour and Social Affairs Jozef Muhic stressed that social policy is the most difficult sphere of politics, and striking a social balance using social policy is the biggest challenge for a society. He presented the scope of the Committee he is heading, stressing that a third of the budgetary funds goes toward labour-related issues. He said he was ready to present his experiences regarding Austria’s dual education to the Serbian colleagues, adding that said education system covers 90% of the young people in his country. In addition, a considerable number of persons with disabilities in Austria uses some sort of social welfare, and the pension system is based, just like in Serbia, on generational solidarity. Today, the Austrian job market is dwindling, which is a direct consequence of the drop in economic growth and the strong competition on the job market, concluded Muhic. He presented the legislative framework Austria uses to deal with this problem, adding that the biggest new challenge for his country will be the fact that about 40,000 migrants will be granted asylum and enter the job market. He also presented the insurance against work-related injuries and insurance for children, and the cooperation between Austria and Serbia in the fields of health, work safety and the realisation of the social security agreement was declared to be very good.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs.



Previous month Next month
M T W T F S S
26 27 28 29 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

Full event calendar